How the Founder & CEO of Sapia.ai Overcame Three Big Challenges to Build an Enterprise AI SaaS and Raise $25M

Jan 25, 2024

Barb Hyman, Founder & CEO of Sapia.ai, shares insights on overcoming challenges in building AI SaaS, tackling tech bias, scaling structured interviews, raising $25M funding, and solving turnover through ML. Emphasizes integrity with customers and VCs. Also discusses revolutionizing recruitment, career development, favorite books on entrepreneurship, work-life balance challenges, and maintaining mental health balance as a CEO.

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Intro

00:00 • 3min

Exploring the Role of a CHRO and the Founding Story of sapi.ai

02:47 • 3min

Revolutionizing Recruitment with Enterprise AI SaaS

05:22 • 24min

Career Development and Cultural Fit Insights

29:33 • 2min

Exploring Favorite Books on Entrepreneurship and Work-Life Balance Challenges

31:27 • 2min

Maintaining Mental Health Balance as a CEO and Founder

33:11 • 2min

In this episode of the SaaS Revolution Show our host Alex Theuma is joined by Barb Hyman, founder & CEO at Sapia.ai, who shares how she overcame three big challenges to build an enterprise AI SaaS and raise $25M. "So we tried and we didn't succeed in building a new category. We had this concept a couple of years ago when we rebranded to Sapia that we were going to build this category around smart interviewer. And reality is it takes a lot of money, it takes a lot of commitment, consistency, and focus. And we realised that we were too insular, we were too leading with our product rather than really leading with your problems. And so we've really pivoted now to focus less on the category and much more on "here's the value that you get". Barb shares: - The pervasive bias in tech companies and tackling mirror hiring - Why she believes the resume should've died a long time ago - How Sapia have scaled the science of a structured interview - Raising their $25M series A (incl having their largest customer invest in them!) - How they're solving turnover through machine learning - Why having integrity with customers means having integrity with VCs and more! --- Check out the other ways SaaStock is serving SaaS founders 🇺🇸 SaaStock USA 2024: 1500+ B2B SaaS founders, investors and operators are joining us in the 'Silicon Hills' of Austin, Texas for three days of SaaS magic (https://www.saastock.com/saastock-usa/) 🇮🇪 SaaStock Dublin 2024: The largest concentration of SaaS decision makers in one place for three days of networking, connecting, and learning all things SaaS (https://www.saastock.com/saastock-2024/) 🤝 SaaStock Founder Membership: A private members group of B2B SaaS founders between $100K - $10M ARR who are committed to growth and helping others (https://www.saastock.com/founder-membership/) 🌎 SaaStock Local: Monthly meet-ups in cities all around the world, bringing together SaaS enthusiasts and experts to discuss the most pressing topics in SaaS (https://local.saastock.com/home Check out the other ways SaaStock is helping SaaS founders move their business forward: 🇮🇪 SaaStock Europe: 14-15 October 2025 | Dublin, Ireland Book you tickets: https://saastock-europe.com/tickets/ 🇺🇸 SaaStock USA 2025: April 2026 | Austin, Texas Join the waitlist: https://saastock-usa.com/ 🤝 SaaStock Founder Membership: A private members group of B2B SaaS founders between $100K - $10M ARR who are committed to growth and helping others (https://www.saastock.com/founder-membership/) 🌎 SaaStock Local: Monthly meet-ups in cities all around the world, bringing together SaaS enthusiasts and experts to discuss the most pressing topics in SaaS (https://local.saastock.com/home)