Amandipp Singh unknowingly performed market research while working on his PhD application. Born with partial vision, Singh aimed to study how technology could enhance employment inclusion. During his exploration, he engaged with professors, think tanks, and individuals connected to the federal government’s Disability Inclusion Action Plan to identify challenges facing inclusion efforts for both employers and employees.
Singh remarked, “Beyond borders, beyond languages, beyond disabilities. That’s the term we came up with to define our success.”
Having worked closely with non-profits, educational institutions, and the government, Singh was acutely aware of the segregated efforts towards inclusion. He envisioned a centralized platform to bridge gaps by matching disabled employees with suitable job listings and assisting employers in their inclusion initiatives. Encouraged by feedback, he pursued this concept despite initially hesitating due to a lack of tech experience and resources.
In January, Singh launched Enabled Talent in Brampton, Ontario. This AI-driven employment platform facilitates the hiring of disabled individuals by tackling HR department obstacles related to matching disabilities with roles and accommodation fulfillment. Disabled job seekers can create profiles specifying their needs, while employers can list jobs and receive support in meeting accommodation requests. The platform also offers a voice-guided assistant for blind users, digital sign language tools, and an AI career coach for neurodivergent users.
Singh’s vision is to create the world’s most inclusive talent platform, tailoring its features based on disabled users’ feedback. Enabled Talent’s team, including co-founders Singh and Jeby James, four engineers, and 18 interns, strives to ensure universal accessibility.
“Beyond borders, beyond languages, beyond disabilities,” reiterated Singh. “That’s the term we came up with to define our success.”
The platform has registered early successes, boasting 8,000 users and 12 organizations onboard. Enabled Talent’s inclusion in incubators like AWS for Startups, Microsoft for Startups, and the Nvidia Inception Program has supported this traction. It is piloting a project in Ghana with UNICEF Startup Lab and has partnered with Algoma University to enhance Eynable, the AI-powered voice tool originally developed as a Google Chrome extension. Singh intends for Eynable to improve neglected accessibility features like alt text for visually impaired users.
Enabled Talent plans a “full-scale launch” in September, followed by a pre-seed funding round. Singh emphasized the importance of a thorough co-design process to avoid raising false hopes for proper accessibility tools.
“If Enabled Talent raises hope and fails to deliver, we’re no better than those before us,” said Singh. “We aim to ensure it’s ready for all users before going public.”