What: Gap Inc. has launched Bridgette, an AI career guide that helps candidates find and apply for jobs, answers their questions and schedules interviews, ahead of an expected 200,000 seasonal applications.

Why it is important: Gap Inc. is using peak hiring season to test whether AI can take scheduling and candidate questions off store managers, as US forecasts for seasonal hiring diverge.

Gap Inc., the owner of Old Navy, Athleta and Banana Republic, announced Bridgette on 23 October. The tool runs on Paradox and Workday Recruiting technology and also sends reminders and keeps candidates informed throughout the hiring process.

Gap Inc. developed it partly to free store managers from recruiting administration. Since June it has piloted Bridgette at over 100 stores and six regional distribution centres. Nearly 45,000 people have used it and it has scheduled more than 7,000 interviews. The company is hiring for full-time and part-time seasonal roles and had not said how many positions it wants to fill.

Amy Thompson, chief people officer at Gap Inc., said technology can manage the repetitive coordination behind hiring while its people focus on the conversations and decisions that build teams.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas projects US retail seasonal hiring will fall 2.5% to about 450,000 jobs in the fourth quarter. The National Retail Federation expects 325,000 to 375,000 seasonal hires, against 265,000 to 365,000 a year earlier.

IADS Notes: Marks & Spencer is recruiting 11,000 festive staff, more than the 10,400 roles at John Lewis, in a market where rising labour costs are pushing retailers towards automation and job cuts (Drapers, October 2026), and El Corte Inglés is adding about 6,350 people for Black Friday and Christmas (Fashion Network, October 2026). On the customer side, Macy's launched a shopping assistant built on Google's Gemini, and customers who use it spend nearly 400% more than those who do not (Fortune, March 2026). Research on AI in retail hiring finds efficiency gains alongside bias risks and a weaker candidate experience, which keeps human judgment necessary (Harvard Business Review, December 2025). In a US survey, 74% of workers say an AI-led interview would change their view of a company and 59% believe AI worsens bias (ESG Dive, December 2025).

Gap Inc. launches an AI career guide for seasonal hiring