When Jahanzaib Ansari was looking for work in 2016, his resume was not the problem. Despite a CV boasting experience as a programmer and attending the University of Toronto, Ansari's job search soon hit a dead end. At the suggestion of a friend, he changed his first name on his resume and saw almost immediate results. "I wouldn't hear back from employers until my [colleague] said, 'Why don't you just Anglicize it?' I went with variations of Jason, Jordan, Jacob, and literally in four to six weeks, I got a job," says the CEO of Knockri, a technology firm that created an artificial intelligence tool that aims to reduce bias in the hiring process.

A few years back, Amazon had to stop using their AI (Artificial Intelligence) recruitment tool because human bias bled into machine learning. As it turns out, Amazon's AI was more likely to pick men over women because they used resumes to teach their models; and most of the resumes they used were from men. This led to the AI filtering out resumes that mentioned women in any capacity, essentially eliminating women from the hiring pool, essentially sabotaging the entire point of the tool. There is a lesson to be learned from this: Machine learning can learn our own biases and apply it to the real world. Machine learning really is up-and-coming, and we are still learning about how we can teach these machines to replicate our own decisions.

TechRepublic's Karen Roby spoke with Jahanzaib Ansari, co-founder and CEO of Knockri, a behavioral skills assessment platform, about unconscious bias in artificial intelligence. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation. Karen Roby: I think what makes this really interesting and why I wanted to talk to you, Jahanzaib, is because your desire to create this company was rooted in your own personal story. Jahanzaib Ansari: I was actually applying to jobs and I wouldn't hear back from employers. I have a long, ethnic name, which is Jahanzaib, and so my co-founder, Maaz, is like, "Why don't you just anglicize it?"

Ansari discusses a time when he was personally on the job hunt and consistently struggled to position his applications. At one point, he had to change the look of his name to a more Anglicized spelling to get his candidacy attention. This bias made him realize the danger of machines to help find the right hire. Ansari also discusses the importance of becoming completely committed to your company. Knockri endured a series of rejections before receiving confirmation and support for funding. Therefore, the CEO encourages an obsession with your company in order to help it meet success and push through the tough times.