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Harriet raises £1.2M to transform HR with AI
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Harriet raises £1.2M to transform HR with AI

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December 7, 2023

Anna Wood is the Editor of Startups Magazine. She joined…

Concept Ventures led the investment, with participation from Frontline Ventures, Portfolio Ventures, and Notion Capital.

“The world is heading towards a future where every employee has an AI-powered assistant – with all the major tech players racing to build one. But companies aren’t currently set up to reap the rewards of these advancements. And one of the main blockers to AI adoption for companies is the state of their knowledge bank,” comments Cecily Motley, CEO of Harriet.

Poor data management poses a significant obstacle to the adoption of AI tools, especially those designed to enhance efficiency for companies and their workforce. Harriet stands out as the premier HR-focused AI solution specifically crafted to overcome this challenge and prepare companies and their data for seamless AI integration.

“HR and People teams are responsible for so many vital things – from culture to compensation. But too many colleagues see them as just a route to key information, like their payslips and P60s. This means HR teams are drowning in fiddly, low-value admin tasks. Harriet AI is freeing them from this burden; allowing HR teams to focus on their real purpose and show how valuable their role in a company really is,” adds Cecily Motley.

Harriet initiates the process by scanning existing organisational policies and documents, creating a comprehensive overview of the current state, identifying gaps, and pinpointing any duplicate or conflicting information. Subsequently, it guides companies in addressing issues and facilitates data cleanup, establishing a solid foundation for the seamless integration of additional AI tools.

“Harriet has been designed to clean up data, get companies onto the right track, and then offer the daily assistance staff and People teams are looking for,” emphasises Cecily Motley.

Sitting atop this refined data and information, Harriet transforms into a personalised HR assistant for every employee. Accessible through Slack and integrated with other HR tools such as ticketing systems, HRIS’, and payroll, Harriet efficiently handles tasks like booking staff leave, updating on company policies, locating relevant documents, retrieving payslips, and directing employees to support services.

“In addition, Harriet provides an anonymous route for staff looking for company information that may be sensitive, such as parental leave policies for those thinking about family planning or information about booking bereavement leave,” notes the article.

Harriet effectively reduces the influx of distracting “micro requests” faced by stretched People teams, allowing them to concentrate on more substantial tasks related to culture, compensation, and training. This is particularly valuable for lean People teams that have endured significant cuts during downturns, enabling them to deliver high-quality employee experiences.

“HR teams report that, currently, 20% of their time is spent on small, admin-based requests,” states the article.

Harriet’s founders, Cecily Motley and David Buxton, both seasoned startup entrepreneurs, emphasise the importance of laying the right foundations for AI adoption. Cecily Motley explains, “As organisations look to take advantage of AI solutions, and as teams begin to expect instant access to information and support, it’s vital to ensure tools lay the right foundations as well as unlock efficiencies.”

Connecting seamlessly with various interfaces in a company’s tech stack, including Google Drive, Notion, Xero, HiBob, BambooHR, and Zapier, Harriet ensures that staff can make HR requests and access information within the familiar environment of Slack.

See Also
When global labour market data is released, headlines tend to fixate on a single metric: unemployment. This year is no different. According to the latest figures from the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation, global unemployment remains relatively stable at just under five per cent. At face value, this suggests a labour market that is holding firm despite economic uncertainty, geopolitical instability and technological upheaval. In reality, it masks a serious and underreported problem: the true global jobs crisis is not a lack of work, but the growing scale of informal work. More than 2.1 billion people worldwide are employed in the informal economy, including misclassified workers operating outside effective regulatory coverage, where employment is typically unregistered, contracts are absent or unenforced, and access to labour rights and social protections is limited or non-existent. That represents a large portion of the global workforce. If unemployment reveals how many people cannot find work, informality shows how many are working without protection or long-term opportunity. Informal work is often associated with developing economies or unregulated sectors. However, this form of work is increasingly occurring within developed economies and regulated sectors, hidden within otherwise legitimate, fast-growing small and medium-sized enterprises – and this is often unintentional. For both businesses operating solely in domestic markets and those that have expanded abroad, adopting new workforce models and attempting to respond to rapid technological change, the crisis of informality is emerging in three key areas. The first is worker misclassification. Individuals are engaged as independent contractors but operate in practice like employees – working fulltime, at set hours, for years at a time. This is particularly prevalent in gig and platform-based roles, where algorithms determine pay, hours and performance without considering employment rights. Gig and platform work often presents as flexible and empowering, however, in practice, many platforms exercise employer-like control over payment, performance management, hours, and length of engagement, while explicitly avoiding employer obligations such as tax filings and the provision of statutory benefits like annual leave and healthcare. The result is a growing cohort of workers who fall between legal categories, carrying the risks of self-employment without the autonomy or protections that should accompany this mode of work. The second area is cross-border remote work, where informality can inadvertently arise. With post-COVID remote working models here to stay, companies are directly hiring overseas talent, assuming that because the worker is not based in the company’s home country, local employment laws do not apply. Where employment is not properly registered (whether by the employer and/or employee), local labour law is not applied, or social security obligations are misunderstood or ignored, these arrangements can slip into a form of modern informality, even where the relationship appears to be formal on the surface. This is often the point at which organisations begin to seek external guidance. In many cases, neither party fully understands the legal implications of the arrangement, which leaves both employer and worker exposed. We frequently see organisations approach us when a specific issue surfaces, such as payroll inconsistencies, questions around benefits entitlement, or concerns raised by the workers themselves, including registration process failures. Business leaders should also be aware that permanent establishment risk can arise if a remote employee is deemed to represent the company locally, which can trigger corporate tax obligations. Social security errors can happen when contributions are not made correctly in either jurisdiction, leaving workers without coverage and employers facing backdated liabilities. Meanwhile, employment law conflicts can emerge when contracts fail to meet the requirements of the host country regarding notice periods, benefits or termination rights. The third driver of informality is structural. These arrangements are becoming more common as artificial intelligence and evolving workforce models outpace regulation. Businesses are innovating at speed, but legal frameworks are struggling to keep pace. The UK’s Employment Rights Act offers a clear case study of the direction of travel. Worker protections are expanding, classification rules are tightening and enforcement is becoming more coordinated across agencies. Informal arrangements that once sat in legal grey areas are moving firmly into view and what was previously tolerated is falling under scrutiny. The challenge is that informality is rarely a deliberate choice. For many growing organisations, it becomes the default because compliant pathways are complicated and difficult to navigate alone, particularly across multiple jurisdictions. Legal advice, payroll, tax, HR, and immigration compliance are often siloed, leaving gaps that businesses may not even realise exist until a problem arises. For instance, digital nomad visas are often viewed as providing holders with wholly compliant right to work status, however employers may not realise that this is not always the case and contracts may not reflect the correct legal status or entitlements. Addressing informality requires a change in how we think about employment at a global level and recognising that flexibility and compliance are not mutually exclusive. Businesses need models that allow them to access global talent quickly while ensuring workers are properly employed and protected under local law. As attention remains fixed on unemployment figures, informality continues to expand beneath the surface. It is this hidden cohort of workers, contributing economically without security or rights, that represents the real crisis in the global labour market. Solving it will require coordinated action from policymakers and businesses alike, and a commitment to building workforce models that are not only innovative, but sustainable and fair.
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“Harriet connects with a range of interfaces in a company tech stack including Google Drive, Notion, Xero, HiBob, BambooHR and Zapier, amongst others. This means, regardless of where information is stored, staff can make HR requests and source the information they need without leaving Slack,” details the article.

The technology powering Harriet relies on a Large Language Model, incorporating multiple interlocking and cross-checking AIs to safeguard privacy, truthfulness, and accuracy. Harriet always provides a source link for every answer, ensuring transparency and data protection.

“A team of highly experienced HR industry leaders are joining Harriet as advisors, including Jessica Zwaan, COO at Whereby, and future of work advocate Johannes Sundlo,” states the article.

Oliver Kicks, Partner at Concept Ventures, expressed excitement about joining Harriet on its journey, praising Cecily and David as serial entrepreneurs who have built a product that genuinely adds value. The investment aims to support Harriet’s innovative approach to improving the world of work for thousands.

2023-12-07

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