At this point, AI in the workplace is a staple. According to a recent report from Gallup, 47% of employees said that their employers have integrated AI tools into their workplace—a significant jump from last quarter’s reported 41%.
But adoption remains uneven. Despite the high momentum to integrate AI into daily tasks, the workforce appears to feel somewhat unprepared: one survey from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found that only 36% of workers have received adequate upskilling, and even less feel confident in how leadership implements AI adoption strategies.
That’s the gap between corporate ambition and real workflow change, and it’s exactly where certain startups are building. From AI coaching platforms to agentic back-office automation, the following 10 companies are helping close that gap.
Cloverleaf
Cloverleaf sits at the center of the AI-and-HR conversation, building coaching tools designed for professional development and the future of work. Rather than replacing managers, the platform is designed to augment how people understand themselves and their teams. Cloverleaf is at the forefront of the next wave of workplace AI that focuses on the human development side, not just the automation-for-maximum-efficiency one.
Remoti
Remoti is the front door to the future of work, applying AI to modernize it. As hiring pipelines get flooded with AI-generated resumes and applications, recruitment tech that can actually help place talent in front of the right recruiters is becoming a competitive necessity in the world of HR.
10Pearls
10Pearls delivers AI expertise that is not only widely diverse, but also grounded in immense deep technical and industrial knowledge. It helps firms not only adopt AI, but become AI-native. An intrinsic part of achieving this sits on building the right culture and workforce readiness to embrace AI—and 10Pearls’ team of experienced experts help companies drive meaningful value in learning and development initiatives surrounding AI.
Prezent
Knowledge workers spend a disproportionate amount of their week building slides and talking points, and Prezent has created the solution to this. Prezent’s AI-powered presentation tools aim to compress that time, freeing people up for higher-value work in the science and pharmaceutical industries.
IvySchool.ai
If AI is reshaping what skills matter, the reskilling pipeline matters just as much as the tools themselves. In fact, IvySchool.ai was founded by an eight-year-old boy, Bob Chopra, who became frustrated by the AI gap between what is taught in the classroom and what’s needed in the real world—and he decided to do something about it. IvySchool.ai focuses on AI-driven coding education, positioning itself at the intersection of two future-of-work trends: the demand for technical fluency and the use of AI to teach it faster.
Slalom
Slalom operates as an AI consultancy, helping larger enterprises figure out how to actually integrate AI into their operations—not just by buying the tools, but by changing the workflows and strategies driving them. Given how many organizations report AI initiatives failing due to change management rather than technology, this kind of consultative layer is arguably equally as important as the underlying software.
Nisum
Nisum blends digital engineering, consulting, and AI to help enterprises modernize their technology stacks. The startup helps firms accelerate their innovation with AI and knock down the barriers that limit their growth, providing them with clear roadmaps for AI development and strategic implementation for long-term transformation.
Ness Digital Engineering
Ness Digital Engineering pairs digital engineering expertise with AI consulting. It represents a growing category of firms empowering organizations beyond plugging in AI models, enabling them to rebuild the engineering around them.
OnTop
OnTop is building AI into the essential back office of HR and payroll. As companies increasingly hire and manage distributed, global teams, the operations behind payroll compliance and workforce administration are exactly the kind of “invisible infrastructure” AI is best positioned to fix.
one to ONE Holdings (o2oh)
Manufacturing is one of the leading industries with the highest rate of AI adoption—and also some of the biggest gaps in upskilling and applications. Leading the way to pave a more technologically empowered, safe, and efficient manufacturing future is o2oh, helping manufacturers implement AI and create new opportunities for the workforce with emerging tools. In fact, o2oh recently partnered with Japanese firm Ory to pilot teleoperated robots on the production line, enabling workers with disabilities to be present on the factory floor.
Disclosure: This article mentions clients of an Espacio portfolio company.
