3 min read

Chipotle CEO talks AI hiring transformation on CNBC's Mad Money.

Chipotle CEO joins Mad Money's Jim Cramer to share the impact Ava Cado, their AI hiring assistant, has had on on their business: returning hours back to managers each week and a 75% reduction in time to hire.

Josh Zywien

Chief Marketing Officer

Published

February 5, 2025

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This past week, Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright had the chance to speak with CNBC’s Jim Cramer about the restaurant chain’s recent success: In 2024, they opened a record 304 new restaurants, and beat their Q4 earnings estimates.

Boatwright went on to explain how an AI assistant named Ava Cado powered one of the keys to this achievement. Utilizing conversational AI, Ava Cado automatically guides Chipotle candidates through the hiring process, answering questions and scheduling them for interviews with Chipotle's general managers.

“We leaned into an AI hiring assistant from Paradox about six months ago that has put us on better footing from a staffing perspective,” Boatwright said. “And we’ve been, in the eight years I’ve been in the organization, pushing past numbers we thought were all-time highs just last year.”
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Chipotle is expecting Ava to reduce time to hire by up to 75% — which would mean candidates moving from “apply to apron” in a couple of days, not weeks.

Read CNBC’s full breakdown here.

Written by

Josh Zywien

Josh serves as Chief Marketing Officer for Paradox, responsible for driving the company’s brand, digital, and experiential marketing efforts, while also supporting sales enablement and product marketing. Prior to Paradox, he led marketing and product at SmashFly, which was acquired by Symphony Talent in November 2019. Josh is passionate about helping companies better communicate their story — who they are, what they believe, and how they help a particular market solve real, meaningful challenges. Prior to SmashFly, Josh founded his own marketing agency and helped grow Boston-based venture capital firm OpenView into one of the world’s top venture capital brands.

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