3 minute read
Through AI, female techpreneurs shake up the RecTech sector
by Media Xpose
Kelly Louw & Sasha Knott
Directors: Job Crystal
Female techpreneurs, Directors of Job Crystal, Sasha Knott and Kelly Louw, are shaking up the RecTech sector with the launch of CRYSTAL, an AI recruitment tool.
Both come from a strong entrepreneurial background. Knott started Switch2, a credit life insurance business and sold the business 18 months later to Clientele Life, and Louw has built her own recruitment agency and brand with experience spanning over 16 years.
In 2015, while growing the Job Crystal brand, both Knott and Louw became mothers. Able to create a great work-life balance, the pair found hiring working moms with recruitment or IT experience worked successfully and allowed many to work from home whilst still managing a household and the daily school runs. This was the start of a sustainable, highly efficient brand, that even during a pandemic could hold its own and prove to be financially progressive by paying salaries as well as suppliers.
With the now successful business operations model in full swing, it was time to drive the business to the next growth stage. In Level 5 of the pandemic, Knott and Louw instinctively knew the time was right for the creation of CRYSTAL and actively sought a funding solution.
Another key business milestone was unlocked, when they connected with Enygma Ventures, an investment partner who funded female entrepreneurs in Africa with scalable businesses. In 2020, their vision was recognised with Job Crystal gaining a R4.2 million investment from the Enygma Ventures’ Shift Fund. The ideal partner who patiently supported the duo as they designed and created CRYSTAL with technology ranging from AI, NLP to machine learning.
Two key skillsets merged, with both software development and recruitment a driving force behind the creation of CRYSTAL. The rationale for creating the AI-tool was the realisation that no recruitment technology focussed on supporting SMEs, but primarily focused on corporates with access to capital.
With SME’s hiring 60% of the workforce, it made sense to develop a tool to support them in their hiring process. The development of CRYSTAL aligned to Job Crystal’s vision of making a dent in unemployment in South Africa.
The plan is to make job seekers lives easier while helping SMEs find talent fast and effortlessly. CRYSTAL combines AI, machine learning and a human touch that makes it easy to find the needle in the haystack for SMEs looking for talent.
As SME owners, Knott and Louw understand the challenges, cost and administration to find staff and knew exactly what they ultimately wanted CRYSTAL to be able to do; sourcing the right candidate matched to a job description in minutes. After working on the development of the tool for several years, CRYSTAL launched in early 2022 and has the power to scan 43 candidate pool databases across 34 million employable South Africans – providing SMEs with a short-list of 10 candidates.
Through identifying and screening candidates, CRYSTAL helps employers find their perfect match in minutes. With the needs of their SME clients top of mind, Job Crystal has also introduced a unique industry pricing model, which enables business owners to pay to use CRYSTAL on a per job description basis, instead of having to commit to a costly annual subscription which they won’t use often over a 12-month period. Through the Job Crystal website, clients also access fast online background checks and a free salary benchmarking resource which is based on real data versus less reliable salary surveys.
It’s not all up to the machine though, as Job Crystal has a team who provide a human touch through actively teaching the machine to deliver the best results and counteracting any latent AI prediction bias.
It can take business owners, weeks and even months to find the right person as a hire generally involves 33 dedicated working hours to search, screen, interview, select and make an offer. Overall, the power of CRYSTAL reduces this costly time investment by 24 hours. ■
