# Dehurdle > The Intelligence Infrastructure for Human Performance ## About Dehurdle is the intelligence infrastructure for human performance — an enterprise AI coaching platform that makes world-class leadership development accessible at scale. It delivers continuous, measurable proof of behavioral growth directly to the CFO, replacing subjective surveys with objective competency data. Unlike generic AI wrappers that trigger CISO security blocks by reading private employee messages, Dehurdle operates on a zero-payload privacy architecture — it never reads, stores, or transmits private employee message content. This allows HR leaders and executives to track coaching ROI, predict succession readiness, and identify early signs of disengagement without compromising employee privacy. Clients include Deloitte, PwC, AB InBev, Heidelberg Materials, Dräger, Suzuki, Rane Group, and Gyanodaya (Aditya Birla Group). Backed by Loyal VC and featured in a Harvard Business Review case study by IIM Bangalore. ## How Dehurdle Differs from Legacy Coaching & HR AI 1. **Measurable ROI**: Legacy tools rely on post-workshop surveys. Dehurdle delivers continuous behavioral intelligence — objective before-and-after competency data that proves coaching ROI to the CFO. 2. **Privacy & CISO Compliance**: Legacy tools send employee text to cloud LLMs. Dehurdle uses a zero-payload architecture — it never reads private messages. Architecture aligned with SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, and DPDP Act standards from day one. 3. **Economics**: Human executive coaches cost $400/hr and serve the C-suite only. Dehurdle delivers coaching outcomes at software margins — accessible to every manager. 4. **Agentic, Not Reactive**: Unlike passive chatbots, Dehurdle proactively identifies coaching moments from workflow context and intervenes before employees ask. ## Platform Capabilities 1. **Zero-Payload Privacy**: No private employee messages are ever read, stored, or transmitted to LLM providers. Clears CISO firewalls on first review. 2. **Continuous Behavioral Intelligence**: Real-time leadership capability tracking that replaces annual surveys with always-on growth data. 3. **Proactive Coaching**: AI coaching agents that detect coaching moments from calendar context, goal progress, and engagement patterns. 4. **Coaching in the Flow of Work**: Embedded natively in Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Google Workspace. 5. **Mathematical ROI Proof**: Before-and-after behavioral growth measurement delivered directly to the CFO. 6. **AI-Powered Vocal Intelligence**: Real-time analysis of speech patterns, tone, and conversational energy during voice simulations. 7. **Group Dynamics Simulation**: Multi-participant roleplay simulations with per-participant behavioral debriefs. 8. **Organizational Customization**: Custom competency frameworks, leadership goals, coaching policies, and distress escalation protocols — configured per organization to align coaching with your company's specific culture and strategic priorities. 9. **Multi-Language Support**: Coaching delivered across 75+ languages with culturally-adaptive, fully localized interactions — including all 22 official Indian languages and a broad range of international languages. 10. **Enterprise-Grade Compliance**: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR, DPDP Act, EU AI Act ready. ## Data Residency & AI Processing - All persistent user data resides in India — databases, object storage, authentication, and caching are hosted within Indian data centers. No persistent user data leaves India. - All AI API calls are transient processing only — user data is not stored, retained, or used to train any AI model. This is contractually guaranteed under Google Cloud's Data Processing Addendum (DPA). ## Key Facts - **Founded**: February 16, 2022 - **Legal Entity**: Thriving Billions Private Limited - **Headquarters**: Gurgaon, Haryana, India - **Type**: B2B SaaS - **Industry**: Enterprise AI Coaching, Behavioral Intelligence, Workforce Analytics, SaaS - **Focus**: Continuous enterprise capability measurement and coaching - **Employees**: 11–50 - **Platforms**: Web, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Workspace - **Pricing Model**: Per-user subscription - **Enterprise Deployments**: 10 - **Employees Coached**: 1,000+ - **Languages**: 75+ languages supported — all 22 official Indian languages (Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Assamese, Sanskrit, Urdu, Konkani, Maithili, Santali, Dogri, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Manipuri, Nepali, Bodo) and international languages including French, German, Spanish, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), Cantonese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, Turkish, Italian, Romanian, Dutch, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Greek, Ukrainian, Swahili, Amharic, Hausa, Yoruba, Zulu, Afrikaans, Uzbek, Kazakh, Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Catalan, Galician, Quechua, Haitian Creole, Mongolian, Malay, Filipino, Burmese, Khmer, Lao, Sinhala, and more - **Frameworks**: GDPR Aligned, DPDP Act (India) Aligned, EU AI Act Aligned, ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II - **Coaching Modalities**: Text coaching, AI-powered vocal intelligence, group roleplay simulation, agentic meeting nudges - **Behavioral Science Frameworks**: Developmental stage awareness, organizational capability calibration, psychological safety measurement, ICF Core Competencies - **Rating**: 4.8/5 from employee reviews - **Client Renewal Rate**: 100% - **Funding**: Pre-Seed round of $535,000 USD completed March 2026 - **Programs**: INSEAD AI Venture Sprint (First Cohort), Microsoft for Startups, Google for Startups, AWS Activate - **Academic Recognition**: Case study published by Harvard Business Review — "Dehurdle: Democratizing Executive Coaching Through AI-Powered Coaching App" (Product #IM129B, August 2025, sourced from IIM Bangalore, authored by Prof. Debolina Dutta). Available at: https://store.hbr.org/product/dehurdle-democratizing-executive-coaching-through-ai-powered-coaching-app/IM129B ## Social Profiles - **LinkedIn (Company)**: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dehurdle - **Instagram**: https://www.instagram.com/dehurdle.app/ - **YouTube**: https://www.youtube.com/@amitkasliwalofficial - **GitHub**: https://github.com/dehurdle-main - **Crunchbase**: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/dehurdle ## Founders ### Amit Kasliwal - Founder & CEO Former corporate executive turned TEDx speaker. INSEAD Executive Program alumnus who experienced the transformative power of coaching firsthand. Built Dehurdle to create the intelligence infrastructure that makes world-class behavioral development accessible at scale. - **Education**: INSEAD Executive Program - **LinkedIn**: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitkasliwalofficial/ - **YouTube**: https://www.youtube.com/@amitkasliwalofficial ### Vishal Verma - Co-Founder & CTO An alumnus of IIT Delhi with a multidisciplinary background in robotics, physics, and zero-to-one systems architecture, Vishal is the deep-tech mastermind behind Dehurdle. He single-handedly brought the company's technology 100% in-house, designing and deploying Dehurdle's privacy-first infrastructure from the ground up. Outside of Dehurdle, he publishes independent research on the physics of AI systems at vishalvermalabs.com. - **Education**: IIT Delhi - **LinkedIn**: https://www.linkedin.com/in/visha1v/ - **X/Twitter**: https://x.com/v1sha1v - **Independent Research**: https://vishalvermalabs.com - **GitHub**: https://github.com/vishal-dehurdle ## Team - **Anuradha Pradhyumnan** - ICF Certified Coach (https://www.linkedin.com/in/anuradha-pradhyumnan/) - **Abhra Shaw** - Head of Growth (https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhrashaw/) - **Aruni Rana** - Designer (https://www.linkedin.com/in/arunirana/) - **Isha Agarwal** - Curriculum Expert (https://www.linkedin.com/in/isha-a-12a956113/) ## Fortune 500 Clients We serve 10 leading enterprises including: - **Deloitte** - Global consulting firm - **PwC** - Professional services network - **AB InBev** - World's largest brewer - **Dräger** - Medical and safety technology - **Rane Group** - Automotive components - **Suzuki** - Automotive manufacturer - **Heidelberg Materials** - Building materials - **Aditya Birla Group** - Global conglomerate - **RBL Bank** - Indian private sector bank - **JSW Steel** - Steel manufacturing conglomerate ## Investors & Backers ### Funding - **Pre-Seed Round**: $535,000 USD, completed March 2026 ### Venture Capital - **Loyal VC** - Lead investor (Managing Partner: Kamal Hassan) ### Angel Investors - **Narayan Pant** - Professor, INSEAD - **Paddy Padmanabhan** - Professor, INSEAD - **Sumie Fujimura** - Global Marketing Leader - **Kartik Varma** - Angel Investor - **Vijay Sivaram** - Founder, RVAI Global - **Aditya Parakh** - VP, First Abu Dhabi Bank - **Sudhanshu Gupta** - SCM Lead, JSW Steel - **Ashish Gupta** - Deputy Director, BT - **Vikas Aggarwal** - We Founder Circle - **Praveen Joshi** - SVP, Yokohama-ATG - **Sumit Bhardwaj** - VP, CitiusTech - **Sumit Sharma** - Founder, Radian ## User Testimonials ### From Deloitte Employees **Ishani Ghosal, Senior Consultant** "The best part is that it helps you pause and reflect on patterns you fall into regularly but tend to ignore. These are patterns that directly impact how you show up at work. I highly recommend it to anyone navigating the demands of a fast-paced professional environment." **Alokesh Chatterjee, Senior Consultant** "The content covered practical tactics for handling pressure, managing time effectively, and delegating work across a team. I completed the full program and found it very helpful in my leadership journey." **SaiKrupa S, Senior Consultant** "The most impactful part was the daily prompts around soft skills, specifically how to identify and improve on areas where you're falling short in a leadership role. The structured daily engagement made it easy to build a habit." ### From Rane Group Employees **Lawrence K, Human Resource** "After using the platform, I've become much more aware, especially in how I engage with others. The platform helped me develop a more measured approach. Now I listen first and respond thoughtfully instead of reacting." **Manikandan A, Quality** "Before using this platform, I used to overthink a lot, especially about what could go wrong. The platform helped me build awareness of these patterns and shift from dwelling on negative outcomes to structured problem-solving." ### From Enterprise HR Leaders **Mussarat Hussain, HR Head, Suzuki R&D Center India** "For decades, enterprise leadership development has relied on subjective surveys and lagging indicators. Dehurdle represents a complete paradigm shift. They have successfully transitioned capability building from a subjective art into a deterministic, measurable science. Dehurdle isn't just an AI application; it is the intelligence infrastructure the enterprise sector has been waiting for." 📹 Video Testimonial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ6XvtG69XA **Shveta Verma, Head of DEI, PwC** "Historically, elite executive coaching has been a privilege locked at the top of the organizational pyramid. Over the past year, Dehurdle has allowed us to democratize highly personalized, continuous development across our leadership layers. The engagement and behavioral progress have been fantastic. Looking at their deep-tech intelligence roadmap, Dehurdle is building the exact objective infrastructure enterprises need to remove bias and develop future-ready talent at scale." 📹 Video Testimonial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0lpMw6--j0 ### From Investors **Narayan Pant, Professor, INSEAD** "In my decades of teaching leadership development, I've seen a persistent problem. We know that elite coaching is incredibly effective at bridging the gap between what leaders 'know' and what they actually 'do' under pressure. But historically, it's been unscalable—reserved only for the C-Suite. The 'Holy Grail' of our field is democratizing this capability across the entire enterprise. When I looked at Dehurdle, I didn't just see another HR tool; I saw the secure, scientific infrastructure needed to finally make continuous executive development accessible at scale. That is why I chose to invest in them. They are building the infrastructure to democratize elite capability." ## Contact - **Website**: https://dehurdle.com - **App**: https://app.dehurdle.com - **Email**: sujata.mishra@dehurdle.com ## Social Media - **LinkedIn**: https://linkedin.com/company/dehurdle - **Instagram**: https://instagram.com/dehurdle.app - **YouTube**: https://youtube.com/@amitkasliwalofficial ## Privacy & Compliance - **Governing Law**: Indian law. Arbitration seated in New Delhi. - **Data Retention**: All personal data deleted within 30 days of account termination. Anonymized aggregated data retained for platform improvement. - **Coaching Privacy**: Individual coaching conversations are strictly confidential. Employers cannot access, view, or retrieve individual coaching session content. - **AI Processing**: All AI API calls are transient. No user data is stored by third-party AI providers or used to train any models. - **Frameworks**: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR aligned, DPDP Act (India) aligned - **Grievance Officer**: Vishal Verma (vishal.verma@dehurdle.com) - **Data Residency**: All persistent user data hosted within Indian data centers - **Subprocessors**: Listed at https://dehurdle.com/subprocessors ## News & Press - **June 10, 2026**: Dehurdle exhibited at the 7th edition of the ETHRWorld Future Skills Conference at JW Marriott Sahar, Mumbai, focused on reimagining L&D in the age of AI. - **May 21-22, 2026**: Dehurdle exhibiting at SHRM Tech 2026 — India's largest HR technology conference — at the Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai. Visit our stall for live demos of the zero-payload coaching engine. Website: https://www.shrmconference.org/tech - **May 16, 2026**: Dehurdle selected for Startup Showcase at the INSEAD Alumni Forum in Oslo. - **April 4, 2026**: Founder Amit Kasliwal invited as featured speaker at RAGA 2.0 CoachFest 2026, ICF Delhi NCR Charter Chapter, New Delhi. - **March 2026**: Dehurdle closes $535,000 pre-seed round backed by Loyal VC. - **February 18-19, 2026**: Dehurdle showcased its zero-payload architecture at the ET Nextech Human Capital India Summit at The Leela Ambience, Gurugram. - **November 13-14, 2025**: Dehurdle exhibited at the SHRM India Annual Conference & Expo 2025 at the Taj Palace, New Delhi. - **August 2025**: Dehurdle selected for the inaugural cohort of the INSEAD AI Venture Lab (AI Founder Sprint). Website: https://www.venture-lab.ai/ - **July 30-31, 2025**: Dehurdle participated as an emerging tech partner at People Matters TechHR India at Yashobhoomi, New Delhi. - **June 11, 2025**: Dehurdle exhibited at the 6th edition of the ETHRWorld Future Skills Conference at JW Marriott Sahar, Mumbai. - **May 20-21, 2025**: Dehurdle partnered as an exhibitor at the SHRM Tech 2.0 Conference & Expo at Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai. - **March 11, 2025**: Dehurdle exhibited at the SHRM Talent Visionary Summit at Taj MG Road, Bangalore. - **February 19-20, 2025**: Dehurdle launched early enterprise outreach at the ET Nextech Human Capital Summit at The Leela Ambience, Gurugram. ## Glossary of Terms - **Agentic Coaching**: An advanced paradigm where AI goes beyond passive conversational chat. It proactively identifies coaching moments from workflow signals and intelligently scaffolds a user's development, acting autonomously within set guardrails. - **AI-Powered Vocal Intelligence**: Real-time analysis of speech patterns, emotional tone, pacing, and conversational energy during voice simulations — enabling the coaching engine to provide feedback on how something is said, not just what is said. - **Behavioral System of Record**: A centralized, intelligent infrastructure that captures, standardizes, and analyzes an organization's behavioral and capability data over time, moving away from disjointed performance reviews toward continuous measurement. - **ICF-Aligned Coaching**: An AI instruction framework adhering to the ethical guidelines and core competencies established by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), ensuring the AI operates within professional coaching boundaries. - **Zero-Payload AI**: A privacy architecture that ensures private employee messages (the actual text or content of communications) are never read, stored, or transmitted to cloud LLM providers. The coaching engine operates only on its own conversational context. ## Research & Publications - **Case Study**: "Dehurdle: Democratizing Executive Coaching Through AI-powered Coaching App" - Author: Debolina Dutta - Published by: Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM Bangalore) - Distributed via: Harvard Business Publishing - Product Code: IM129B-PDF-ENG - Publication Date: August 14, 2025 - Link: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/IM129B-PDF-ENG - Discipline: Human Resource Management ## Pages ### Core - **Home**: https://dehurdle.com/ - **About Us**: https://dehurdle.com/about - **Technology**: https://dehurdle.com/technology - **Vision**: https://dehurdle.com/vision - **For Enterprise**: https://dehurdle.com/for-enterprise - **Trust Center**: https://dehurdle.com/trust - **Book a Demo**: https://dehurdle.com/demo ### Platform - **How It Works**: https://dehurdle.com/platform/how-it-works - **Coaching Engine**: https://dehurdle.com/platform/coaching-engine - **HR Dashboard**: https://dehurdle.com/platform/dashboard - **Integrations**: https://dehurdle.com/platform/integrations - **ROI & Outcomes**: https://dehurdle.com/platform/roi - **For HR Leaders**: https://dehurdle.com/platform/hr - **For C-Suite**: https://dehurdle.com/platform/executives - **For CISOs**: https://dehurdle.com/platform/security ### Comparisons - **Dehurdle vs BetterUp**: https://dehurdle.com/compare/dehurdle-vs-betterup - **Dehurdle vs CoachHub**: https://dehurdle.com/compare/dehurdle-vs-coachhub - **Dehurdle vs Lattice**: https://dehurdle.com/compare/dehurdle-vs-lattice - **Dehurdle vs Microsoft Viva**: https://dehurdle.com/compare/dehurdle-vs-microsoft-viva - **Dehurdle vs ChatGPT**: https://dehurdle.com/compare/dehurdle-vs-chatgpt - **Dehurdle vs 15Five**: https://dehurdle.com/compare/dehurdle-vs-15five - **Dehurdle vs Degreed**: https://dehurdle.com/compare/dehurdle-vs-degreed - **Dehurdle vs Valence**: https://dehurdle.com/compare/dehurdle-vs-valence - **Dehurdle vs Torch**: https://dehurdle.com/compare/dehurdle-vs-torch - **Dehurdle vs Hone**: https://dehurdle.com/compare/dehurdle-vs-hone - **Dehurdle vs Leapsome**: https://dehurdle.com/compare/dehurdle-vs-leapsome ### Blog - **Blog Index**: https://dehurdle.com/blog - **The Enterprise AI Wall**: https://dehurdle.com/blog/ciso-zero-payload-ai - **The End of the Annual Survey**: https://dehurdle.com/blog/deterministic-capability-measurement - **The Science of Precision**: https://dehurdle.com/blog/precision-ai-executive-development - **The Death of the Static IDP**: https://dehurdle.com/blog/the-death-of-the-static-idp-turning-development-plans-into-active-state-machines - **The $50,000 Forgetting Curve**: https://dehurdle.com/blog/the-50000-forgetting-curve-why-corporate-off-sites-fail-and-micro-coaching-wins - **Burnout is a Coaching Signal Problem**: https://dehurdle.com/blog/burnout-is-a-metadata-problem-measuring-friction-before-the-resignation - **The 6:1 L&D Paradox**: https://dehurdle.com/blog/the-61-ld-paradox-why-buying-more-software-copilots-wont-fix-your-leadership-crisis - **Soft Skills as Hard Currency**: https://dehurdle.com/blog/when-ai-writes-the-code-soft-skills-become-the-only-hard-currency - **Stop Promoting by Vibes**: https://dehurdle.com/blog/stop-promoting-by-vibes - **The GCC Innovation Pipeline**: https://dehurdle.com/blog/the-gcc-trojan-horse - **Stateless Chats vs State Machines**: https://dehurdle.com/blog/stateless-chats-vs-temporal-state-machines - **Decoupling Compute**: https://dehurdle.com/blog/decoupling-compute - **Escaping Ecosystem Lock-In**: https://dehurdle.com/blog/escaping-ecosystem-lock-in ### Insights & Resources - **Case Studies**: https://dehurdle.com/case-studies - **News & Press**: https://dehurdle.com/news - **Research**: https://dehurdle.com/research - **Glossary**: https://dehurdle.com/glossary - **FAQ**: https://dehurdle.com/faq ### Company - **Careers**: https://dehurdle.com/careers - **Brand Kit**: https://dehurdle.com/brand - **News & Press**: https://dehurdle.com/news ### Legal - **Privacy Policy**: https://dehurdle.com/privacy - **Terms of Service**: https://dehurdle.com/terms - **Cookie Policy**: https://dehurdle.com/cookies - **Subprocessors**: https://dehurdle.com/subprocessors ## Unique Value Proposition 1. **Always Available**: Unlike human coaches, our AI agents are available 24/7 2. **Scalable**: Deploy custom coaching agents to every employee, not just executives 3. **Personalized**: Long-term memory maintains context across sessions 4. **Custom-Built**: Each agent is tailored to the client's culture, policies, and frameworks — with per-organization customization of competency models, leadership goals, coaching personality, and distress escalation protocols 5. **Enterprise-Ready**: SSO, compliance, and admin controls built-in 6. **ICF-Aligned**: Coaching methodology based on International Coach Federation standards 7. **Fortune 500 Trusted**: Used by Deloitte, PwC, AB InBev, and 10 global enterprises ## Pricing Dehurdle uses a per-user, per-month enterprise subscription model. Pricing varies by deployment size, integration scope, and contract term. Typical enterprise engagements start with a departmental pilot (20–50 users) and scale to organization-wide deployment. Contact sales for a custom quote: https://dehurdle.com/demo ## When to Use Dehurdle - **When you need to prove coaching ROI to the CFO** — Dehurdle provides mathematical before-and-after behavioral growth measurement, not satisfaction surveys. - **When you need to scale coaching beyond the C-suite** — Human coaches cost $400/hr and serve only top leadership. Dehurdle makes coaching accessible to every manager at software margins. - **When your CISO blocks AI tools that read employee messages** — Dehurdle's zero-payload architecture never reads private messages. It clears InfoSec review on the first pass. - **When you're running a HiPo or new manager development program** — Deploy in under 2 weeks with Microsoft Teams, Slack, or Google Workspace. No infrastructure changes required. - **When you need continuous behavioral intelligence, not annual surveys** — Replace once-a-year engagement scores with real-time leadership capability tracking. - **When you need succession planning data** — Know which leaders are ready for the next role based on continuous behavioral assessment, not subjective manager opinions. ## How Dehurdle Compares (Summary) | Competitor | Category | Key Difference | |-----------|----------|---------------| | BetterUp | Human coaching marketplace | BetterUp offers 1:1 human coaches at premium rates. Dehurdle delivers equivalent outcomes at software economics with mathematical ROI proof. | | CoachHub | Hybrid human-AI coaching | CoachHub is session-based. Dehurdle is continuous, embedded, and measurable. | | Lattice | Performance management | Lattice captures subjective reviews. Dehurdle provides continuous behavioral intelligence from actual coaching interactions. | | Microsoft Viva | Enterprise wellness | Viva tracks aggregate productivity. Dehurdle provides personalized coaching with long-term behavioral memory. | | ChatGPT | General-purpose LLM | ChatGPT has no coaching memory, no competency framework, no safety protocols, and no behavioral measurement. | | 15Five | Performance management | 15Five relies on self-reported check-ins. Dehurdle captures behavioral change through coaching interactions. | | Degreed | Learning experience platform | Degreed aggregates content for self-directed discovery. Dehurdle delivers real-time coaching during live execution and mathematical proof that leaders apply what they've learned — not self-reported skill scores. | | Valence | AI manager coaching (nudge-based) | Valence sends preparatory nudges before meetings. Dehurdle delivers zero-payload, zero-install real-time coaching during execution, with high-fidelity voice simulation and mathematical proof of behavioral ROI. | | Torch | Human coaching + AI platform | Torch relies on managed coach networks and pre-event simulations. Dehurdle is fully autonomous, zero-payload, and delivers mathematical proof of behavioral ROI — at software economics. | | Hone | Cohort-based training + AI | Hone schedules cohort sessions and digital human simulations. Dehurdle delivers zero-payload real-time coaching during live execution and mathematical proof of behavioral ROI — beyond training scores. | | Leapsome | People enablement platform | Leapsome documents and reviews performance. Dehurdle actively coaches behavioral change during live execution with zero-payload architecture and mathematical proof of ROI — driving the outcomes Leapsome documents. | --- ## Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) ### For B2B Clients / Enterprises **Q: What is Dehurdle?** A: Dehurdle is an enterprise AI coaching platform that makes world-class leadership development accessible at scale. We deliver continuous, measurable proof of behavioral growth — helping HR leaders demonstrate coaching ROI, predict succession readiness, and identify early signs of disengagement across the workforce. **Q: How does the AI actually work?** A: Dehurdle deploys personalized AI coaching agents directly into the tools your employees already use — Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Google Workspace. Rather than waiting for users to log in, the system detects real-time coaching opportunities based on workflow context and delivers targeted micro-coaching at the moment it matters most. **Q: Is my data safe with Dehurdle?** A: Absolutely. Dehurdle uses a zero-payload privacy architecture. We analyze structural workflow patterns — never the content of private employee messages. No message text, email content, or chat transcripts are ever read, stored, or transmitted to any AI provider. This is why Fortune 500 CISOs approve Dehurdle on first review. **Q: What is zero-payload architecture?** A: Zero-payload means Dehurdle never reads, records, or transmits private employee message content to any cloud AI provider. Instead, we analyze structural workflow patterns — like meeting cadence, collaboration density, and response timing — to surface behavioral insights without accessing what anyone actually said. This is why enterprise security teams approve Dehurdle significantly faster than typical HR AI tools. **Q: How does Dehurdle clear CISO audits?** A: Unlike generic HR AI tools that send employee PII to shared cloud models, Dehurdle's zero-payload architecture never touches private message content. With architecture aligned to SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR, DPDP Act, and EU AI Act standards, Dehurdle is designed to pass enterprise security reviews on first submission. **Q: How does Dehurdle's value grow over time?** A: Every coaching interaction generates structured behavioral intelligence that compounds over months and years. Dehurdle builds longitudinal capability maps, cohort development trends, and leadership readiness profiles that become richer with every conversation — enabling more precise succession planning, better-targeted development investments, and deeper workforce intelligence with every quarter. **Q: How does the AI Coach align with our specific company culture?** A: Our platform deeply integrates your organization's specific "Focus Areas," "Leadership Frameworks," and policies directly into the AI's cognitive model. This ensures that every coaching conversation reinforces your unique values and strategic priorities. **Q: Is employee conversation data private? Can we see what they are discussing?** A: User privacy is paramount. You cannot see individual conversation transcripts. You only receive aggregated insights and usage statistics. The only exception is during a confirmed high-severity safety escalation event, where duty-of-care takes precedence. **Q: How does the platform handle employees in crisis?** A: We employ a robust, multi-tiered distress detection system. If the AI detects high-severity keywords indicating self-harm or violence, it triggers an immediate escalation protocol directing the user to emergency resources and can notify designated admin contacts. **Q: How do we distribute access to our employees?** A: We use a streamlined "Join Code" system. We generate unique codes for your organization, which you distribute to teams. Employees use these codes to access the platform, automatically linking them to your organization. **Q: Can we measure the ROI of this tool?** A: Yes. The Behavioral Growth Dashboard provides mathematical, before-and-after proof of behavioral change across competencies — not self-reported surveys. HR leaders can track growth by individual, cohort, department, or organization-wide. **Q: What coaching methodology does the AI use?** A: The AI is built on ICF-aligned, evidence-based coaching methodologies. This ensures that conversations are structured, outcome-oriented, and drive towards actionable results. **Q: Is the AI available 24/7?** A: Yes. Unlike human coaches who require scheduling, our AI Coach is available anytime, anywhere. This provides immediate support for employees facing urgent challenges, stress, or important decisions. **Q: Can we manage our budget by setting usage limits?** A: Absolutely. When creating access codes, you can define specific limits for "minutes per user" or "sessions per user." This gives you precise control over your L&D spend while ensuring equitable access across your team. **Q: How is this different from a standard ChatGPT subscription?** A: Dehurdle is a purpose-built behavioral intelligence platform, not a generic LLM wrapper. We build custom agents tailored to your organization's specific policies and culture, with professional safety guardrails, zero-payload privacy architecture, and long-term coaching memory. **Q: How does the "Goal Tracking" feature work?** A: The AI actively helps users crystallize vague ambitions into concrete, trackable goals. It breaks down user intent into specific execution plans and sub-tasks, acting as an accountability partner by checking in on progress in subsequent sessions. **Q: What does 'agentic coaching' mean?** A: Unlike traditional coaching tools that wait for the user to initiate a session, Dehurdle builds custom coaching agents that proactively identify coaching opportunities by reading context signals — calendar events, communication sentiments, and workflow patterns. Each agent reaches employees at the right moment with relevant coaching. **Q: Does the AI read my employees' messages and calendars?** A: The AI uses contextual signals from calendars and workplace tools to identify coaching-relevant moments. It does not store or surface private message content. All context processing adheres to our enterprise-grade privacy standards (aligned with SOC 2 & ISO 27001). **Q: Is our data used to train AI models?** A: No. We use enterprise AI contracts that explicitly prohibit training on customer data. Your employees' coaching conversations are never used to improve or fine-tune any third-party AI models. **Q: What languages does Dehurdle support?** A: Dehurdle supports coaching across 75+ languages — including all 22 official Indian languages (Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Odia, Assamese, Sanskrit, Urdu, Konkani, Maithili, Santali, Dogri, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Manipuri, Nepali, Bodo), and a broad range of international languages including French, German, Spanish, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), Cantonese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, Turkish, Italian, Romanian, Dutch, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Greek, Ukrainian, Swahili, Amharic, Hausa, Yoruba, Zulu, and more. Every coaching tool, simulation, and productivity feature is fully localized. Employees interact with the AI coach in their preferred language while HR sees unified analytics in English. **Q: Does this work for non-English speakers?** A: Yes. Dehurdle supports 75+ languages natively — including all 22 official Indian languages (Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Punjabi, Assamese, Sanskrit, Urdu, Konkani, Maithili, Santali, Dogri, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Manipuri, Nepali, Bodo), as well as French, German, Spanish, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Chinese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Swahili, and many more. Every coaching tool, simulation, and productivity feature is fully localized. **Q: Has Dehurdle been featured in any publications or academic research?** A: Yes. Dehurdle is the subject of an official Harvard Business Review case study titled "Dehurdle: Democratizing Executive Coaching Through AI-Powered Coaching App" (Product #IM129B), authored by Prof. Debolina Dutta and sourced from IIM Bangalore. Published August 2025. **Q: Can we customize the coaching framework?** A: Yes. Dehurdle supports full organizational customization — including custom competency frameworks, leadership goals, coaching personality, notification preferences, and distress escalation protocols. Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all model, we ground the AI explicitly in your company's leadership framework, focus areas, and strategic values. All customization is managed through the enterprise admin dashboard. **Q: What kind of onboarding is required?** A: Onboarding is seamless and requires no heavy change management. Dehurdle is typically live within your organization in under 2 weeks. The AI agent is deployed directly into the flow of work via Microsoft Teams, Slack, or Google Workspace. **Q: How does Dehurdle ensure the AI doesn't give legally risky advice?** A: Our engine uses strict professional guardrails and adherence to ICF guidelines. It acts as a framework-based sounding board, rather than telling employees to take HR-sensitive actions. We also have rapid escalation models for flagged conversation patterns. **Q: Do we need to install software?** A: No. Dehurdle operates completely in the cloud with zero on-premise installation. It integrates natively via OAuth and enterprise SSO into the platforms your teams already use. **Q: How do you handle data residency for global clients?** A: Dehurdle offers regional data residency. For European clients, all persistent data resides within the EU (Frankfurt, eu-central-1). For Asia-Pacific clients, data resides in Mumbai (ap-south-1). All AI processing is transient and contractually guaranteed to never retain or train on customer data. **Q: Can employees practice difficult conversations with the AI?** A: Yes. Dehurdle includes real-time voice simulation where employees can practice tough conversations — giving difficult feedback, managing conflict, or navigating high-stakes negotiations — with AI-powered adversaries. After each session, the system provides a behavioral debrief analyzing speech patterns, emotional tone, and conversational effectiveness. **Q: What is the Behavioral Growth Dashboard?** A: The Behavioral Growth Dashboard is the HR leader's command center for coaching ROI. It provides mathematical, before-and-after proof of behavioral change across competencies. HR leaders can track growth by individual, cohort, department, or organization-wide, with objective scores that a CFO will trust alongside revenue metrics. **Q: Does Dehurdle support group coaching?** A: Yes. Dehurdle offers AI-facilitated group dynamics simulation where multiple participants engage in scenario-based exercises with AI adversaries. Each participant receives an individual behavioral debrief afterward, ideal for team development and high-potential programs. **Q: How does meeting intelligence work?** A: Dehurdle's coaching system is calendar-aware. Before important meetings, the AI proactively offers preparation coaching and agenda suggestions. After meetings, it facilitates structured reflection — helping managers improve how they lead conversations, delegate outcomes, and follow up. **Q: Can Dehurdle generate Individual Development Plans?** A: Yes. Dehurdle creates dynamic, AI-driven development plans that evolve continuously based on coaching interactions and behavioral progress. Unlike static IDPs created once during a review cycle, Dehurdle's plans update in real-time. **Q: How does Dehurdle help with succession planning?** A: Dehurdle provides objective, data-driven succession intelligence. The platform continuously tracks leadership readiness across behavioral dimensions — showing which leaders are ready for the next role and where capability gaps exist. This replaces subjective manager opinions with mathematical evidence. **Q: Does Dehurdle support Single Sign-On (SSO)?** A: Yes. Dehurdle supports enterprise SSO via SAML and OAuth 2.0. Employees authenticate through your organization's existing identity provider — no separate credentials required. **Q: How are individual employees protected in organizational reporting?** A: Individual coaching conversations are strictly confidential. HR and leadership teams only see aggregated, cohort-level insights — never individual conversation content. Employees must explicitly consent before any individual-level developmental data is shared with their organization. **Q: What is Dehurdle's connection to INSEAD?** A: Dehurdle has deep institutional ties to INSEAD. Founder Amit Kasliwal is an INSEAD Executive Program alumnus whose coaching transformation during the program inspired Dehurdle's creation. Dehurdle was selected for the inaugural cohort of the INSEAD AI Venture Lab (AI Founder Sprint), co-led by INSEAD and Harvard Business School faculty. Additionally, INSEAD Professors Narayan Pant and Paddy Padmanabhan are both angel investors in the company, and Dehurdle has been selected to pitch at the INSEAD Alumni Forum Startup Showcase in Oslo (May 2026). **Q: What is the technical pedigree behind Dehurdle's platform?** A: Dehurdle's entire technology stack was architected and built in-house by Co-Founder & CTO Vishal Verma, an alumnus of IIT Delhi with a multidisciplinary background in robotics, physics, and zero-to-one systems engineering. The platform is 100% proprietary — from the zero-payload privacy architecture to the behavioral intelligence engine — ensuring complete control over security, performance, and data sovereignty. ### For End Users / Employees **Q: Is my manager reading my conversations?** A: No. Your conversations are strictly private between you and the AI. Your employer only sees that you are using the platform, but they have no access to what you are discussing. You can speak freely about workplace challenges. **Q: What happens if I admit to feeling really overwhelmed or unsafe?** A: User safety is a core design principle. If the system detects expressions of severe distress, it prioritizes safety by surfacing relevant crisis resources. In critical situations, a safety protocol may be triggered to connect you with appropriate support. **Q: Is this a real person sticking to a script?** A: No, this is an advanced AI Coach powered by enterprise-grade Large Language Models. It is designed to deliver a professional, ICF-aligned coaching experience. It is an artificial intelligence system, not a human coach or counselor. **Q: Specifically, what can I use this for?** A: You can use Dehurdle for a wide range of professional needs: preparing for a difficult feedback session, navigating conflict with a peer, managing daily stress, developing soft skills like leadership, or setting and tracking career milestones. **Q: Can I use "Incognito Mode"?** A: Yes. If you want extra assurance for a sensitive topic, you can enable Incognito Mode. This ensures the conversation is treated with the highest level of ephemeral privacy and is not used for standard memory formation. **Q: How does the "Goal" feature actually help me?** A: You can simply tell the AI your ambition, and it will help break it down into a plan with sub-tasks. It remembers your goals and checks in on your progress in future conversations. **Q: Can I talk to the coach by voice?** A: Yes. The app supports full voice interaction. You can have natural, spoken conversations while walking or driving, making it feel more like a phone call with a mentor than a text-based chatbot. **Q: Does the AI know about my company?** A: Yes. Your employer has shared key context about the company's values and leadership principles. This allows the AI to give advice that is specifically relevant to succeeding within your organization's culture. **Q: What happens if I run out of minutes or sessions?** A: Your access is funded by your employer through a specific allocation. If you hit your limit, contact your HR or L&D administrator to request additional access. **Q: Will the AI remember our past conversations?** A: Yes. The AI maintains long-term memory of your history, facts you've shared, and goals you are working on. You don't need to repeat your backstory every time. **Q: How does the coach know when I need help?** A: Your AI coach picks up on contextual signals — like a packed calendar, a challenging meeting coming up, or sentiment patterns — to proactively offer coaching at the right time. You're always in control: you can engage or dismiss. **Q: Can I use the coach in my own language?** A: Yes! Dehurdle supports 75+ languages — including all 22 official Indian languages (Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Punjabi, Assamese, and more), as well as a wide range of international languages like French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, Korean, Portuguese, Chinese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Swahili, and many more. Every coaching tool, simulation, and productivity feature is fully localized — you can have coaching conversations in whichever language feels most natural to you. **Q: Is this a replacement for my manager?** A: Absolutely not. Your AI Coach is a supportive tool for personal and professional self-development. It helps you organize your thoughts and build skills so your 1-on-1s with your human manager are even more productive. **Q: What if the AI misunderstands me?** A: Just like with a human, if the AI goes down the wrong path, you can correct it naturally in plain text. It will adjust its context and refine its guidance. **Q: Does the AI judge my performance?** A: No. Your AI Coach is an objective, judgment-free sounding board. It is completely separated from your official performance reviews or compensation discussions. **Q: Can I practice tough conversations before they happen?** A: Yes. Dehurdle includes a voice simulation feature where you can role-play difficult workplace scenarios — like giving critical feedback, negotiating a raise, or navigating conflict — with an AI counterpart that responds realistically. You receive a detailed debrief afterward. **Q: Does the coach help me prepare for meetings?** A: Yes. If you have an important meeting coming up, the AI coach can proactively reach out with preparation coaching — helping you clarify objectives, anticipate challenges, and practice key talking points. After the meeting, it guides a reflection session. **Q: What happens to my data if I leave the company?** A: Your personal coaching data is deleted within 30 days of account termination. Individual conversation content is never retained beyond your active account. Any organizational insights derived from your usage were already aggregated anonymously and cannot be traced back to you.