In today’s rapidly evolving tech landscape, the demand for skilled professionals has reached unprecedented levels. The competition to attract top talent is fierce, and traditional recruitment methods are often insufficient to meet the unique challenges of hiring in the tech industry.

Enter AI-driven talent matching platforms—innovative tools that leverage artificial intelligence to optimise and streamline the recruitment process. These platforms are not just transforming how companies hire; they are setting new standards for efficiency, accuracy, and fairness in tech talent acquisition.

The tech industry is characterised by fast-paced innovation, constantly evolving skill sets, and high demand for specialised expertise. Traditional recruitment methods, which rely heavily on manual resume screening, interviews, and recruiter intuition, often struggle to keep up with the rapid changes and complexity of the tech job market. This leads to longer hiring cycles, higher costs, and a greater risk of mismatched hires.

AI-driven talent-matching platforms address these challenges by automating and enhancing the recruitment process. By analysing vast amounts of data, these platforms can match candidates with job openings more effectively, ensuring that the right people are placed in the right roles. This not only speeds up the hiring process but also improves the quality of hires, leading to better outcomes for both employers and employees.

AI algorithms gather and analyse data from multiple sources, creating detailed profiles of candidates and job openings. For instance, they might pull data from LinkedIn profiles, GitHub repositories, or other online portfolios to assess a candidate’s skills and experience.

Once the data is analysed, the AI matches candidates to job openings based on criteria such as skills, experience, education, and even cultural fit to some extent. This automated process is faster and more precise than traditional methods, reducing the time and effort required to find suitable candidates.

AI-driven platforms learn from past hiring decisions and outcomes, continuously refining their algorithms to improve the accuracy of future matches. This adaptive learning process helps to ensure that the platform becomes more effective over time.

Here is what some of the top AI-driven recruiting and tech assessment platforms offer today

• Some AI-driven platforms combine video interviewing with predictive analytics to assess candidates. It uses natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to analyse video interviews, evaluating factors such as language use, facial expressions, and tone of voice.
• This can predict a candidate’s potential job performance, allowing companies to make data-driven hiring decisions. Such platforms can come in handy for screening large numbers of candidates quickly, making it ideal for tech companies with high-volume hiring needs.
• There are some AI-powered sourcing and recruitment platforms that leverage AI to search across various databases, including LinkedIn, GitHub, and other online resources, to identify candidates who match specific job criteria.
• They also offer deep learning capabilities that allow recruiters to refine their searches based on several parameters including skills, job titles, and even candidate behavior. It also integrates with ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems), making it easier to manage candidates throughout the hiring process.

The adoption of AI-driven talent matching platforms offers numerous benefits:

• Efficiency: These platforms significantly reduce the time and effort required to identify and hire the right candidates. For tech companies, where time-to-hire can be critical, this efficiency is invaluable. For example, a report from the recruitment software provider Hiring Solved found that AI can reduce the time-to-hire by up to 50%, streamlining the recruitment process.
• Enhanced candidate matching: AI uses algorithms to analyse vast amounts of data, matching candidates based on skills, experience, and job fit more accurately than manual methods. According to a study by LinkedIn, companies using AI-driven recruitment tools saw a 35% increase in the quality of hires.
• Data-driven insights: AI platforms provide detailed analytics and insights into recruitment metrics, such as candidate sourcing effectiveness and hiring trends. This data enables better decision-making and process optimisation. For instance, according to a Deloitte report, organisations using AI for recruitment experienced a 30% increase in hiring manager satisfaction due to data-driven insights.
• Precision: By leveraging vast amounts of data and advanced algorithms, AI-driven platforms provide a level of precision that traditional methods cannot match. This leads to better job matches and, ultimately, higher employee satisfaction and retention.
• Scalability: Whether a company is hiring for a single role or looking to scale its workforce, AI-driven platforms can handle recruitment at any scale. They can process and analyse large volumes of candidate data quickly and accurately. A survey by Talent Tech Labs found that 65% of companies reported improved scalability of their recruitment process through AI.
• Bias reduction: By focusing on objective data, AI-driven platforms can help mitigate biases in the recruitment process. This is particularly important in tech, where diversity and inclusion are critical to fostering innovation. A Harvard Business Review article highlights that AI-driven tools have been shown to reduce gender bias in job postings by up to 40%.
• Enhanced candidate experience: These platforms often provide a more personalised and streamlined experience for candidates, making it easier for them to find roles that align with their skills and career goals.

The future of tech talent acquisition

As AI technology continues to advance, its role in talent acquisition is likely to expand. Future platforms may incorporate even more sophisticated features, such as predictive analytics to forecast long-term success, real-time skill assessments, and advanced simulations for technical roles.

For tech companies, embracing AI-driven talent matching platforms is not just about staying competitive—it’s about leading the charge in a rapidly changing industry. Those who leverage these tools effectively will be better positioned to attract and retain top talent, driving innovation and growth in the future.

In conclusion, AI-driven talent matching platforms are revolutionising how tech companies approach recruitment. By offering unmatched efficiency, precision, and scalability, these platforms are set to become indispensable tools in the quest for top tech talent. As technology continues to evolve, so will the strategies and practices that define the future of tech talent acquisition.

Khushal Bakshi, Director – Talent Acquisition at Ascendion,

In the competitive world of digital commerce, customer acquisition is one of the biggest challenges for small and mid-sized brands. Acquiring customers is only one part of the challenge; the other issue is retaining them and ensuring they come back for more. 

This calls for innovative solutions and tools, and that’s what Nitro Commerce promises to provide. 

The Gurugram-based marketing automation platform was started last year by former colleagues Umair Mohammed, Atyab Mohammed, Shamail Tayyab, and Pratik Anand. It seeks to help small ecommerce brands and businesses boost their engagement with users, help them acquire loyal customers, and address high customer acquisition costs.  

“We recognised the need for innovative tools to address specific pain points. Our mission is to enhance user acquisition and buying intent while democratising data, enabling small businesses to make informed decisions,” says Umair Mohammed, Co-founder & CEO, Nitro Commerce.

The genesis 

Years of research and hands-on experience helped the founders of Nitro Commerce realise that many ecommerce brands, especially in India, struggle with rising customer acquisition costs and inefficient conversion strategies. Existing marketing solutions are too expensive, too complex, or not suited to the specific needs of the Indian market. 

“The digital landscape has changed dramatically, with stricter privacy regulations and the decline of cookie-based tracking. We knew there was a need for something more compliant and more effective,” says Mohammed.

Nitro Commerce provides a suite of tech-driven SaaS solutions aimed at ecommerce and direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands, focusing on privacy compliance, affiliate marketing, and AI-enhanced customer engagement. These solutions help brands attract the right kind of consumers and convert them into loyal customers. 

The seeds of Nitro Commerce were planted during the founders’ time at Wigzo, a tech startup focused on customer engagement and retention, which was acquired by Shiprocket. During their tenure here, they identified critical gaps in the market, particularly in user acquisition and product discovery. 

“We saw how much effort brands put into bringing new users to their websites. But without effective tools to convert those visitors into customers, much of that effort was wasted. Nitro Commerce was created to fill this gap,” says Mohammed.

Solutions for a complex problem

Nitro Commerce offers three solutions: Nitro X, Nitro Collab, and Nitro Store. 

Nitro X is a cookieless identification and consent management tool that enables brands to track and engage with users without relying on third-party cookies. 

The tool uses device fingerprinting, first-party data, and consent-based identifiers to gather insights while complying with privacy regulations such as the Data Protection and Digital Privacy Act (DPDA). Its consent management system has pre-filled capture templates that streamline user interaction.

“We’ve built Nitro X to future-proof businesses. With privacy regulations like the DPDA coming into play, it’s more important than ever to have compliant, cookieless technology in place,” says Mohammed.

Nitro X, which focuses on behavioural insights, analyses around 30 signals from users such as page views, repeat visits, engagement with ads, click patterns, and scroll depth, to identify high-intent buyers. This enables brands to run targeted engagement campaigns and helps convert anonymous users into loyal customers. 

For instance, let’s assume a user often visits a fashion website, browses products, and adds items to their cart without completing the purchase. Nitro X can recognise this high-intent behaviour and launch a targeted campaign with personalised email reminders about the abandoned cart, tailored offers and discounts, and similar products that resonate with user interests. 

The solution supports platforms such as Truecaller, Taboola, Criteo, and Hotstar for seamless targeting. 

“We see privacy as an opportunity, not a limitation. Our patent-pending Nitro X technology allows brands to respect user data while still engaging with them in meaningful ways. This builds trust, which is crucial for long-term customer relationships,” Mohammed explains.

Nitro’s other solution ‘Nitro Collab’ is an affiliate marketing tool that allows D2C brands to drive growth through strategic partnerships and influencer collaborations. 

“Nitro Collab makes it easier for brands to tap into new audiences through strategic collaborations,” explains Mohammed.

Nitro Store is a web interface that enhances user experience during navigation and checkout. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to recommend products based on user behaviour. 

All these solutions are geared towards optimising user experience and encouraging/nudging them to buy, thus converting visitors to customers. 

Focusing efforts on promising customers who are likely to purchase leads to better conversion— as opposed to generic efforts aimed at all customer segments—and helps brands reduce customer acquisition costs, Mohammed points out. This also helps boost sales and build customer loyalty in the long run, he adds. 

He cites an example to elucidate this. A skincare brand notices that users who engage with its Instagram posts tend to buy its products. Hence, it can focus its marketing efforts on social media ads to achieve better results while spending less overall. 

Revenue model and growth 

Nitro Commerce has a diversified revenue model to cater to client needs: a subscription model with monthly and annual plans; percentage commission based on clients’ ad spending and campaign performance; and a revenue share model that is tied to the incremental revenue generated by clients. 

The startup says it achieved $1 million ARR within just eight months of launching. It claims to assist brands in achieving growth rates of 11X-12X.

Talking about the challenges, Mohammed says recruiting the right tech talent and keeping up with the rapid changes in data privacy regulations have been some of the hurdles faced by the team.

The startup works with over 250 brands in India, including Caratlane, Revlon, and BIBA. 

“For many of these clients, we’ve seen a sales increase of over 10% in just one quarter. It’s not just about driving traffic, it’s about driving the right traffic,” states Mohammed.

Nitro competes with companies such as Moengage, Wigzo and ZEPIC in the customer engagement space. 

Commenting on how Nitro stands out, Mohammed says, “Our headless approach allows brands to design their front-end experience while leveraging back-end functionalities, enabling personalisation and flexibility that empowers brands to engage with customers, drive loyalty, and boost sales.”

Going forward, Nitro Commerce—which is currently bootstrapped—plans to raise capital to scale its technology and operations. The company also plans to enter the United States where demand for data-driven, personalised ecommerce solutions is high.

SoftBank-backed Eruditus has raised $150 million in a new funding round as the demand for upskilling remains robust, marking a rare growth area among online education platforms that have otherwise experienced a significant decline since the pandemic.

The funding round coincides with the company’s decision to shift its domicile to India from Singapore, CEO and Co-founder Ashwin Damera told YourStory. Eruditus joins a growing list of Indian startups relocating back to India with plans for an eventual listing on local stock exchanges. 

“We will start work with the Big Four (audit firms) and lawyers and maybe by early next year, file for the reverse flip [relocating to India],” Damera told YourStory.

The CapTable, last month, had reported how India’s stock markets are increasingly attracting startups to list in the country.

Private equity firm TPG’s The Rise Fund led Eruditus’ Series F funding round with a $100 million investment, at a slightly lower valuation of $3.1 billion. The remaining funds came from existing investors, including SoftBank, Accel, Leeds Illuminate, CPP Investments, and The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, according to a company statement on Friday. 

According to a regulatory filing seen by YourStory, Eruditus has already secured $146 million from TPG, SoftBank, Leeds Illuminate and CPP, and is expecting another $3 million from The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The allotment of shares happened in Singapore on Thursday.

Eruditus, previously valued at $3.2 billion, had been seeking fresh capital for over a year. It initially aimed for a mix of primary and secondary investments but ultimately raised a fully primary round, Damera said. Last year, Eruditus had raised around $30 million in debt from Mars Growth Capital.

The fresh capital will help Eruditus pursue acquisitions and investments that have historically driven its growth, particularly in strategic markets like India and the US. Damera noted that the company is focusing on acquisitions in sectors such as enterprise solutions and study abroad programmes. It is also considering expanding its offerings through acquisitions in undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes.

Following the company’s reverse flip, Eruditus will prioritise expanding its operations in India. Damera said the country is currently the fastest-growing segment for the company, with the Asia-Pacific region accounting for 27-28% of its consolidated revenue. The US remains Eruditus’ largest market, contributing nearly 40%. Damera expressed a goal of having India contribute 40-45% to Eruditus’ revenue “in coming years.”

In FY24, Eruditus’ booking revenue grew by 15% from the previous year, reaching about Rs 3,800 crore, according to Damera. Although growth slowed compared to the 65% jump the previous year, the company achieved EBITDA profitability, with Rs 80 crore in earnings. The company, which follows a July-to-June financial year, reported Rs 3,200 crore in revenue the prior year. For the current fiscal year, Eruditus is targeting 30% revenue growth, aiming for Rs 5,000 crore.

In a statement, Eruditus said it will also use the newly raised funds to invest in artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the learner experience, expand its fast-growing enterprise business, and strengthen its presence in India and the Asia-Pacific region. Eruditus also noted that the need for AI-related training helped drive 45% growth in its enterprise solutions last year.

Founded in 2010 by Damera and Chaitanya Kalipatnapu, Eruditus partners with more than 80 universities worldwide to provide professional learning programmes for working professionals. The company offers over 700 such programmes and has raised more than $1 billion in equity and debt, making it one of India’s highest-valued edtech firms.

In India, Eruditus faces competition from Ronnie Screwvala’s upGrad, which saw restructuring earlier this week with its co-founder and managing director stepping down from his executive role.