Edge Networks is using AI to streamline HR services

As a young corporate professional, Arjun Pratap faced a host of questions when it came to figuring out how to write his resume, where to apply with his experience and receive relevant responses from companies. He realised the process of job hunting needed to become simpler, faster and more standardised. 

Often, employees are not aware about internal opportunities within large organisations. Having faced all of these issues, Pratap saw a business opportunity here for automated services. From tracking individual competencies and functional roles to project experience and matching all these with new requirements across the organisation requires a company to invest in human resource management and supporting software that does not contribute directly to revenue.

Edge Networks is an artificial intelligence-driven human resources (HR) tech solutions provider that last week bagged $4.5 million worth of Series-A funding from the likes of Kalaari Capital and Ventureast. 

“Workforce optimisation and talent acquisition are critical for success in an increasingly tech-driven environment. The team at Edge Networks are building an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven solution to address future challenges in HR management. We are happy to become a part of their growth and success story through this investment,” said Siddhartha Das, general partner at Ventureast.

The concept

“The standard customer is an enterprise with over 5,000 employees. It already has systems in place like human capital management to help track the workforce. Our technology helps make sense of the data,” said Pratap, founder and chief executive officer of Edge Networks. The service adds value to HR data by matching them with requirements using AI and machine learning technology.

Edge Networks caters to IT companies in India, helping them not only to add and manage new talent but also in data science-based forecasting of future requirements.
 

The software also validates data from other ecosystems within the organisation to enhance individual profiles if it notices that a user has not updated it already. Edge Networks uses neural networks that use industry and occupational information from various ecosystems and help in finding suitable matches.

Demand and supply forecasting, gap analysis, workforce planning and transformation with respect to market demand were among the areas of service, Pratap said. “One major value proposition for these large enterprises is the ability to identify and help employees switch roles within the organisation based on their experience,” he added. Basically, Edge Networks helps companies make sense of their own employee databases to utilise them better.

Edge Networks sees significant of demand for its services from the IT and banking industries as also from health care and retail. 

Revenue model

“We look at the number of transactions we service in a software as a service (SaaS) model,” said Pratap. 

There are four different product offerings from Edge Networks which include talent acquisition, demand forecasting, talent optimisation and workforce transformation. 
 

“The value that we charge the customer is based on how much time we have reduced while maintaining quality during acquisition per employee. For the analytics service we charge on a monthly basis,” he said. 

The current round of funding will be invested in product innovation. Edge Networks will also invest in expanding its presence in the US. “Our investors were very supportive from the beginning. We started with little money in 2012 and went on to partner NSDC in innovation and that provided the fuel,” said Pratap. He was, however, clear about focusing on specific sectors in the initial stage. 

Road ahead

Revenue will be a constant milestone for this product-focused company but it is not the only one. Reaching a number of global delivery goals, especially in the US and the UK, and netting large clients is a major target.

“Our ability to go global and use revenue as a mark-up will be key to defining growth,” said Pratap.

Within two years, Pratap expects Edge Networks to have a global presence and within another five years he hopes to reach larger areas of service, including the government. The biggest challenges will be in acquiring talent across the globe. “We also have to ensure that we scale efficiently across geographies without breaking the back of the organisation,” he said.

Expert Take: Regular flow of resumes to portal is a must

Edge Networks definitely has an edge over the competition in the niche segment that it operates in, due to its funding and recognition by Google. 

The most important factor is attracting talent to post resumes with Edge Networks. Clients come to Edge Networks for solving their critical recruitment challenges. hence a regular flow of resumes to its portal is a must.

Kris Lakshmikanth Founder, chairman and MD, Head Hunters India

 

With the recent funding it has obtained, Edge Networks must take several steps to increase footfall, like fostering campus relations with the top 50 engineering campuses for freshers and hackathons for lateral hiring.

On the client acquisition side, it should focus on digital marketing to reach new clients. Another requirement will be seminars with leading academics and CXOs. It could also add a few IT veterans to its top management and advisory committee.

- Kris Lakshmikanth Founder, chairman, and MD, Head Hunters India