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Building the Future of Hiring with YouTeam (YC W18)

In the bustling field of contract engineering, YouTeam is a distinguished name. As a Y Combinator company from the Winter 2018 batch, YouTeam has simplified the process of connecting businesses with contract engineers, offering access to over 500 vetted agencies and 50,000+ contractors. Their vision is to develop an AI-driven onboarding chatbot that would streamline the recruitment process for their clients. But to bring this vision to life, they needed exceptional talent and innovative technology.

The Company

YouTeam is a renowned platform that allows businesses to connect effortlessly with contract engineers. YouTeam offers an unrivaled gateway to a network of over 500 vetted agencies and 50,000+ contractors.

The Talent

As one can imagine, a company with access to this many contractors and agencies has a lot of options for choosing AI talent (and very high standards). To take on this project, YouTeam teamed up with an AI expert from 5cube Labs with specific experience in Large Language Models (LLMs), particularly those used in chatbots and coding assistants. The talent was well-versed in replicating the results of models like GPT-4 with locally-hosted models, especially in selecting performant models that are suitable for commercial applications.

Project Challenges

The project aimed to develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) chatbot that could identify the primary qualifications that startup and SMB customers look for in contractors. It also needed to evaluate when to move onto a new window in the qualification process based on the state of the conversation. Additionally, it had to be able to suggest vetting questions for the engineers, even for technologies that emerged after the knowledge cutoffs of many AI tools like OpenAI’s APIs. This project had to demonstrate an added value to YouTeam’s already robust contractor pairing system, setting a high bar for the AI-powered chatbot.

Technical Approach

The specialist approached the project in two distinct phases:

Model Adaptation:The first step was to adapt existing Large Language Models for the specific use case of the chatbot. This included ensuring the models were performant and suitable for commercial applications.

Onboarding Process:The specialist worked to develop an algorithm that could effectively evaluate the state of a conversation and determine when to move onto a new window in the onboarding process.

Question Generation:Finally, the specialist created an AI system capable of suggesting vetting questions for engineers, keeping up-to-date with the latest technologies even beyond the knowledge cutoffs of traditional AI tools.

Outcomes

The successful development of the MVP chatbot has transformed the qualification process for YouTeam’s clients, streamlining contractor recruitment. The chatbot identifies the key qualifications that enterprise customers look for, determines the optimal moment to progress the onboarding process, and even suggests vetting questions for emerging technologies.

Product Launch

YouTeam showcased their new AI product to prospective B2B clients at LeadDev London 2023 - the premier technology conference focused on engineering managers and CTOs. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, further proving the value of AI in revolutionizing the contract engineer pairing system.

As YouTeam continues to leverage the power of AI, they maintain their commitment to offering exceptional value to their clients and setting new standards in the field of contract engineering.

📢

” Apart from Matthew’s encyclopedic knowledge in every aspect of the machine learning domain, what is genuinely unique about him is his drive. Every day, multiple times a day, Matthew proactively reaches out to the team, checking on his progress, inquiring about ours, and asking if we need any help with anything. This has made Matthew much more than just a consultant.

He is an engine, a source of creative energy that inspires us to push forward even harder. As a result, we successfully built a complex custom model from scratch in less than a month.

Needless to say, the day after Matthew completed the initial scope of work, I offered him a retainer. If you’re lucky enough to meet a person like this, you would want to keep them close. ”