AI-adoption fuelling demand for flexi-talent in technology sector, says Troogue Co-founder

With accelerated adoption of AI, demand for good talent is growing each day. Enterprises are also looking for flexible talent base, which can give them the leverage to complete projects at a faster pace. Similarly, many technology professionals are coming out of their routine jobs to opt for gig work as they offer flexibility and better earning potential.

In this perspective, talent marketplace- Troogue offers a range of gigs in the IT sector, including remote, hybrid and in office. Here, IT professionals can choose work on their own terms and offer their services for anyone, based anywhere, going beyond both boundaries and office hours.

In an interaction with the BizzBuzz, Girish Ramadurgam, the CTO and Co-founder of Troogue said that the company offers good technology talent to enterprises, who are selected after a rigorous process of evaluation. In coming years, the company is planning to increase its presence in the US and Europe. The AI-powered platform is also looking at raising funds in the near future, he said

Can you provide a brief description about your company? What was the motivation behind starting ‘Troogue’?

We all cofounders have decades of experience in handling large transformation projects. Before starting Troogue, we all three know each other for a while. One of our cofounders was working as the head of Europe and APAC for a large company.

During the COVID pandemic period, companies have started looking at flexibility at work place. That triggered the idea of starting ‘Troogue’. Troogue is a market place which enables enterprises to find right talent. Our platform is AI and data analytics powered. Though we work with individual contractors (individual talent), but our focus has always been on enterprises.

How has been the journey so far? Can you throw some light into this aspect? There are many other platforms providing talent to tech companies and other firms. What is Troogue’s unique strength?

The journey has been good so far. The events in the industry have in some way added to our growth. For instance, technology professionals are moving out (due to multiple factors like layoffs, technology transitions) and those kinds of professionals are coming to our platform.

At Troogue, our value proposition is that we provide talent at scale for enterprises. Majority of the contract in the IT industry are T&M-based (Time and Material). Clients want contractors, who can take accountability. We offer that accountability.

The profiles available in our platform are very authentic and we vouch for their skills and expertise. Because we conduct interviews before the person’s profile is uploaded on our platform. In that way, we vet the profiles. We provide the detailed assessments that we conduct of the technology professionals and the kind of skills they have expertise on.

In our platform, the enterprise can search for suitable profiles through AI-assisted process. In that perspective, we have built processes that help enterprises to identify right talent at ease.

The technical skills, non-technical skills, soft skills, and other skills are evaluated of the candidate before his/her profile is available on our platform. In that way, that is our key differentiator. For us, the enterprise suitability is the key and we are deeply focussed on it.

Reports suggest that IT services companies are cutting their bench sizes. Hiring has also been tepid in recent quarters owing to demand environment. Are you facing challenges in getting projects for placing your candidates? What is your opinion into this matter?

Enterprises are cutting their bench size but they are looking at new skillsets. That phenomenon is playing out well. Because our proposition is that why do an enterprise need bench when we have vetted profiles already available on our platform. Clients can leverage those professionals whenever required.

So, one of the offerings from our side is that we will evaluate the bench of the client or we already have profiles, who are readily available for clients’ project work. In that way, we are the extended bench for the client. Additionally, we see that there are a lot of project openings.

Troogue is also working with technology professionals for individual work. Can you provide some perspective into this matter?

We work with both individuals and enterprises. From demand side, we work with IT firms, GCCs and other enterprises. We already have large enterprises like IT companies as our clients. On the supply side, we have individual contractors. We have also tied up with HT agencies which provide talent.

Are you working as a subcontractor for enterprises in executing their project work?

We also operate as subcontractor for some large enterprises. We are already doing it.

What is the average contract period that you get from enterprises?

Most of our contracts are having six-month tenure or beyond. These contracts are also rolled over. Very few contracts are of three-month tenure. Even some projects are two-year long. Each enterprise is looking for right kind of talent, especially in the AI space and our platform provides that kind of talent.

Reports suggest that after restrictive measures introduced for H1B visa, many companies are scouting for subcontractors for executing project work. Are you playing in that space?

We have couple of engagements before restrictive measures were introduced. Large enterprises will remain despite AI-led disruptions. We have couple of engagements with the US clients, who are happy to outsource their project work. Also, our other offerings related to financial management are helping us to win new clients.

Can you provide some perspective regarding the revenue model of Troogue?

We match the demand and supply. This is one part of our revenue generation. Additionally, there are businesses, which want the engineers but don’t want to run it. We call them rainmakers.

We don’t charge enterprises. Our revenue comes from supply side. Our charges are very nominal from professionals, who are in our platform. Currently, we don’t ask for subscription for using our platform for checking the talent availability.

But this will be one of the revenue generators going ahead. Our platform is completely AI-powered and AI agents help enterprises to find the right talent. This is another revenue generating space for us.

Are you breakeven now? Are you planning to raise money in the near future? Can you provide some perspective into this matter?

We are doing very well. In the last one year, we are generating good cash flow. We are completely bootstrapped and have not raised capital so far. This year, we are considering a fund raise given our growth trajectory. However, we are looking for funding from a right partner, who will help us to grow.

As far as team size is concerned, we have around 20 people. Over the two years, we are planning to focus on geographical expansion. In 2026 and 2027, we are planning to expand our operations in the US and Europe. From technology perspective, we have already built good number of AI agents for ourselves.

We see a lot of traction among enterprises in using those AI agents. We are planning to go for platform monetisation in coming years.