Founder Story: Humantelligence by Juan Betancourt

Meet Humantelligence, the innovative solution tackling the complex challenges of workplace communication and collaboration.

As teams become more distributed, diverse, and varied in their generational makeup, finding common ground for effective interaction can be daunting.

They have developed a collaboration tool that harnesses the power of generative AI to provide personalized insights, enhancing communication and collaboration across teams.

This tool seamlessly integrates with everyday communication platforms such as Microsoft Teams®, Outlook®, Gmail®, Zoom®, Webex®, Slack®, and calendars, ensuring that improvements in team interactions are both meaningful and easily accessible.

By enhancing human connections among employees, Humantelligence helps companies boost productivity, reduce turnover, and build engaged, high-performing teams.

We have interviewed the CEO of Humantelligence, so let's hear from them more about their startup and how it's changing the way teams communicate and collaborate.

My name is Juan Betancourt, and I'm the CEO of Humantelligence. Having observed the limitations of conventional human capital management systems during my time at large F500 organizations, I recognized a need for innovation.

It was this realization that led me to launch Humantelligence, where I saw the potential to transform productivity, team performance, collaboration, and employee retention while making psychometric insights accessible to all.

With a track record of revitalizing global brands like Puma and overseeing the US division of Décathlon, my executive-level operational leadership has proved crucial for launching Humantelligence.

A Harvard economics graduate with an MBA from The Wharton School, I am committed to making the future of work accessible and better for all.

More on my background, I grew up in Maryland, as a Cuban American, going to public schools and competing in a variety of sports.

Throughout my life, human connection and curiosity have proven to be strong themes. From learning five languages fluently, to meeting and fostering friendships with over 10,000 people (pen pals) by the age of 22, I would write more than 200 birthday postcards every morning from 6 to 9 am for 20 years.

Luckily, that turned into b-day emails after 1997. I lived abroad for 15 years after college in Germany, France, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Dubai – working at blue chip companies: P&G, Reebok, Puma, and Decathlon to learn management and business.

This led me to Siebel Systems to learn software and technology, and then to Korn Ferry and Heidrick & Struggles to learn human capital management around hiring, leadership, team dynamics, and culture.

Spirituality and shamanic practices soon led to insights and the confidence to launch my current startup "Humantelligence" whose mission is to bring consciousness, connection, and emotional intelligence to the workplace.

The tool is called Smarter AI Collaboration.

Humantelligence, founded by Juan Betancourt, is a pioneering tech startup that's revolutionizing how teams communicate and collaborate in the workplace.

With its roots in addressing the inefficiencies found in traditional human capital management systems, Humantelligence provides a unique solution that harnesses generative AI to foster better connections among distributed teams and diverse personalities.

The core of their offering is the Smarter AI Collaboration tool, which integrates seamlessly with popular communication platforms like Microsoft Teams®, Outlook®, Gmail®, and others.

This tool delivers real-time, personalized insights into team dynamics, helping to enhance communication and collaboration without the need for additional tools.

It's designed to improve human connections within companies, thereby optimizing productivity, reducing turnover, and building engaged, high-performing teams.

Humantelligence solves the problem of poor collaboration, which can be costly and counterproductive.

By understanding individual behaviors, motivators, and work energizers, Humantelligence's AI tool facilitates a cohesive work environment that mirrors the efficiency of in-person interactions, regardless of physical distance or the generational dynamics of teams.

Looking ahead, Humantelligence is set to expand its capabilities with further AI integration, aiming to not only enhance team collaboration but also provide proactive recommendations to improve organizational efficiency.

This forward-thinking approach promises to keep Humantelligence at the cutting edge of workplace collaboration solutions.

If you’re part of a distributed team, genuine connection is crucial. Standard tools like email and MS Teams are foundational, but an AI tool that integrates with these platforms elevates our interaction.

It surfaces insights about our communication styles and motivators directly in our workflow, fostering a cohesive environment that mirrors working together in the same office.

This has been key to enhancing our collaboration and productivity, despite physical distances or intergenerational dynamics of teams. We’re talking about ‘Smarter Collaboration.”

We actually gained traction through and some wins through our recruitment tool, TalentFit.

And while we still support, develop and sell it, it has allowed us to pivot on our path forward with Smarter Collaboration -- our AI tool that enables better connection, communication, and collaboration. TalentFit is straightforward.

It helps you hire a stronger performing, more balanced team -- it's easier to understand because everyone knows how hard it is to find the best candidate for your role, team and overall dynamic or culture.

Ashley Furniture was one of our first large clients to use TalentFit. Right now, our traction is $1.6M ARR (cash flow positive), with 90% from subscriptions, and only a 6% churn. 100%+ YOY growth.

By far, the biggest hurdle in gaining traction was proving to companies that poor collaboration is a costly problem.

Successful teams must be agile. However, it’s impossible to be an agile team without fully understanding your coworkers’ behaviors, motivators, work energizers, and life priorities.

Without this baseline knowledge, you run the risk of having a team that lacks problem-solving, seems disengaged, and exhibits poor team dynamics.For example, let’s say you are onboarding a new executive team member.

Everyone on your existing team is a self-starter and decisive in their actions. Your new team member, on the other hand, is more team-oriented and deliberate.

While the rest of your team is independently working on their initiatives, your new team member is trying to get feedback and approval from others.

This disconnect between the new hire and the existing team may cause the new person to feel like they don’t belong and that they can’t engage with the rest of the team.

Because of this, the new hire may decide this isn’t the right role for them and leave, ultimately leading to lost time, resources, and finances for the rest of the team and company.

What's missing from the current environment is true and genuine connection.

Connection – it’s one of the hottest topics of the day. It's like this, if an organization wants to stay agile, keep employees (hybrid and remote) engaged, and ensure customers are satisfied, creating focus around human connection is essential.

As teams settle into permanently remote or long-term hybrid work models, effective communication and collaboration can no longer remain dependent on in-person interactions.

So while the concept of connection is easy to grasp, operationalizing it enterprise-wide in this context is the challenge and missing piece of the puzzle.

It's all about connection here too. Your network, the effort you put into growing and nurturing that network means everything.

If there is one word that could describe my approach to fundraising it would be CONNECTION.I have held a deep affinity for connecting with people.

Fondly dubbed the Facebook before Facebook by many of his friends, I spent much of my younger life connecting with others from around the world.

Pre-internet, social media, or email, I always built and implemented effective systems for staying in touch with his 15,000+ pen pals, which would soon underscore my professional endeavors.

In addition to fluency in five languages and living abroad in 8 different countries over 20+ years, my professional journey further highlights his personal passion for deep human connection.

Focused on aligning executives & companies for the right fit, I became one of the top executive search recruiters in the country, invited by the President of NBC Universal to appear on "The Apprentice", where I replaced Donald Trump’s advisor in the boardroom and advised him throughout Season 10.

My ability to forge meaningful connections even caught the attention of Malcolm Gladwell, who had written a book on the well-known concept of The Connector. It was after meeting me that Malcolm realized I was the truest of Connectors.

Throughout my life, he has studied cultural differences, human psychology, organizational effectiveness, leadership development, & team dynamics.

I have applied this wisdom to launch Humantelligence, an HR enterprise software solution that uses generative AI to help people in distributed teams/organizations connect more meaningfully.

Humantelligence surfaces tips for improved team collaboration, email communication, & meeting effectiveness in real-time from the communication tools people use every day (email, video conferencing, chat).

This ability to connect on deeper levels and build relationships has helped us break through the fundraising wall.

The biggest hurdle was getting our first institutional investment. We have plenty of angel investors, but getting funding through Engage VC is game changing.

We have been on a steady track to prove the problem of collaboration at work is costly and showing through use case after use case and testimonial (with some of the biggest companies out there through pilots), that Humantelligence's Smarter Collaboration can improve team collaboration, productivity, and as a result, benefit the bottom line.

We are growing and things look bright. With Engage VC as our partner, we look forward to revisiting conversations with potential investors who wanted to see more growth.

Here are a few other things we're excited about "Awards" we are gaining recognition. Over 20 HR tech awards in 2021-2024.

Most recently, the prestigious “Top Team Collaboration Product of the Year” in 2023 by HRO Today and Top HR Tech for 2024 by TalentCultureMarket Size: $30B market in the USA ($1-5 per user/mo., targeting 1.2M co’s in USA with > 1,000 emp.)Current Round: $2MM capped SAFE note with 20% discountFinally, we just been accepted to the prestigious Engage VC cohort.

Engage selected Humantelligence to become a part of its enterprise GTM & corporate partner program, taking on investment and streamlining the process of working with key enterprises headquartered in the southeast.

Engage is designed for high-growth start-ups and provides capital, mentorship and access to category-leading corporations.

Engage companies are building the future of enterprise and establishing the Southeast as a leading innovation hub.

Humantelligence joins the Engage Enterprise Go-to-Market program, which streamlines the process of working with the most influential corporations in the world.

Tech Square Ventures’ Engage is backed by 16 industry-leading enterprises, including The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Air Lines, Georgia-Pacific, Georgia Power Foundation, Georgia Tech, Goldman Sachs, The Home Depot, and Honeywell, among others.https://engage.vc/

The most concerning trend out there is the idea of AI replacing humans at work. It's concerning because we are of the vein that AI should be used to make work more human.

We're addressing this concern by showing people that technology can actually enhance connection for people. When drafting an email, chatting with a colleague, or joining a meeting, HT automatically surfaces useful, customized tips for more effective communication and collaboration between team members.

These insights are based on a comprehensive, scientifically-proven assessment that takes only 12 minutes for each team member to complete. With Humantelligence, leaders can create more balanced & diverse project teams, reduce friction between team members, and improve productivity.

By focusing on collaboration in this way, clients -- including BASF, Bank of the West, Honda, Baptist Health and others -- have improved team effectiveness and employee engagement while maximizing investment in their current communication technologies.

We don’t replace your communication and collaboration tools, we make them better. We help you maximize investment in your current communication technologies.

You’ll gain: 34% increase in email communication efficiency 27% increase in meeting productivity 22% improvement in team’s overall productivity Better connected team members which results in more engaged, productive teams; plus better team and one-to-one collaboration drives inclusion & belonging and positive employee experience It’s important to empower employees with the kind of tools that enable more effective collaboration.

We know that when people better understand themselves and others, they can better connect with each other, become more deeply engaged in their work and perform better.

At the same time, organizations can increase productivity and improve the employee experience. In our work with hundreds of organizations, we’ve seen our collaboration tool change the way companies think about how people work together.

I've learned a lot of lessons over the years, but if there's one piece of advice I could tell myself, it would be to remember this: The Harder I work, the Luckier I Am.

My grandfather – my mother’s father, Alberto Facundo Borges – who immigrated from Cuba in the 1950s had that quote posted in his office back in Virginia, where he settled and grew our family.

He was one of the hardest working and successful people I have ever known, eventually becoming the founder of modern-day plastic surgery.

In fact, he founded the technique behind scar revision with W-plasty and Z-plasty that every plastic surgeon in the world uses today.

I always admired his work ethic and modeled my life after his, believing in this quote to my core, that the harder I worked, the luckier I would get.

And sure enough, I have been really lucky in life, which I fondly attribute it back to working hard.