Popp AI

Popp AI is a London-based recruitment technology company founded in 2022 by Sam Dhesi, James Cochrane-Dyet, and Ilyes Benmansour, with a mission to make enterprise hiring faster, fairer, and more human. The company was born directly out of its founders' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, when high-volume recruitment pipelines collapsed under the weight of volume while becoming simultaneously more impersonal. Dhesi, who served as Head of Emerging Technology for the UK Government's crisis response, and Cochrane-Dyet, former Chief of Staff to the NHS COVID Crisis Team, saw first-hand how recruitment processes were failing both organisations and candidates at the exact moment human connection mattered most.

Popp AI's platform sits between an organisation's ATS and its recruitment team, acting as a modular AI agent that automates the most time-consuming and repetitive tasks in the hiring funnel — from candidate sourcing and shortlisting to open-ended conversational screening, interview scheduling, document collection, and personalised rejection communications. The platform operates via WhatsApp, email, and SMS, 24/7, in over 50 languages, and integrates directly with existing HR systems. Unlike keyword-matching approaches, Popp AI conducts genuine conversational assessments that evaluate candidate fit in a nuanced, personalised way — allowing recruiters to focus on building relationships rather than sorting applications.

Popp AI raised £3.6 million in seed funding in late 2024, co-led by Emerge and SuperSeed Ventures, and has subsequently raised additional capital to support rapid growth. The company serves major staffing firms including Randstad Sourceright and Robert Walters, and was named Champion of Champions at the 2025 TIARA Talent Tech Star Awards. Popp AI's ARR tripled and customer base doubled in the six months leading to mid-2025, with zero churn and net revenue retention exceeding 120%.