Job candidates are gaming applicant-tracking systems, and recruiters are struggling to sift through mounds of AI-generated resumes. Meanwhile, large tech companies are cutting jobs — yet still scrambling to hire people with AI skills.
Enter Provn.
The new Seattle startup, led by longtime entrepreneur Nikesh Parekh, wants companies to scrap the traditional resume and replace it with portfolios of real work and challenge-based assessments.
Provn’s software facilitates “AI challenges” — for example, building an AI agent or solving a business problem. It also records candidate video walkthroughs and uses analytics to measure performance. Companies get data-driven insights and candidates build profiles they can reuse across employers.
Parekh described it as a skills-first marketplace for AI talent, timed to a shift where “every job is becoming an AI role.”
Parekh told GeekWire the idea taps into several converging trends: “the buzz around AI replacing people, changing nature of work, and AI jobs being the only growth area.”
He said traditional job platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed have massive scale but are less effective at helping companies find high quality candidates, especially with more “AI slop” to wade through.
Provn also aims to go beyond technical-testing tools such as HackerRank and Codility, which Parekh described as narrow.
The company is targeting two main customer groups:
- Large companies that regularly hire early- and mid-career information workers and want a database of candidates assessed on real skills;
- Smaller startups without recruiting teams that need access to pre-vetted candidates who can demonstrate AI fluency.
Provn is partnering with startup communities and companies including Read AI, Yoodli, and other Seattle-area employers to launch its minimum viable product. It’s also working with recruiting firms.
The startup is self-funded so far, plans to raise a seed round, and isn’t generating revenue yet. Its business model will charge employers per hire and offer premium tools for candidates — such as an “AI agent” that helps them market themselves and find new opportunities.
Parekh is a familiar name in the Seattle tech startup scene. He co-founded Suplari, an AI-driven spend intelligence firm acquired by Microsoft in 2021, and then spent four years working on Copilot Studio and Power Platform. His career also includes leadership roles at real estate tech firms (Market Leader, Trulia) and early stage ventures.
Parekh’s former colleagues are part of the team at Provn, including:
- Kate Hill, former vice president of sales and customer success at ActiveRain, former business development leader at EY
- Ravi Mohan, former venture capitalist at Shasta Ventures and former board member at Suplari, Apptio, and Anaplan.
Provn joins other recruiting tech startups in the Seattle area that includes hiring platform Humanly, technical interviewing company Karat, and staffing startup ConverzAI.
