AI hiring: hire staff from ChatGPT or Claude
Claude and ChatGPT can now search tested remote staff, write the brief and draft intros through MCP. How to connect StaffPick, and what the AI can't do.
By Anyro, founder of StaffPickPublished 5 min read
Contents
AI hiring used to mean software that screens CVs for large companies. Since 2025, a small business can do something simpler: ask Claude or ChatGPT to find tested remote staff, write the role brief and draft the intro, and approve each step itself. This guide explains what changed, what an MCP server is, how to connect StaffPick in Claude and ChatGPT, and what the AI does and doesn't do.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
AI apps learned to use outside tools through one open standard, and Claude and ChatGPT opened directories for those tools:
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 25 November 2024 | Anthropic announces the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard for connecting AI apps to tools and data |
| 1 May 2025 | Claude starts supporting remote MCP servers, launched as integrations |
| 14 July 2025 | Claude's connectors directory opens |
| 6 October 2025 | OpenAI launches apps in ChatGPT and the Apps SDK, "built on the Model Context Protocol" |
| 9 December 2025 | Anthropic gives MCP to the Linux Foundation's new Agentic AI Foundation |
| 17 December 2025 | OpenAI opens app submissions and an app directory in ChatGPT |
| 2026 | ChatGPT apps become plugins |
The result: one connection gives an AI app the actions a website offers, and the app can use them for you once you've signed in.
What an MCP server is, in one paragraph
An MCP server is a web address that tells an AI app which actions it can take on a service, such as "search tested people" or "send an intro", and lets it take them on your behalf. Each action has a name and a plain description, so the AI knows when to use it. You add the server once, by its URL. The first time, you sign in on the service's own site and choose Allow, so the AI app never sees your login. StaffPick's server is https://staffpick.ai/mcp.
Connect StaffPick in Claude
Custom connectors work on every Claude plan. The Free plan can add one.
- In Claude, open Customize, then Connectors, then Add custom connector. The Add to Claude button on our AI apps page opens this with StaffPick already filled in.
- Paste
https://staffpick.ai/mcp. - Click Connect, log in to StaffPick with your email code and choose Allow.
It works in Claude on the web, on desktop and on your phone. On Team and Enterprise plans, an owner adds it under Organization settings.
Developers can add the same server to Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Codex or Gemini CLI. The setup page has the one-line command for each.
Connect StaffPick in ChatGPT
OpenAI's Help Center says custom MCP servers with full MCP support are available on ChatGPT Business, Enterprise and Edu, in ChatGPT on the web. In a Business workspace, only admins and owners can add them. Pro users can connect custom servers "with read/fetch permissions", which means ChatGPT can search people and open profiles but can't save people, write a brief or send an intro. You'd finish those on StaffPick.
- In ChatGPT on the web, open Plugins, select +, then Add custom MCP server.
- Name it StaffPick, paste
https://staffpick.ai/mcpand choose OAuth for authentication. - Read the risk warning, tick I understand and want to continue, then select Create as a plugin.
- Install the plugin, log in to StaffPick with your email code and choose Allow.
- In a new chat, type @ and pick StaffPick.
By default, ChatGPT asks you to confirm actions that change something, such as sending an intro. Menus change often, so if a step looks different, OpenAI's help page in the sources below has the current version.
No account yet? StaffPick also runs a public server at https://staffpick.ai/api/mcp that needs no sign-in. Any MCP app can use it to search tested people, open anonymised profiles and check typical pay for a role. When you want to contact someone, it gives you a link to finish the intro on StaffPick.
What the AI does, and what you decide
Ask in plain words. For example:
- "Find me a bookkeeper who knows Xero and works Australian hours, under $1,000 a month."
- "Show me tested customer support people for a Shopify store on US Eastern hours."
- "Write a role brief for a part-time video editor, then show me the best matches."
Behind the scenes, the AI uses StaffPick's tools, and each step leaves a decision with you:
| Step | What the AI does | What you decide |
|---|---|---|
| Brief | Turns your sentence into a role brief and ranks tested people against it | Whether the brief is right |
| Search | Searches by role, skills, business hours and budget | Who's worth a closer look |
| Profiles | Opens anonymised profiles with test scores and the dates they were taken | Who goes on your shortlist |
| Shortlist | Saves people so you can compare them | Who to contact |
| Intro | Drafts the intro and sends it in your name, once you've checked the message | The words, and whether it goes |
| Plan | Tells you when an intro waits for a plan | Whether to start one. You do that on staffpick.ai |
The person you contact sees your message and the role, never your contact details, and accepts or declines. Contact details are shared by email only after they accept.
That split matches what people say they want. In a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, 71% of Americans opposed AI making the final hiring decision. On StaffPick, the AI shortlists and drafts, and you decide.
What it can't do
- It can't pay or sign for you. Plans are started and paid on staffpick.ai, by you, never in chat.
- It never sees contact details. Profiles are anonymised: first name, last initial, country, scores and rates.
- It only sees what you see. It acts as you, with your access, and never sees another business's data.
- It can't take tests for anyone. Tests, ID checks and consent stay with each person.
- It has daily limits: 10 intros and 40 AI briefs a day per account.
- It can be wrong. Read the brief and check the shortlist. What the AI gives you is a suggestion.
You can disconnect an app at any time under Connected apps on the AI apps page. It loses access straight away, not when its session runs out.
How many businesses already use AI
- A US Census Bureau working paper found 18% of US firms used AI in a business function between November 2025 and January 2026. It's a research paper, not an official estimate.
- SHRM's State of AI in HR 2026 report found 39% of organisations use AI in HR, with recruiting the most common use (27%).
- Pew (2023) found 71% of Americans oppose AI making final hiring decisions, and 66% wouldn't want to apply for a job with an employer that uses AI to help decide.
AI is becoming normal for the busywork of hiring, and people still want a person to make the call. StaffPick is built that way. For the human side of hiring, read how to hire a virtual assistant.
Connecting takes about a minute, and browsing tested people and getting an AI shortlist are free. If you'd rather use the website, describe the job on StaffPick.
Questions people ask
Can ChatGPT or Claude hire someone for me?
They can do the legwork: write the brief, search tested people, compare them and send an intro you've checked. You decide who to contact and who to hire, and you pay yourself. Through StaffPick, the AI app can't pay, sign anything or see contact details.
What is a Claude connector?
A connector links Claude to an outside service through an MCP server, so Claude can use that service's tools after you sign in and allow it. Custom connectors work on every Claude plan, and the Free plan can add one.
Can I add a custom MCP server to ChatGPT?
Yes, on ChatGPT Business, Enterprise and Edu, where admins and owners add them from Plugins. Pro users can connect custom servers with read and fetch permissions only, so ChatGPT can search but not take actions such as sending an intro (OpenAI Help Center, October 2026).
Is it safe to let an AI app use my hiring account?
On StaffPick, you approve the app on StaffPick itself, it acts only with your access, it checks intro messages with you before sending, and it can't pay. You can disconnect it in one click, and it loses access straight away.
Sources
Each figure in this guide comes from one of these pages, checked on 27 Oct 2026. Prices and rules change, so open the source before you rely on a number.
- 1Anthropic: introducing the Model Context Protocol (25 November 2024)anthropic.com
- 2Claude: integrations, remote MCP servers in Claude (1 May 2025)claude.com
- 3Claude: the connectors directory (14 July 2025)claude.com
- 4Claude Help Center: get started with custom connectors using remote MCPsupport.claude.com
- 5Anthropic: donating the Model Context Protocol and establishing the Agentic AI Foundation (9 December 2025)anthropic.com
- 6Model Context Protocol specificationmodelcontextprotocol.io
- 7OpenAI: introducing apps in ChatGPT and the new Apps SDK (6 October 2025)openai.com
- 8OpenAI: developers can now submit apps to ChatGPT (17 December 2025)openai.com
- 9OpenAI developers: pluginsdevelopers.openai.com
- 10OpenAI Help Center: connecting custom MCP servers in ChatGPThelp.openai.com
- 11OpenAI developers: connect a custom MCP server to ChatGPTdevelopers.openai.com
- 12StaffPick: use StaffPick from Claude, ChatGPT and other AI apps (tools, limits, data)staffpick.ai
- 13US Census Bureau, Center for Economic Studies working paper CES-WP-26-25 (April 2026)www2.census.gov
- 14SHRM: State of AI in HR 2026shrm.org
- 15Pew Research Center: AI in hiring and evaluating workers, what Americans think (April 2023)pewresearch.org