PBSA Annual 2025 Recap: Back to the Work of Building Trust

Just over a month ago, I attended my first Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA) conference, and walked away with some powerful reminders about where the background screening industry is headed. Responsible AI, empathy, and strong infrastructure stood out as the pillars shaping what comes next, and as many of us work through 2026 planning, these themes feel especially relevant.

Let’s unpack the key takeaways and advice as you strategize for what’s next.

Technology is Shaping the Next Era of Screening

For those of us in background screening, 2025 marks a pivotal moment. AI is transforming the landscape, but the core mandate remains unchanged: build trust by delivering verified, accurate results, fast. The discussions at PBSA offered a comprehensive overview of how technology is transforming hiring workflows, from candidate experience to compliance. Three days at the show confirmed that while the tools are new, the foundation for success rests on verified, accurate, and ethical processes.

The event showed that responsible AI will be the new bar for the industry. While AI demos were everywhere, the most insightful experts were honest about both the promise and the 'hard parts'—like the true cost of compute and energy—and stressed the fundamental need for strong human oversight to prevent model drift.

The Missing Ingredient in Growth: Empathy and Trust

In his session on new avenues for industry growth, InformData’s CEO Andrew Feigenson challenged attendees to think differently about what drives progress.

He emphasized that growth begins with empathy — for the businesses that buy background checks and the candidates whose futures depend on them. Too often, checks are viewed as requirements rather than trust-creation mechanisms. InformData views them differently: each verification is an opportunity to build confidence, reduce friction, and strengthen relationships.

Andrew reminded attendees that growth often occurs in overlooked spaces — where verification removes barriers rather than adding steps. Just as Checkr helped the gig economy build trust at scale, the next wave of opportunity may arise from meeting an unmet need that is hiding in plain sight.

Key Takeaways

The most valuable insights focused on substance over slogans and responsible adoption over buzzwords:

• Responsible AI is the New Bar: Substance beats slogans. Buyers requested three key elements: clear sources, plain-English results, and human controls to ensure models are accountable. The strongest demos proved how humans review edge cases and how answers can be explained and defended—not just what the model can do.
• The Value of Real-Time Monitoring is Growing: Risk doesn't wait for annual cycles. There is increasing demand for event-driven updates—especially for drivers—to catch license or court changes sooner, enabling faster, lower-noise action.
• Infrastructure is Table Stakes: To deliver speed and compliance, leaders are prioritizing clean, real-time connections, clear audit trails, and flexibility. Integration that reduces manual handoffs and errors is now an industry expectation.
  
  

Advice for a Trust-Driven Industry

Based on the show’s most important conversations, here is the focus for the coming year:

• Keep AI Grounded: Show your sources, keep humans in the loop, and aggressively track cost versus value. Responsible AI is accountable AI.
• Build Trust, Don't Just Check Boxes: Treat every interaction as a chance to build trust with both buyers and candidates.
• Adopt Event-Driven Monitoring: Strategically add monitoring where it clearly reduces risk and cost, especially for high-risk roles.
• Prioritize Integration: Invest in modern infrastructure that delivers verified information fast and reduces handoffs.
  
  

We’re Here to Help

Before PBSA, we said: with new challenges, rising expectations, and more complexity in every workflow, it’s time for evolution—new ways to build trust, deliver value, and drive meaningful growth together. Coming out of the show, that felt even truer.

Our focus is on helping CRAs lead that evolution by pairing verified people data with real-time intelligence, modern infrastructure, and flexible workflows that unlock both confidence and efficiency. That’s the heart of our platform strategy and how we show up as a trusted partner, not just a provider.