Fountain's Candidate AI Agent (CAI) helps job seekers complete their applications and answers their questions along the way. It is trained on your company's job Openings and reads your job descriptions to answer role-specific questions. It also draws on applicant information from your Fountain Hire workflows, so it can handle technical questions such as "How can I check my application status?" or "How do I reschedule an interview?" Learn how to set up and use Candidate AI by reviewing this article.
The final step of setting up your agent is creating its Knowledge Base. A strong Knowledge Base goes beyond your job descriptions to cover things like company culture, role specifics, frequently asked questions, and an overview of the application process, so the agent is ready to support your applicants. Plan to refine it over time as you learn what applicants ask.
You build your Knowledge Base by uploading files for the AI to learn from and by editing topics directly. Both are covered below.
Important Note: Access to Candidate AI Knowledge Base
Building the Candidate AI Knowledge Base is only available to administrators.
Review the image below to understand where Fountain’s CAI knowledge is built from:
Knowledge Base Creation Steps
Review this article to learn all the steps to create an AI agent. This article will only focus on creating the Knowledge Base.
After completing the first two creation screens, you arrive at the Train step. Here you upload files for the AI to turn into your Knowledge Base, then review and edit the topics directly.
Build Your Knowledge Base
The Knowledge Base is the final step of agent setup (the Train step). You build it by uploading files for the AI to learn from, by editing topics directly, or both.
Upload Files for the AI to Use
When you reach the Train step, you start on the file upload screen. Upload documents such as an employee handbook, recruiter scripts, candidate FAQs, benefits guides, or a hiring process overview, and the AI uses them to fill in your Knowledge Base automatically.
Drag and drop your files into the upload area, or click choose files to browse. Supported file types are .pdf, .ppt, .docx, and .txt.
Click Upload files. The AI reads your documents and pre-fills the relevant topics. To move on without uploading, click Skip for now.
You can upload files at any time, both during initial setup and later when maintaining the Knowledge Base, to add information you did not include the first time.
Edit Topics Directly
The Knowledge Base is organized into topics, such as Brand Overview, Positions, Compensation, Application Process & Timeline, Working Hours, and Background Check. Select a topic from the list on the left to jump to it; the list shows how many topics you have completed.
Type your content directly into each topic's field. Each topic includes helper text describing what to include, and a tooltip explaining the kinds of candidate questions that topic supports. You can resize a field to make longer entries easier to write.
To add a topic that is not in the default list, click Add topic and enter your own title and content. Custom topics are free text and do not include helper text.
Export the Knowledge Base
Click Export at the top of the Knowledge Base to download a copy of its full contents. Use this to keep a saved version you can refer back to, or to move content between Fountain and other tools.
When your Knowledge Base is ready, click Publish to finalize the agent, or click Save as Draft to come back later.
Creation Best Practices
To build an effective, company-specific agent, treat its Knowledge Base as the agent's "brain" and put real care into it. Approach it like training a new employee: give the agent both detailed and high-level knowledge of your jobs and company. When a candidate asks a question, the agent reads the entire Knowledge Base and answers from a big-picture view, so keep the information consistent and free of contradictions.
Do | Don't |
Do understand your applicant experience and hiring workflows before you build your Knowledge Base. Be sure the information you include completely aligns with your applicant experience. | Don't focus on the single, specific questions an applicant might ask. Instead, write context-rich content for each topic so the AI agent can answer a wide range of related questions. |
Do provide details and rich context about your job Openings and roles, as they pertain specifically to your company. This creates a more effective, smarter AI agent. | Don't provide existing data that is already core to Fountain's underlying AI technology (see Applicant Data and Fountain Data in the image above). For example, don't provide instructions to reschedule an interview, as that is core to the underlying AI knowledge. |
Do provide reasons an applicant should want to work at your company (for example, context about culture, brand, values, and mission). The information you enter will "sell" the job. | Don't provide general or common world knowledge (for example, that the common work week is Monday through Friday). Instead, provide robust information and details about your job Openings, roles, and company. |
Do use one "voice" and concise language to ensure clarity and consistency throughout your Knowledge Base. | Don't use acronyms without defining the acronym at least once. |
Do review and audit all information regularly to guarantee there is no conflicting information (for example, terms, instructions, or details). | Don't forget to revisit and update your Knowledge Base regularly to ensure current accuracy and relevancy. |
Do be certain the information you enter is clear and beneficial to both job seekers and applicants. | Don't include acronyms or references that only applicants would understand. Instead, use precise language that is clear to both applicants and new job seekers. |
Do include location information in the job description. The AI agent will always reference this information whether or not the applicant has selected a job to apply to yet. | Don't put location information in your Knowledge Base topics. The AI agent references different information based on what it knows about the applicant when a question is asked, so Fountain recommends including location information only in the job description. |
Do write your Knowledge Base content as if you know nothing about the applicant. | Don't write your Knowledge Base content assuming you know any applicant details. |
Update Your Knowledge Base
Fountain recommends regularly adding new questions from job seekers and applicants to keep your Knowledge Base current. To update your Knowledge Base, follow the steps below:
To edit, update, or change any information in your AI Agent Knowledge Base, follow the steps below:
Navigate to Company Settings by clicking your initial icon in the top right corner of any Fountain page. Then click Company Settings in the dropdown.
Click Candidate AI Agent in the toolbar on the left.
Click the 3 dots button to the right of the Candidate AI agent you want to update and then Edit in the menu.
Make any adjustments in the Personalize AI Agent and Set AI Agent Functionalities screens. If no changes are needed, click Save and Next to move to the Train step.
You will now update the Knowledge Base on the Train step. Edit any topic directly, upload additional files to add new information, or add a new topic. Click Publish to finalize your updates.