IBM's Watson is getting some new co-workers. The tech giant recently went on the hunt for talent to help boost its super computing system, which defeated "Jeopardy" champions more than three years ago.
The company, which received almost 4,000 applications, decided to approach the hiring process in an nontraditional way. Chosen candidates answered a series of questions on video, and then participated in tasks such as building exercises and a scavenger hunt.
"It's a whole new era. We're looking for creative, smart, open-minded people who can make things work differently," John Gordon, vice president if IBM's Watson division, said in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Alley."
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"One of the biggest challenges for us is—what are the opportunities to go after? So we opened up Watson to an ecosystem because there are thousands and thousands of ideas people are coming after," Gordon said.
By the end of the day Thursday, IBM will have hired 65 people to work with Watson.
However, it wasn't the machine who uttered the words "you're hired." IBM is letting the humans do the talking.
"Watson didn't actually hire all these people that came in. We came through and did that work ourselves as we went through and sorted them out," Gordon noted.
Correction:
This story has been updated throughout to reflect that Watson was not directly involved in the hiring process.