In an exclusive interview with CanadianSME Small Business Magazine, Ehi Agbonlahor, Founder of Anutio, shares her insights on how AI and data analytics are transforming workforce planning, career development, and talent retention for small and medium-sized businesses. With over 14 years of experience spanning corporate, startup, and entrepreneurial ventures, Ehi has built Anutio into a cutting-edge HR technology platform designed to help SMEs optimize their workforce, reduce turnover, and increase operational efficiency. From AI-powered upskilling tools to predictive workforce planning, she discusses how SMBs can leverage these innovations to gain a competitive edge in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape.
Ehi is the founder of Anutio – an AI-powered career guidance platform for students and working professionals. She holds a Bachelors and Master’s degree in agriculture, and an MBA from the University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management where she graduated with five MBA majors and area specializations including strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship, leadership and change management, organizational behavior and human resources, and consulting.
During her time at Rotman, Ehi co-founded a student club and two scholarships for Black students. As part of the Rotman Creative Destruction Lab, Ehi worked with Fintech startups in product development and go-to-market strategies.
Prior to founding Anutio, Ehi has over 14years of career experience in corporate functions, Startups and entrepreneurial ventures including financial services, product Innovation and development, Banking operations, Capital Markets, Pension and Wealth Management, in Canada, The US and across Africa.
Anutio specializes in AI and data analytics solutions. How does your approach help small and medium-sized businesses leverage these technologies to gain a competitive edge in their respective markets?
Anutio is a full-suite AI-powered HR Information System (HRIS) designed to optimize workforce productivity and career development for SMEs and enterprises.
Talent retention, skills development, and workforce adaptability are top challenges for businesses today. According to McKinsey, fewer than 50% of companies have a clear understanding of the skills within their workforce, and 63% of employees quit due to a lack of career advancement opportunities.
With turnover costs reaching up to 400% of an employee’s salary, SMEs struggle to retain top talent because they lack data-driven HR planning, career development strategies, and industry-specific upskilling pathways.
Anutio’s AI-powered full suite of HR + career development platform solves this by:
- Mapping employees’ transferable skills aligned with business growth.
- Delivering real-time, personalized career development plans to boost retention.
- Providing cost-effective, role-specific upskilling recommendations.
- Identifying leadership potential to develop managers internally.
SMEs, which account for 80% of private sector employment in Canada, lack the resources for full-fledged HR departments. Anutio bridges this gap by providing an all-in-one AI-powered HRIS with integrated career development solutions tailored to each industry, ensuring SMEs can manage talent effectively, cut hiring costs, and increase workforce adaptability.
Your company highlights the significance of making decisions based on data. Could you provide an example of how Anutio’s solutions assists small or medium-sized businesses in enhancing their operational efficiency or strategic planning?
Employees leave when they don’t see a clear path to career growth.
- 94% of employees say they would stay if companies invested in their development.
Businesses that implement data-driven career development and structured upskilling experience 52% higher productivity, 24% higher profit margins, 32% drop in turnover.
Anutio’s HRIS-powered workforce planning tools help clients:
- Identify workforce skill gaps and create industry-specific upskilling pathways.
- Ensure employees have a transparent career roadmap, improving engagement and retention.
- Use predictive analytics to assess leadership potential and develop in-house talent.
- Provide insights into employees’ informal skills to maximize workforce productivity.
Less than 50% of organizations understand their employees’ skills, leading to inefficiencies and lost business growth opportunities. By leveraging Anutio’s AI-powered HR tools, businesses can reduce recruitment costs, strengthen leadership and talent pipelines, and enhance workforce productivity.
With the rapid advancements in AI technology, how does Anutio ensure that its solutions remain cutting-edge and adaptable to the evolving needs of SMBs?
Anutio stays ahead by continuously integrating:
- AI-driven labor market and industry insights to keep businesses aligned and competitive with industry trends.
- Industry-specific workforce upskilling solutions to ensure top-performing talent stays engaged so that our clients do not lose talents to competition.
- Our Patented career exploration tools, allows employees to test career paths before committing to training, saving the business time and money.
Traditional HR solutions require large, resource-intensive teams and still fail to deliver tangible business ROI. Anutio’s AI-powered HRIS automates workforce planning and career development, offering:
- Personalized career development plans at scale.
- Leadership talent development and pipeline tracking to identify and develop future managers.
- Integrated coaching and mentorship tools to reduce reliance on expensive consultants.
By integrating AI, real-time market data, and HR intelligence, Anutio helps businesses future-proof their workforce and increase productivity while lowering costs.
Many small businesses struggle with implementing advanced technologies. How does Anutio make AI and data analytics accessible and practical for SMBs with limited resources?
For most SMEs, career development, upskilling, and workforce planning are expensive, complex, and resource-intensive. While large enterprises can afford extensive HR teams, SMEs struggle to manage talent effectively.
Anutio simplifies this by providing:
- AI-powered HR automation, reducing the burden on HR teams.
- Affordable leadership development, identifying high-potential employees.
- Data-driven upskilling recommendations, aligning employees’ skills with evolving job roles.
Unlike traditional HR solutions, Anutio’s AI-powered HRIS ensures:
- Automated workforce planning tools, eliminating manual processes.
- Modular, cost-effective training programs, reducing external training costs.
- Plug-and-play integrations, allowing SMEs to implement HR analytics without complex IT setups.
By offering enterprise-grade HR solutions at SME pricing, Anutio helps businesses retain talent, enhance productivity, and lower HR costs.
Our goal is to democratize access to these capabilities, ensuring that even the smallest businesses can build resilient, future-ready workforces. By embracing AI strategically, SMEs can increase efficiency, reduce costs, and create meaningful career growth opportunities for their employees—a win-win for both businesses and workers.
As we conclude, what advice would you offer to SMB owners who are considering incorporating AI and data analytics into their business processes? How do you see these technologies shaping the future of small business operations?
For SMBs looking to incorporate AI, my advice is to start small, start now and focus on solving specific pain points rather than attempting a full-scale transformation overnight. Identify areas where manual processes slow down operations—whether in hiring, workforce planning, operations or training—and explore AI-driven solutions that offer quick wins.
AI and data analytics are no longer optional—they are critical to staying competitive and will redefine small business operations by enabling more precise decision-making, personalized employee development, and predictive workforce planning. The ability to identify emerging skill trends, reskill employees efficiently, and retain top talent will be a competitive differentiator.
- Start with workforce data —Identify existing skills and skill gaps.
- Invest in AI-powered career development —Traditional HR software is no longer enough. Employees stay longer when they see a future within the company.
- Prioritize leadership development across all levels —82% of managers are ‘accidental managers’ with no formal training, leading to inefficiencies. AI-powered leadership tracking helps develop high-potential employees, shows them a future path in the company so you do not lose them to the competition.
- Ensure tangible ROI from upskilling initiatives —Help employees identify their unique transferable skill sets (formal and informal) and ensure that upskilling solutions provide opportunities for employees to apply the new knowledge gained in the workplace. This fosters a lifelong learning culture and helps employees feel valued and engaged in productive work.
AI is revolutionizing workforce productivity and talent retention by making career development, coaching, leadership training, and upskilling more personalized, data-driven and accessible. Companies that embrace AI-powered HR tools will outperform competitors who don’t. Anutio helps clients stay competitive.
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