For decades, companies and candidates alike have been frustrated by the recruitment process — a drawn-out, expensive ordeal filled with uncertainty. Expert recruiters often find themselves spending 70% of their time searching for the right candidates, taking over 12 weeks and incurring huge costs. Even the most advanced systems have struggled to eliminate inefficiencies, which leads to mismatches, lost time, frustration, and wasted resources.
TalentLabs.ai is changing the game with a platform designed to revolutionize how companies and candidates connect. By leveraging the latest in AI, big data, and intention learning, TalentLabs.ai is building a platform that works for everyone—from large enterprises to emerging startups. Its goal is to create a system that doesn’t just fill positions but finds
the right people quickly, transparently, and at scale.
Whether the goal is filling a high volume of roles quickly or identifying a hard-to-find specialist, the innovative platform is designed to drive faster, more meaningful job placement. By combining AI with Human-in-the-Loop, it can replace the first six weeks of manual sourcing and screening and reduce lengthy hiring times to under 30 days.
The story of TalentLabs.ai is about more than just its technology—it's about dedication, clear vision, and a commitment to continuous improvement.
The Founders: From Google and LinkedIn to Shaping the Future of Recruitment
TalentLabs.ai is the brainchild of
Erik Juhl and
Wayne Chan, two passionate innovators and perfectionists with deep roots in tech and recruitment. Juhl, a seasoned recruiter with experience at Google and LinkedIn, spent years fine-tuning his craft, bringing top talent into notoriously hard-to-hire organizations. Chan, a software engineer and machine learning expert who co-founded the billion-dollar gaming company Kabam, has extensive experience building and leading technical teams in fast-growing companies.
Like many great ideas, TalentLabs.ai didn’t spring from a moment of immediate clarity. Instead, it came from years of witnessing inefficiencies and missed opportunities – both within the biggest corporations and in startups with lean budgets.
"The best hires often came from places no one expected," says Juhl.
"Resumes that didn’t fit the mold—people with unconventional backgrounds or experiences—these were the candidates who brought the most value."
Despite the wealth of advanced hiring tools, Juhl and Chan knew there was a disconnect between talent and opportunity. And so, the idea for TalentLabs.ai was born: a solution that uses AI not just to streamline hiring, but to unearth hidden talent and bring transparency to a traditionally opaque process.
Utilizing their combined experience managing talent and Chan’s extensive background in AI and machine learning, the team envisioned a platform that could scale the efforts of the world’s best recruiters. But bringing this vision to life wasn’t without its obstacles.
Navigating Uncertainty in a Rapidly Evolving Market
Every startup faces challenges, but TalentLabs.ai’s journey has been a lesson in adaptability amid a changing economic landscape. As businesses responded to global uncertainties, the hiring market shifted dramatically—from rapid expansion and talent shortages to cautious spending and hiring freezes, and even layoffs. Investors were becoming more selective after a period of unprecedented spending, and startups needed to demonstrate tangible ROI with limited resources.
At the same time, the rise of generative AI ignited a competitive race to build the most innovative solutions. For HR tech companies like TalentLabs.ai, the challenge was twofold: not only did they have to keep up with rapidly advancing AI technologies, but they also needed to prove their value in a cost-conscious, high-pressure environment where hiring decisions carried greater weight.
In a sector already known for its long sales cycles and entrenched competition, TalentLabs.ai had to differentiate itself by delivering real, measurable outcomes—faster and more efficiently than ever before.
Turning Challenges Into Opportunity: Pivoting with Elev X!
Juhl and Chan quickly realized their company – and solution – had to be nimble. The rapid evolution of AI technology and market shifts meant they had to constantly adapt their product and strategy. But, the very challenges they faced opened the door to new opportunities, allowing TalentLabs.ai to fine-tune its solution for a shifting recruitment industry.
Joining
NEC X’s Elev X! Ignite program proved to be a pivotal moment for the company. The program provided critical resources and mentorship, but more importantly, it brought in strategic insights that helped Juhl and Chan think beyond the immediate challenges and towards scalable innovation. NEC X's engineering expertise helped fast-track their development while providing valuable feedback to further refine their technology stack.
Rather than simply offering financial support, Elev X! empowered TalentLabs.ai to reexamine their go-to-market strategy, sharpen their focus, and rethink how AI could be deployed at scale to address the most pressing pain points in recruitment—such as candidate engagement, inefficiencies in manual processes like scheduling, and improving communication among stakeholders. The partnership was instrumental in accelerating TalentLabs.ai’s evolution while helping the founders position their company for long-term growth.
"Elev X! didn’t just provide us with capital; they gave us the guidance and resources we needed to rethink our approach," says Chan.
"Their machine learning expertise helped us accelerate product development, and the mentorship was invaluable in refining our GTM strategy."
“With the support of NEC X, we’ve identified our ideal customer and are building incredible technology,” says Juhl.
“The education and resources we’ve gained, along with access to an expansive network, have opened doors to new business opportunities that are helping us scale faster and smarter. We’re now positioned to transform the hiring landscape globally.”
AI-Driven Recruitment at Scale: The TalentLabs.ai Solution
At its core, TalentLabs.ai is more than just a recruitment tool—it’s an
Agentic AI-powered platform designed to enhance every aspect of hiring and scale the efforts of the world’s top recruiters. From identifying the right candidates to engaging them and guiding them through the hiring funnel, the platform provides precision and clarity every step of the way.
The cornerstone of TalentLabs.ai is its
AI Hiring Persona—a custom-built AI that replicates the experience of working with the world’s best human recruiters, at a fraction of the cost. The system is designed to understand the nuances of what makes a candidate a perfect fit, whether it’s their experience, cultural alignment or growth potential. Unlike traditional tools that are often rigid and prone to inefficiencies, TalentLabs.ai offers the utmost flexibility and accuracy.
The platform doesn’t stop at hiring; it creates a transparent, data-driven process that provides deep insights into why a candidate is a good fit, while providing job seekers with personalized feedback to empower their next steps. This comprehensive approach is already delivering tangible results, saving businesses weeks in recruitment time and cutting costs dramatically.
Success Stories and a Bright Future Ahead
In its early phases, TalentLabs.ai has already delivered significant impact. One notable success came from a fast-growing tech startup needing to scale its team quickly enough to meet market demand. TalentLabs.ai stepped in, leveraging its AI-driven platform to source and place its first seven key employees within just weeks—cutting the typical hiring timeline in half. By analyzing thousands of candidate profiles and using its Agentic AI to target the best matches, TalentLabs.ai enabled the startup to not only save over six weeks per hire but also secure top-quality candidates with pinpoint accuracy.
These early wins demonstrate TalentLabs.ai’s ability to transform hiring, helping companies save both time and resources while securing the talent they need to succeed.
But this is just the beginning. With plans to achieve $100 million in annual recurring revenue in the next ten years, and the recruitment industry evolving, TalentLabs.ai is uniquely positioned to continue its disruption, offering a scalable, AI-driven solution that adapts to businesses of all sizes and industries.
“We’re not just building a company; we’re creating an ecosystem where AI and people work together to unlock better outcomes,” says Chan.
“Our goal is to help millions of people find the right opportunities and for companies to find the talent that can drive their success.”
Follow TalentLabs.ai progress at
www.TalentLabs.AI
