Growth is nothing new at Airudi. This rising AI star has consistently doubled or even tripled its sales every year since its launch in 2019.
“We’re HR specialists. Growth is in our DNA,” says Amanda Arciero, Co-founder and VP Operations at Airudi.
Airudi’s algorithm automates HR decision-making processes, helping companies make strategic decisions faster. Its AI-powered solution is designed by and for people and is rapidly gaining in popularity. “It’s like a virtual HR manager,” says Pape Wade, CEO and Co-founder of Airudi.
Pape was once HR director of a large company with 3,000 employees, and Amanda was his senior advisor when they made the same observation: “HR was essentially a support function. Most professionals were consumed by repetitive tasks and time-consuming processes,” says Amanda. “Plus, we were seeing tons of data accumulate in filing cabinets and spreadsheets that we weren’t using at all.”
Amanda and Pape decide to leave their respective jobs to pursue an ambitious goal: to use the data accumulated by HR departments to automate administrative workflows and put people back at the heart of organizations. Thus Airudi was born.
The two entrepreneurs landed their first major contract worth $3 million in 2020. Year after year, they continued to gain new customers in Canada, Europe and, more recently, Africa.
Their growth has been organic but skyrocketing. In five years, Airudi has become a leader in the AI community and the HR sector. Thanks to strategic partnerships, over 5,000 companies worldwide now use their products.
From left to right: Amanda Arciero and Pape Wade.
Airudi’s added value
With some 50 employees in Quebec, Ontario and Senegal, Airudi currently offers three AI-powered solutions: workforce prediction and allocation, occupational health and safety, and enhanced recruitment.
“Our goal is to reach around $100 million in profit by 2028,” says Amanda.
The company’s name, Airudi, is pronounced like the word érudit (“erudite” in French). It’s a nod to Airudi’s multi-disciplinary team of artificial intelligence, data science, human resources and business intelligence experts.
The secret to their success? According to the two entrepreneurs, it’s a combination of several factors.
1. Putting people first
First of all, Airudi’s algorithm addresses a major concern for the HR sector.
We’re using digital intelligence to make HR teams more efficient and productive, allowing them to focus on what matters: creating human connections.
Amanda Arciero,
Co-founder and VP Operations, Airudi
Amanda gives the example of the recruitment platform, which helps customers recruit better, faster and on a larger scale by automatically matching profiles to vacant positions and ensuring fast and efficient follow-up and interview scheduling.
“By reducing the time spent on recruitment, our customers can spend more time building relationships with candidates and successfully onboarding them into the company,” says Amanda. Two other strengths of the Airudi solution: quality and granularity. “The CFO of a company with 3,000 employees is not at all the same thing as the CFO of a company with 30 employees. Our algorithm captures this kind of nuance.”
80%: Reduction in recruitment time when using Airudi’s enhanced recruitment solution.
A people-centric approach guides the company’s own business strategy, not just its product development. The first team that Airudi hired—even before building a technology team and thinking about fundraising—was an advisory board made up of experienced businesspeople including Robert Dutton, ex-CEO of Rona, Frantz Saintellemy, President and CEO of LeddarTech, and Julie Plouffe, Partner, SVP Finance and Chief Accounting Officer at Sagard.
“We learned together and built Airudi together,” says Pape. “Our advisory board continues to give us invaluable insight.”
Next, the two entrepreneurs established strategic partnerships with researchers working in Quebec’s top AI network.
With highly skilled employees ranging from masters-holders to post-docs, Airudi has developed an SaaS (Software as a Service) business model that guarantees financial stability through recurring revenues.
2. Building strategic partnerships
Strategic partnerships were also important to the company’s growth. “We operate mainly through redistribution partnerships or marketing agreements,” says Amanda. “We talk more about partners than customers at Airudi.”
One of Airudi’s most promising partnerships is with the Maritime Employers Association (MEA), the organization that manages the workforce at the Port of Montreal.
Since ship arrivals and departures don’t follow a regular daily schedule, the MEA had to ask terminal operators to determine their labour requirements for the next day. Port employees’ schedules were generated daily at 6 p.m.
Taking into account port traffic, weather conditions, and the quantity and type of cargo, Airudi developed an algorithm that optimizes workforce allocation while respecting collective agreements, the availability of port workers and the skills required.
“Our solution accurately predicts ship arrival times up to 21 days in advance, ensuring smooth operations in the port and reducing workforce allocation errors from 30% to 15%, generating significant savings in labour costs,” says Amanda.
The partnership with the Port of Montreal has opened doors in Europe. The Quebec-based company subsequently developed a strategic partnership with SOGET, a French company specializing in streamlining logistics flows, covering 40 logistics sites in 8 countries.
More recently, Airudi has adapted its predictive solution to provide Urgences-santé with a similar paramedical staff planning tool.
3. You’re never too small to go international
International expansion is another successful strategy that has put wind in the company’s sails. “Innovation is experienced differently in North America, Europe and Africa,” says Pape. “We’re an innovative company. It’s important to have these different perspectives.”
Many companies say to themselves: We’re going to make our name on the Quebec market, then go international. I think this is a mistake. We had five employees and were already developing the international market.”
Pape Wade,
CEO and Co-founder of Airudi
Airudi has already had customers in Europe for two years and has just opened offices in Pape’s native Senegal. The growth and innovation potential of the African market is still underestimated. “Our Cameroonian-born scientific director, Foutse Khomh, ranks as the world’s fourth most prolific researcher in terms of publications in AI, and he ranks first in Canada. There’s a lot of talent and growth potential on the African continent,” says Amanda.
Currently, 80% of Airudi’s sales are generated in Canada, 12% in Europe and 8% in Africa.
As it expands its international footprint, the SME remains firmly rooted in the Quebec technology community. “When it comes to innovation, we’re very strong in Quebec, with access to the best talent and researchers,” says Pape, who also sits on the board of Mila – Quebec AI Institut.
Growth, but not at any price
AI is a powerful tool, but one that raises a number of ethical issues.
“We’re making the same mistake we made with the environment. If we don’t put the responsible side of AI first, we’ll soon hit a wall.”
Pape Wade,
CEO and Co-founder, Airudi
Each year, Pape and Amanda participate in a strategic planning exercise to ensure that Airudi’s business objectives and technological advancement are aligned with its values.
Are we creating a positive impact for the benefit of society, employees and customers? Do we create people-centric products? Are we making good use of technology?
“We put a lot of thought into all our decisions. If there’s growth potential, but it’s not aligned with our values, we won’t consider it.”
Amanda Arciero,
Co-founder and VP Operations, Airudi
Pape likes to use the analogy of agriculture when talking about Airudi’s growth strategy: “Seeds are carefully sown and tended until they flower successfully. You have to be patient.”
For example, the strategic partnership with SOGET came about after a year and a half of work and meetings. “A partnership that opens the door to 40 ports around the world certainly takes time,” says Pape.
Conclusion
Putting people back at the centre of organizations. Customers who become partners. Learning from other perspectives and approaches. Growth, but not at any price. In five years, Pape and Amanda have built a winning strategy. Today, Airudi is a solid company rooted in sustainable values.
What’s next? According to Amanda, the more we look to the future, the more technology will be part of our lives. It’s essential to shore up companies against current challenges, including labour shortages, the arrival of new generations on the job market and inflation.
Airudi is currently looking for ways to further democratize access to its solutions, so that all organizations can benefit from them—while still centring people, being responsible, and creating value for companies and workers.
“Our philosophy is not to make money. Our philosophy is to create innovative, caring, people-centred technology that creates a positive impact. Usually, when you focus on good business, success and growth naturally follow,” says Amanda.
