Partner Spotlight: x0PA AI

Siddharth Somasundaran, X0PA AI’s first employee in Singapore, talks about how he has seen the start-up grow by leaps and bounds.

The pandemic-fuelled digitalisation drive is real: Between 2020 and 2021, AI-powered recruitment software company, X0PA AI, has enjoyed a 400 percent surge in sales.

“Companies that had put digitalisation on the roadmap for the next five years have now brought it forward,” said Siddharth Somasundaran, X0PA AI’s Head of Sales, on the figures which compare sales in the second quarters of 2021 and 2020.

“What does X0PA AI mean? The X and numeral zero represent numbers or data that is used for modelling, while P and A stand for predictive analytics.”

Siddharth, who prefers to be called Sid, added, “We get these conversations happening now which are quick to close. We are able to ride that wave, being in the right place at the right time.”

Part of that growth is due to how the impact of AI or Artificial Intelligence, in Sid’s words, “cannot be ignored today” with or without the pandemic.

X0PA AI offers an AI-enabled software which can screen through huge volumes of resumes and, based on the data it analyses, predicts the best or most suitable candidates for a particular position. At the same time, it can recommend better suited positions for those applicants.

Acing Remote Sales

While the company is fortunately doing well in sales, its pandemic-induced challenges are similar to many other companies: Remote engagement.

Sid said it has been a challenge trying to engage their potential clients and sell via a Microsoft Teams call. In the past, he would be visiting clients in their offices.

He said, “For X0PA AI we have managed to adjust to selling virtually by understanding the challenges faced, educating the customer on what the AI can do for them and demonstrating the capabilities of our solutions.”

However, he also faces the challenge of working from home. “I would have never imagined myself signing off a million-dollar deal via a Teams call with my three-year-old son in another room,” quipped Sid.

He has since learned that an effective remote sale boils down to not being pushy.

“There's been an overload of online calls. We differentiate ourselves by being subtle, sincere and genuine,” he said. From a “no obligation” introduction, they respond to further interest by making the effort to understand the customer’s needs.

Moving forward, X0PA AI is pushing ahead with online sales and building up a global network of partners that can offer their solutions, including HR consultancies and systems integrators. X0PA AI is also able to integrate with leading HRIS and hiring systems.

“We want to be able to sit on top of clients’ systems to bring intelligence to the system. There are no competitors in today's world, it is more of partnerships that build mutually beneficial revenue streams for all,” he said.

The company has gone through an incredible growth spurt in a short time and Sid has witnessed it all with pride.

Proud Moments as the First Employee in Singapore

As the first employee in Singapore when he was hired in 2019, and as the company’s first sales guy, he has experienced numerous personal highs.

From reeling in X0PA AI’s very first customer in 2019 to securing Pre-Series A funding in 2020, and scoring a major deal with Workforce Singapore - the statutory board which oversees the transformation of the Singapore workforce and industry.

It uses X0PA AI’s solution to scan through resumes that come through mycareersfuture.sg, Singapore’s national jobs marketplace.

“To be able to do that as a small organisation, to secure the crucial deal, it lifts the spirit of the entire organisation, the working team and fuels your personal motivations as well,” said Sid, sharing that the 5-member team “did everything” to ensure that its bid was water-tight.

Sid also recently became a shareholder of X0PA AI in the last seed round. “I’m elated to have the opportunity to be a shareholder of a deep-tech, rapidly-growing start-up; especially when I’m also responsible for shaping the growth of the business.”

From just one employee in Singapore, there are now over 20. Globally, X0PA AI now has over 50 full-time staff across Singapore and India, as well as in the UK and UAE. By the end of 2021, the company will recruit another 20 to 30 new staff.

Successful Career Transition

What Sid has done at X0PA AI is all the more remarkable considering that Sid wasn’t even trained in SaaS or cloud technology.

He worked as an electrical engineer for 10 years for industrial manufacturing giant Siemens in India, before deciding to switch to technology. He saw that “technology would be at the forefront of everything that we do or will do in future regardless of industry or job function.”

To launch himself into a new career, he came to Singapore with his wife and completed a 17-month Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree at the National University of Singapore before joining X0PA AI.

On that critical career switch, Sid shared that a mentor at Siemens had helped him arrive at his revelation.

“This mentor changed my outlook towards work and life in general - There’s always a bigger picture one should look at. It’s not just about completing a task, but the impact that I’m creating, the value that I am adding for the customer. This gave me the perspective of where I fit in the whole jigsaw puzzle,” he said.

Sid is now giving back by mentoring others.

Amongst coaching opportunities, he is volunteering as a guest speaker at his MBA alma mater, NUS. He talks to students on topics such as how AI is changing the face of HR, data analytics in HR or other relevant subjects. He relishes every opportunity because “I simply love going back to the campus! On most occasions, I learn a lot from an outside-in perspective shared by the class.”

Asked if he has any advice for youths who are starting out their careers in a very difficult climate, he said, “Believe in your capabilities and do not give up when times are tough. There will be a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Partner Spotlight is a DecodeHR initiative which offers valuable insights from the movers and shakers in HR tech.

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