In today’s fast-paced work environment, effective communication and seamless collaboration are paramount. However, progress often stalls when key team members are unavailable due to vacations, differing time zones, or other commitments. Recognizing this challenge, Ashutosh Garg and Varun Kacholia, co-founders of the AI-driven recruitment platform Eightfold, have introduced Viven—a groundbreaking startup aimed at bridging these communication gaps through artificial intelligence.
Viven has recently emerged from stealth mode, announcing a substantial $35 million in seed funding. This financial backing comes from prominent investors, including Khosla Ventures, Foundation Capital, and FPV Ventures. The core mission of Viven is to empower employees by providing immediate access to essential information from their colleagues, even when those colleagues are not available.
The Concept of AI Digital Twins
At the heart of Viven’s innovation is the creation of specialized large language models (LLMs) tailored for each employee. These models function as digital twins, replicating an individual’s knowledge and expertise by analyzing their internal electronic documents, such as emails, Slack messages, and Google Docs. This approach allows team members to interact with a colleague’s digital twin, obtaining prompt answers related to shared projects and organizational knowledge.
Ashutosh Garg elaborates on this concept: When each and every person has a digital twin, you can just talk to their twin as if you’re talking to that person and get the response. This innovation aims to eliminate delays caused by waiting for responses from unavailable team members, thereby enhancing productivity and efficiency.
Addressing Privacy and Security Concerns
Implementing such a system necessitates a robust framework for privacy and security. Employees often handle sensitive information and may have personal files they wish to keep confidential. Viven addresses these concerns through a concept known as pairwise context and privacy. This technology enables the LLMs to precisely determine what information can be shared and with whom within the organization.
The system is designed to recognize personal context, ensuring that private matters remain confidential. Additionally, Viven maintains a transparent query history for each digital twin, serving as a deterrent against inappropriate inquiries. Ashu Garg, a general partner at Foundation Capital, emphasizes the complexity of this challenge: It’s a very hard problem to solve, and until recently, it was unsolvable.
Early Adoption and Market Position
Viven’s technology is already being utilized by several enterprise clients, including Genpact and Eightfold. Notably, co-founders Ashutosh Garg and Varun Kacholia continue to lead Eightfold while managing Viven, effectively balancing their roles between the two ventures.
Currently, Viven stands out in the market with its unique approach to digital twins for enterprise use. Ashutosh Garg notes that, as of now, no other company is tackling this specific problem. To confirm this, he consulted with renowned investor Vinod Khosla, who assured him of the uniqueness of their endeavor and agreed to invest.
Ashu Garg of Foundation Capital also expresses enthusiasm for Viven’s potential: When Ashutosh came to me and described the product, the big aha for me was: there’s this horizontal problem across all jobs of coordination and communication, which no one is automating.
Future Prospects and Competitive Landscape
While Viven currently enjoys a unique position in the market, the landscape of AI and digital twin technology is rapidly evolving. Companies like Anthropic, Google’s Gemini, Microsoft’s Copilot, and OpenAI’s enterprise search products are exploring personalization components in their offerings. However, Viven aims to maintain its competitive edge through its proprietary pairwise context technology, which ensures precise and secure information sharing within organizations.
As Viven continues to develop and refine its technology, it holds the promise of transforming workplace communication by providing reliable, AI-driven access to information, regardless of individual availability. This innovation not only enhances productivity but also fosters a more connected and efficient work environment.
