By futureTEKnow | Editorial Team
The future of HR is arriving faster than you think, and it’s being shaped by a new breed of AI—one that’s not just smart, but deeply attuned to the complex, human-centric world of human resources. This week, Wisq made headlines by securing a fresh $15 million funding round and unveiling HRLM, the first large language model crafted specifically for enterprise HR.
Generic AI models have made waves across industries, but HR’s unique challenges—from policy interpretation to employee relations—demand more than a one-size-fits-all solution. Wisq’s answer is HRLM, a language model engineered for the high-stakes, nuanced, and policy-bound realities of HR teams. Unlike general-purpose models, HRLM is optimized for accuracy, compliance, and speed, setting a new standard for HR service delivery, performance management, and risk assessment—all at a fraction of the cost.
Jim Barnett, Wisq’s CEO and Co-Founder, puts it succinctly: “The future of AI in HR isn’t a chatbot. It’s a colleague.” The goal isn’t to replace HR professionals, but to elevate their work—freeing them from repetitive tasks and empowering them to focus on what matters most: people.
HRLM: The first large language model tailored for HR, powering Wisq’s AI HR Generalist, Harper.
Hurdle: An industry-first benchmark for evaluating AI on HR-specific activities like employee relations, performance feedback, and policy interpretation. HRLM matches the performance of leading models like OpenAI o3, but runs faster and more affordably.
Early adopters are already seeing HR operations workloads reduced by 80%+, with significant gains in employee experience and strategic capacity. Wisq’s platform is designed to be both AI-first and deeply human, aiming to redefine how HR teams operate in the age of intelligent automation.
With this new funding, Wisq is doubling down on AI and platform development, expanding its engineering and go-to-market teams, and continuing its mission to lead HR into its Agentic Era—where AI isn’t just a tool, but a trusted teammate.
Founded in 2022 by the team behind Glint, Wisq has now raised a total of $55 million from top-tier investors. Their vision: to empower enterprises with AI Agents that transform HR, making it faster, smarter, and more human than ever.
Founded in 2018, futureTEKnow is a global database dedicated to capturing the world’s most innovative companies utilizing emerging technologies across five key sectors: Artificial Intelligence (AI), immersive technologies (MR, AR, VR), blockchain, robotics, and the space industry. Initially launched as a social media platform to share technology news, futureTEKnow quickly evolved into a comprehensive resource hub, spotlighting the latest advancements and groundbreaking startups shaping the future of tech.
Gecko Robotics becomes a unicorn with $125M for AI-powered wall-climbing robots, revolutionizing infrastructure safety and industrial inspections.
Cluely’s ARR skyrocketed to $7 million in a week after launching its enterprise AI notetaker, but open-source competitors like Glass are quickly gaining ground.
Meta is testing AI chatbots that message users first, changing how we interact on Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.
Deeto’s $12.5M Series A funding fuels its AI-native platform, redefining the B2B buyer journey through authentic customer-led growth and smarter sales enablement.
Explore how Formant F3 brings generative AI and agentic reasoning to robot operations, enabling smarter, more autonomous robotics management for enterprises.
Peec AI lands €7M to empower brands with analytics for AI search visibility, offering tools for performance insights, competitor benchmarking, and mention tracking.
AssetCool has secured £10M in Series A funding to scale its robotic grid upgrade technology, using advanced coatings and AI-powered robots to boost power line capacity and efficiency worldwide.
Nautica Technologies secures $4M to launch autonomous robots that clean ship hulls, helping the maritime industry cut emissions and costs.
Castelion, founded by SpaceX veterans, lands $350M to revolutionize hypersonic missile manufacturing—faster, scalable, and cost-effective solutions for defense.
Pinwheel launches a kids smartwatch featuring GPS, robust parental controls, and a safe AI chatbot—designed for secure, age-appropriate communication and peace of mind.
Werover, a Turkish tech startup, has raised $1.7 million to scale its AI-powered wind turbine blade monitoring, aiming to improve wind energy asset management and reliability.
Mentra’s $8M funding powers MentraOS, the open-source operating system designed to unify smart glasses and XR app development.
futureTEKnow is focused on identifying and promoting creators, disruptors and innovators, and serving as a vital resource for those interested in the latest advancements in technology.
© 2025 All Rights Reserved.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Thanks for visiting futureTEKnow.