Cascade AI is a Seattle-based startup using artificial intelligence to assist employees with HR-related questions. The company recently announced a $3.75 million seed round led by Gradient, Google’s AI-focused early stage venture fund. Cascade AI has developed an AI assistant that can answer HR questions related to benefits, bonuses, leave, retirement, internal conflicts, return to work policies, and more, trained specifically on a company’s HR policies. The assistant is able to automate more than 50% of HR support operations for customers, providing significant productivity gains for HR teams.
The AI assistant acts as a “first line of defense” for employees seeking answers to confidential questions they may not be comfortable asking HR colleagues. The assistant is able to tailor answers based on the individual asking the question, such as job title or location, and can escalate requests if necessary. Companies have access to aggregate data showcasing HR trends within their workforce, but they are not able to see specific employee queries. Cascade is exploring ways to enhance the bot so it can perform tasks for users, not just answer questions.
Cascade generates revenue through a per-employee-per-month pricing structure and is currently working with organizations with over 1,000 employees in industries such as tech, energy, and healthcare. The company, previously known as Cascade Health, originally focused on making healthcare pricing information transparent but pivoted to Cascade AI after discovering quality issues with publicly available health transparency data. Cascade previously raised a $1.75 million pre-seed round and is led by CEO Ana-Maria Constantin and CTO Pulak Goyal, both Harvard graduates with experience working at Microsoft.
Constantin, who holds degrees in computer science and astrophysics, was named Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the GeekWire Awards in 2020. Cascade AI’s AI assistant has proven valuable for employees navigating complex or sensitive HR situations, offering a solution to streamline HR support operations and provide employees with quick and accurate answers to their inquiries. With its latest funding round and continued growth in the HR technology space, Cascade AI is positioned to further enhance its AI assistant and expand its customer base across various industries.
