From shortlisting resumes to tracking employee productivity, conducting exams and running entire marketing campaigns, artificial intelligence is subtly dismantling the traditional corporate playbook. At TiECon 2026, held at the Hyatt Regency, a wave of startups showcased tools that are replacing entire departments’ worth of manual work with algorithms that are faster, cheaper and, as their founders claim, smarter.
The all in one growth engine
“GoHighLevel”, a US based platform founded in 2018, but in the works of, since a decade now, is one of the most comprehensive AI toolkits for small and medium businesses today. Its pitch is simple but powerful-replace over 15 separate business tools with one. CRM, sales funnels, website builder, email marketing, SMS marketing, booking, workflow automation, course hosting, reputation management, call tracking, document signing, tools that would collectively cost a business $1,856 (approximately ₹1,72,500) per month all bundled into GoHighLevel for $97 (approximately ₹8,900) a month. The platform, operating out of a modest 50-seat office at Dallas, Texas with the rest entirely remote, serves over 60,000 agencies, which in turn manage nearly 14 lakh businesses worldwide. Co-founded by Chennai hailing, now Qatar based software engineer Varun Vairavan along with US based co-founders Shaun Clark and Robin Alex, the company was built without any venture capital, with all the founders living off their spouse’s salaries in the early days.
HRs but make it AI
Founded in 2021 by Mumbai based CEO Sweety Patyal, “DXG Global” is an AI HR platform that handles recruitment, compliance and payroll across the globe. Its product, built out of Mohali, runs on proprietary large language models the team spent 18 months developing in house. DXG’s standout feature is its “employer of record model”, which allows businesses to hire talent globally without setting up local legal entities, while the platform manages all compliance and payroll in the background. It claims to reduce time to hire by up to 60%.
Employees under AI’s surveillance
Post Covid remote work gave rise to a quiet epidemic, moonlighting, dipping productivity and data leaks. “MaxelTracker”, founded in 2021 by Mohali-based True Quantum consultancy, was originally built as an internal tool before CEO Mandeep Singh realised its wider potential. The software monitors employee activity and generates AI powered productivity reports for managers. The name is a nod to Maxel, meaning sun in German, clarity and visibility being its core promise. Notably, the platform lets companies choose whether to inform employees they are being monitored or operate in stealth mode, a transparency feature, Singh positions, as what separates it from straight surveillance.
Blockchain Enters the Exam Hall
Another distinctive offering came from “Antier Solutions”, whose product EduBlock Pro is India’s first blockchain based end-to-end exam management system. Founded by Vikram Raj Singh, the platform serves school boards, universities and public sector recruitment bodies, making question papers and results tamper proof through blockchain’s immutability. Another fragment of Antier-ASB (Antier school of block tech), an LMS (learning management system) has already signed an MoU with Panjab University (PU), with integration expected from the next academic session. The platform has also received recognition from STPI, the government’s Software Technology Parks of India, timely, given the national conversation around exam paper leaks.
