5 AI Startups To Watch

Musical accompaniment for this week’s newsletter. The common refrain in most of the conversations we’re having right now is that AI innovation is so rapid that it’s almost impossible to keep up with the pace of change. It’s probably not surprising that the main question we get is: Which AI Work Tech brands are most interesting to you?

That’s part of the impetus behind TSC’s “5 AI Brands To Watch in 2025.” Of course, we could name a lot more than five, but some brands are more novel than others. Some of this is the tech, but a lot of it has to do with the founders. There are some startup leaders you talk to, and you can tell that these companies are going to be a big deal.

Take Helios as an example. The Employer of Record (EOR) category has absolutely exploded as a disruptor of traditional HCM. Now this startup – which just raised $15.5 million in seed funding – is disrupting the disruptors with its AI-first global workforce management platform, proving that AI can actually make global hiring and payments happen without the headaches. When you talk to founder Rick Hammell, SPHR , you absolutely believe that he’s going to make it happen.

Then there’s SquarePeg, which is providing mid-market recruiting teams with a candidate-matching superpower. The secret sauce is a mind-blowing level of data enrichment that is done in a way that is – and this is super-important – a transparent and auditable way so you can make sure that hiring is happening in a legally compliant and non-biased manner. Claire McTaggart is a very impressive and super-focused founder.

Then there’s Arist. As impressive as their course-authoring AI is, it’s their ability to easily distribute content via text, Teams, and Slack that makes this product a complete package. Founders Michael Ioffe , Ryan Laverty , and Maxine Anderson are doing an amazing job of leading from the front.

The other two companies? Well, go ahead and check them out for yourself.

What else is going on this week?

Darwinbox raises $140 Million

The startup with Indian roots, which is building a SaaS platform for hiring, onboarding, and employee administration, raised funding through a mix of primary and secondary share sales, with several unnamed investors selling parts of their stakes.?

Micro Podcast Ep. 85: Lauren Schneider

Lots of marketers who believe in the power of a thought leadership strategy on LinkedIn also express frustration when their founder or senior executives won't make it a priority. This week, Matt Tatum talks with Lauren Schneider , the Head of Brand and Comms at Compt, to get the story behind how they rolled out a Founder Brand strategy on LinkedIn with their CEO, Amy Spurling . WATCH NOW

San Francisco: Good News/Bad News

As the City By The Bay works to bounce back from its post-pandemic struggles, every bit of positive news being trumpeted seems to be followed by a sad trombone. Case in point:? Databricks says it will invest $1 billion in the city of San Francisco over the next three years. Meanwhile, 20-somethings are abandoning SF because it’s “not worth it.”

Funding and Acquisitions

• Anthropic raises $3.5 billion, reaching a $61.5 billion valuation. (VentureBeat)
• Employ acquires Pillar to bring more AI power to interviewing. (HR Brew)
• Ramp doubles valuation to $13 billion in a secondary share sale. (TechCrunch)
• AI startup Coreweave files for 2025’s first big IPO. (MSN)
• Ceramic AI raises $12 million seed round. The Mountain View, California, startup builds enterprise-grade infrastructure to optimize how companies train and deploy their AI models faster and more efficiently. (TechCrunch)
• Comet raises $10.7 million Series A. The French company matches freelancers with corporate projects, using AI to detect and qualify skills for a contingent workforce. (CB Insights)
• HeyMilo raises $2.2 million seed round. The NYC startup is an AI-powered candidate screening platform. (FinSMEs)

The Big Number

Accuracy, according to the claims of Carnegie Mellon researchers who developed a machine learning model that analyzes the outputs of five popular LLMs and distinguishes between them.

Industry Notes?

• Salesforce launches Agentforce 2dx, pushing autonomous AI deep into enterprise workflows. (VentureBeat)
• Open AI’s GPT 4.5 model comes to more customers. (TechCrunch)
• Google and HP are scheduled to release this year a 3-D video communications platform that works without requiring users to wear glasses or a headset. (Wall Street Journal)
• Leaner development teams and a higher bar for hiring new roles are some of the changes coming as companies turn to generative AI coding tools. (Wall Street Journal)
• Would you pay $20,000 per month for an AI agent? Open AI thinks so. (TechCrunch)
• Manus, the new AI agent from China, explained. (Newsweek)
• Microsoft takes a harder stance on performance reviews as AI wars heat up. (Business Insider)
• February jobs report looks solid, but trouble may be brewing. (Indeed)
• Economists rethinking 2025 labor forecasts in the wake of government layoffs. (Bloomberg)
• Curalinc Healthcare announces Derek Newell as its new CEO. (Press Release)
• A data breach at DISA Global Solutions, Inc., a third-party employment screening services provider, affected more than 3.3 million people. (HR Dive)
• Layoffs: Dayforce cuts 5% of its workforce. Zendesk lays off dozens at its SF headquarters.
• Could the Workday AI lawsuit expand to class action? (JDSupra)
• Syndio introduces expert AI for pay reporting compliance. (Press Release)
• Bryan Nelson joins Visier as Chief Marketing Officer. (LinkedIn)
• Betterworks announces David Taylor as vice president of partnerships. (LinkedIn)
• Sierra Hinson joins Helios as Chief Financial Officer. (LinkedIn)
• 401(k) balances hit a near-record high in 2024. (BenefitsPRO)

LEARN: Put ABX to Work In Your GTM

The old SaaS growth playbooks are broken. What’s next? Our clients are beginning to see success with ABX (Account-Based Experience). READ THE WHITEPAPER

ICYMI: Last Week’s Top 3 Reads

The three most-clicked links from the previous Work Tech Weekly:

1. Continued uncertainty is expected for Workhuman as ownership struggle remains unresolved. (The Times)
2. Workday CEO sees opportunities for DOGE to push for updating federal systems to the cloud. (Business Insider)
3. Pew Research survey showed that 80% of Americans don't generally use AI at work, while those who do seem unenthusiastic about its benefits. (ZDNet)

Around The Shop

Stuff we’re finding interesting right now at TSC.

• Mark Newman of Nomi Health: America needs a healthcare revolution. (Fast Company)
• What is marriage, work, and parenting like for Gen X? Ask Ed Burns. (Esquire)
• RIP The guy who did Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast. (Rolling Stone)

I’ll be in NYC this week. Want to chat? Hit me up.

That’s it for this week!?

Everybody love everybody,

Steve

P.S. Let’s meet. Are you a #WorkTech or #EnterpriseSoftware company with more than $10 million in revenue or funding that wants to accelerate your growth? Book a meeting with us to discuss how we can improve your go-to-market strategy and execution.

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