How theMatchBox Built a Decade-Long AI Success Story Before ChatGPT Existed

Written by: Jeroen Van Ermen from Talent Business Partnerson November 13, 2025
How theMatchBox Built a Decade-Long AI Success Story Before ChatGPT Existed

In an industry buzzing with AI promises and compliance concerns, one Belgian company has been quietly delivering results for ten years - proving that the future of recruitment isn't about replacing recruiters, but empowering them with proven technology.

Jan Govaerts doesn't need to make grand promises about AI in recruitment. As CEO of theMatchBox, he's already spent a decade proving what works. Long before ChatGPT made headlines, his team was building AI matching technology that delivers 30% more successful matches for recruitment agencies across Europe and beyond. Following the company's recent acquisition by Pixid Group and a fresh partnership with In2Dialog, theMatchBox stands as a rare recruitment tech company that has consistently demonstrated a strong growth trajectory.

  • Company Spotlight: theMatchBox

  • Founded: 2014

  • Headquarters: Antwerp, Belgium

  • Active: Across 9 languages in Europe,, Clients in Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Germany, France, Italy and Portugal

  • Focus: AI-powered matching technology for recruitment agencies inside the ATS and embedded in portals and job boards. 

  • Key Benefits: 30% more successful matches through proven AI technology, fully compliant with European AI legislation

Manual Processes in a Digital World

When theMatchBox entered the recruitment market ten years ago, the landscape looked very different. "What we saw when we entered the market was that many staffing companies were still working very manually and leaving quite a few opportunities unused," Jan explains. Traditional recruitment agencies relied heavily on manual processes, with recruiters spending countless hours sifting through CVs and candidate databases, often missing potential matches that weren't immediately obvious.

This wasn't just inefficiency - it was lost revenue. Every missed match represented a potential placement that never happened, a candidate who didn't find their ideal role, and a client whose position remained unfilled. The core challenge was in the fundamental process of the staffing industry: connecting supply and demand effectively and at scale.

AI That Actually Works

theMatchBox stepped into this gap with a clear mission. "We use our technology to search for matching candidates and matching jobs in a very efficient way, and we try to connect them automatically," Jan notes. But there's a crucial distinction in their approach. "The key point is that we're not trying to replace the recruiter - let's be clear about that - but to support them by constantly bringing up new opportunities that they might not think of themselves."

This philosophy has proven successful with major clients including House of HR, House of Talents, Impact, Talentus, and SD Worx. The validation speaks for itself: agencies using theMatchBox consistently report faster workflows and more placements, with recruiters able to focus on what they do best - the human elements of recruitment.

Beyond CVs: The Data Revolution

One of theMatchBox's most significant innovations addresses a fundamental limitation in traditional recruitment: the over-reliance on CV data. "The CV describes what you did in the past. But in many cases, that doesn't mean you want to keep doing the same thing," Jan points out. "People are more open to a new job because they want to do something new. They want to change, they want to learn something new."

This insight led to theMatchBox's recent partnership with In2Dialog, a Dutch company specialising in interview intelligence. Through this collaboration, recruitment conversations are automatically converted into matchable data. "We automate the process of converting a nice conversation - which recruiters really enjoy having - into data they can use for their AI matching," Jan explains.

The partnership addresses a critical gap in recruitment data. In conversations, candidates reveal their ambitions, soft skills, and career aspirations - information that rarely appears on a CV but is crucial for successful long-term matches. "You can match that candidate with vacancies they want to fill, where they see the logical next steps in their career," Jan notes.

The Compliance Challenge

As AI adoption accelerates across recruitment, compliance has emerged as a critical differentiator. theMatchBox has invested heavily in ensuring full compliance with European AI legislation - a move that sets them apart from what Jan calls "cowboys in the market" who take liberties with regulations.

"What Europe wants to achieve is that the individual is protected," Jan explains. "Specifically in our industry and certainly regarding matching, you must be able to prove that the AI matching being used contains no bias, no discrimination." Unlike quick implementations using large language models, theMatchBox's approach allows agencies to explain exactly where each match recommendation comes from.

"We've accelerated our work towards AI compliance and certification. theMatchBox is today 100% compliant with European AI legislation and we notice staffing agencies are demanding it in their RFP’s" Jan confirms.

Scaling Through Strategic Partnership

Theacquisition by Pixid Group in late 2024 marked a significant milestone for theMatchBox, but not in the way many tech acquisitions unfold. Rather than losing independence, theMatchBox has gained resources and reach while maintaining its innovative culture.

Pixid Group, originally founded by Manpower, Adecco, and Randstad twenty years ago, brings a unique perspective to the partnership. "Pixid has that DNA to create added value in this sector in an independent way," Jan explains. "So theMatchBox also does that. Since the acquisition, we've become official partners with MySolution and Byner, and we continue to operate independently and provide added value for those ATS platforms naturally."

This partnership has enabled theMatchBox to integrate its AI matching technology into Pixid's global vendor management systems, extending their reach while maintaining their technology leadership.

Technology That Scales

theMatchBox operates on two levels that complement each other effectively. Within ATS platforms like Bullhorn, Otys, MySolution, and Byner, their matching modules help recruiters find suitable candidates from vacancies and suitable vacancies from candidates. They can connect live to databases like VDAB and integrate with job aggregation services to provide comprehensive matching capabilities.

Less visible but equally important is their work powering job portals and websites.

"We combine very efficient matching, both in our clients' ATS and on their portal and website. That combination makes it quite strong," Jan notes. The technology also integrates with marketing automation flows, using candidate behaviour data to refine match suggestions continuously.

Looking ahead, Jan sees clear trends shaping the recruitment industry. "The first trend we see is unlocking more and more personal data that's already in the ATS or floating around somewhere. I'm thinking of click behaviour, conversations, notes and such."

The second major trend aligns with broader technology adoption: conversational interfaces. "With 800 million ChatGPT users, conversational search and matching are becoming key elements users expect. They want to find suitable vacancies using natural language and be guided through a conversation to discover the right opportunities”

Practical Guidance for Agency Leaders

For recruitment agencies looking to future-proof their operations, Jan's advice is both practical and urgent. "You need to have a data strategy as an owner of a staffing agency. Data is the new oil," he emphasises. "If you don't have a data strategy, you can't scale without having to hire extra recruiters for every growth you want to achieve."

His recommended approach is systematic: "Determine for that organisation an Olympic minimum of what we need to know about a candidate, what we need to know about a vacancy. And then use tools like theMatchBox to automate your processes in your self-service job portals and ATS as much as possible with technology, with AI among others."

Compliance can't be an afterthought. "Make sure it's compliant with European legislation, because if you're not, you might have to start from scratch again," Jan warns, predicting that "within a year the first convictions will follow" for non-compliant AI usage in recruitment.

The message is clear: agencies that haven't begun their digital transformation are not just behind - they're at risk of being left behind entirely. The technology exists today to dramatically improve recruitment outcomes. The question is whether agencies will embrace it quickly enough to maintain their competitive position.

Lessons from a Decade of AI in Recruitment

theMatchBox's ten-year journey offers valuable lessons for the broader recruitment industry. First, AI technology in recruitment works when it's designed to augment human capabilities rather than replace them. Second, compliance and transparency aren't just legal requirements - they're competitive advantages in an industry built on trust.

Most importantly, Jan's approach demonstrates that sustainable success in recruitment technology comes from understanding the industry's fundamental challenges and solving them systematically, not from chasing technological trends. "Our core is and remains matching in the ATS or integrated in our client’s apps and portals. We've been doing that for ten years. We still do that as the best in the industry," he states with quiet confidence.

As recruitment agencies worldwide grapple with increasing competition, talent scarcity, and client demands for better results, theMatchBox's decade-long track record offers both inspiration and a roadmap. The future of recruitment isn't about choosing between human expertise and artificial intelligence - it's about combining them effectively to deliver results that neither could achieve alone.

For HR leaders and recruitment agency executives, Jan Govaerts and theMatchBox represent more than just another technology success story. They represent proof that when AI is implemented thoughtfully, compliantly, and with genuine understanding of recruitment challenges, it doesn't just promise transformation - it delivers it.

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