The future of work

Innovating the Workforce: AI and Tech Solutions Redefine Recruitment and Talent Management at Web Summit Lisbon 2025

The Web Summit Lisbon 2025 Startup Showcase, focusing on the future of work, unveiled a range of innovative solutions revolutionizing the employment landscape. Startups presented cutting-edge technologies designed to address critical challenges in recruitment, talent management, and workforce flexibility. The event highlighted a strong emphasis on leveraging AI to create more efficient, fair, and human-centric work environments.

In recruitment, Ms. Ana Neto’s One Shot replaces CVs with AI-analyzed video challenges for faster, fairer candidate assessment. Ms. Rosane Marques’ iTRecruiter combines advanced tech with human insight to combat the IT talent shortage. Mr. Jozef Balaz’s JobMojito uses a digital recruiter for voice conversations, providing deeper candidate understanding. Ms. Svetoslava Angelova’s Tech Reserve streamlines hiring by automatically scoring applicants and conducting adaptive pre-screening for various skills.

Staq AI, co-founded by Ms. Caren Schwannauer, employs a voice agent to pre-screen applicants, delivering shortlists and automating job descriptions. Mr. Rodon’s CareerSwift makes job searching swift with AI tools that adjust resumes, offer interview coaching, and auto-apply. Mr. Yasir Khokhar’s Nosocial uses reinforcement learning to create “perfect matches” by extracting true needs from candidates and employers. Mr. Levan Asanidze’s Herio offers an AI-powered jobs app for hyperlocal, flexible workforces, replacing CVs with real-time review-based profiles.

Mr. Gabriele Giugliano’s Joinrs redefines talent acquisition for young professionals using AI embeddings to match meaning between resumes and job descriptions. Mr. Wim Pelgrims’ Matcher.jobs introduces Marcel, an AI recruitment bot using a scientific algorithm to measure culture fit across seven domains, prioritizing cultural alignment for engaged teams. Mr. Raul’s Chainstaff is an open referral platform where anyone can earn bounties by recommending candidates.

For talent management and development, Mr. Stefano Brugnerotto’s Hidden Laier uses AI to analyze internal communications, identifying burnout and predicting attrition. Mr. Art Maslow’s Foxtery converts any content into interactive online courses in minutes, personalizing learning and eliminating manual design. Ms. Tatiana’s Pellu tackles low corporate learning engagement by promoting agile, collaborative team learning platforms for progress tracking and feedback.

Mr. Mattias Liivak’s ProcessPlot prevents knowledge loss from training by delivering bite-sized learning “nudges” directly in communication platforms. Mr. Sergei Dolgov’s Archipelago is an AI-driven platform analyzing team culture and hidden identities to improve performance and productivity. Mr. Ivan Shevchenko’s Hi5 Labs. builds BragVault, an AI system that identifies and verifies engineering impact from daily tools, providing engineers with a data-driven track record for recognition.

In flexible workforce solutions, Mr. Kirshen Naidoo’s Gig Engineer offers an AI-powered platform for companies to instantly scale engineering teams and for engineers to find global projects. Mr. Arjun Narayanan’s RapidBrains provides cost-effective, pre-screened contract developers globally, reducing hiring costs by 70%. Mr. Slavamir’s Spacebrains helps build engineering teams with a unique guarantee: no charge if a matched candidate leaves within 30 days.

Mr. Philipy Brito’s Faceponto automates people management and time tracking with AI and facial recognition for compliance. Mr. Ron Veerkamp’s Voca is an AI-driven compliance engine validating collaboration between independent professionals and organizations, ensuring flexible work is safe and scalable. Mr. Cláudio Júnior’s Uportunidade focuses on cultural fit, offering a unique guarantee if a hire fails within three months.