Zapier Talent Team Rebuilt Reference Checks, Replacing $18,000 SaaS Tool.

Zapier shared that its talent team replaced a third-party reference-checking tool costing $18,000 per year with an in-house workflow built on Zapier. According to the post, the new system was created by a teammate rather than handed off to engineering, reflecting a broader push toward internal teams building their own operational tools.

Key details from the post include:

• Recruiters start the reference process directly in Slack, where hiring teams already work.
• Candidates submit references through a Zapier-built interface.
• Reference scheduling, outreach, reminder messages, and hiring manager follow-ups are automated.
• An AI agent reviews interview transcripts, feedback forms, and application data to generate targeted reference questions based on missing signal.
• A second AI agent compiles the findings into a structured report in Ashby, including gap analysis, fraud checks such as IP matching, and areas where references confirm or clarify existing signals.
• Zapier also linked to a gallery of HR templates aimed at teams that want to build similar workflows.

For small business owners and builders, this is a useful example of replacing niche SaaS spend with internal automation when workflows become too specific for off-the-shelf tools. It also shows how no-code automation and AI agents can be applied to hiring operations without requiring a full product or engineering build.