Helio AI Success Story. 10 OOTB questions to co-founder Iako Jikia

That hiring is never just a “process problem.” It’s a human one. I expected customers to talk about speed, accuracy, automation - and yes, they did. But behind all that, what I heard was exhaustion. People overwhelmed by thousands of CVs, afraid of missing the right talent, afraid of hiring the wrong one, afraid of bias and burnout. What surprised me most is how grateful they are when technology simply gives them their time and clarity back. It made me realize that Helio isn’t just improving hiring - it’s taking weight off people who’ve been carrying too much for too long.

The constant decision-making that slowly drains your emotional battery. Founders make hundreds of decisions a day - small ones that nobody sees, but together they steal your energy and creativity. If I could automate that cognitive load, I’d do it instantly. Because founders don’t burn out from big challenges. They burn out from the endless, quiet decisions that chip away at them every day.

My first real project was helping people find opportunities before I even knew the word “startup.” I was connecting candidates with companies manually one message at a time. It wasn’t scalable, it wasn’t automated, but it showed me something powerful: opportunity changes people’s lives, and even small help creates real impact. That experience became the seed of everything I do now. It taught me that meaningful products begin with empathy, not technology.

Through personal savings, small freelance work, and a mindset of “make every GEL work twice.” There were days when the only strategy was: focus and keep moving. But this journey shaped us. It made us disciplined. It forced us to validate every idea, not in theory. Looking back, those early days gave Helio its DNA.

AI tools gave us speed. Communities gave us direction. But conversations with customers gave us truth. Every honest sentence from a recruiter or HR lead shaped Helio more than any book, framework, or course. Real problems build real products.

The truth is - you don’t. Balance doesn’t exist in the early days. What exists is intention: taking small breaks before you collapse, asking for support when you’re running out of breath, learning how to recharge in minutes instead of days. For me, it wasn’t about balancing two worlds. It was about not losing myself in one of them.

It was a shock. A beautiful one. Someone trusted us enough to pay for something that only existed in our mind’s weeks earlier. That first dollar was validation, responsibility, and momentum combined. It taught me that people don’t pay for ideas - they pay for solutions that make their life easier. Our entire sales philosophy grew from that moment: bring value first, speak later.

Quietly. Not because it wasn’t important - it was - but because sometimes the most meaningful wins don’t need fireworks. We took one evening to slow down, breathe, and feel proud before stepping into the next storm. It wasn’t a celebration of money - it was a celebration of belief.

Reflection. Every day, even for a few minutes, I write down what happened, what mattered, what I learned, and what I need to improve. This simple ritual has saved me more times than I can count. It keeps me honest with myself and aware of the bigger picture when things get chaotic.

Yes - deeply. Entrepreneurship teaches you that uncertainty is not an enemy. It’s a teacher. It forces you to grow, to adapt to question everything you thought you knew. It makes you realize how fragile and powerful momentum is. How much you depend on your people. How impossible things become possible when the right team believes in the same future. The biggest change is this: I no longer see risk as danger. I see it as space - the empty space was a breakthrough.