From Burnout to Building Better Managers: How This Ex-Deloitte Consultant is Revolutionizing Employee Engagement with AI

An exclusive interview with Dib Rakshit, CEO of Wellence, by Roy Perlson, founder of Jobago.ai digital outplacement, on Dib’s journey from corporate exhaustion to creating an AI-powered platform that transforms first-time managers into effective leaders - right inside Slack and Teams. 

Dib Rakshit, CEO of Wellence

Q: Dib, thanks for joining me today. You've had quite a journey - from an engineering graduate in India to a leader in Deloitte to becoming a tech founder. What was the pivotal moment that made you leave a successful consulting career to start Wellence? 

Dib: It was actually a deeply personal experience that opened my eyes to systemic workplace issues. I had just led a complex, high-stakes project that became a commercial success. Instead of recognition, I was simply told to "move on" without any explanation or feedback. Around the same time, my father passed away, which prompted deep reflection on what truly mattered. I realised that the poor management practices I experienced weren't isolated incidents, they were symptomatic of a much larger problem affecting millions of employees worldwide. 

Q: That's a powerful catalyst. Now, Wellence integrates directly into Slack and Teams. Why was that integration approach so important to you? 

Dib: The main issue with existing HR tools is their complete lack of integration into the daily workflow of employees. People are already living in Slack, Teams, and Google Workspace.

By embedding our tools directly into these platforms, we ensure they become part of the natural workflow rather than another system people have to remember to check. It's about meeting managers where they already are. 

Q: Speaking of managers, who exactly are you targeting? The C-suite, middle management, or first-time managers? 

Dib: We primarily target first-time managers and middle managers, they're the ones who often lack experience and best practices. These managers are thrust into leadership roles without proper training or support. For senior leaders and executives, Wellence provides insights into organisational performance and engagement, but our core focus is on empowering those managers who need it most. 

Q: Let's get practical. If I'm a new team manager with three individual contributors, how would Wellence help me day-to-day? 

Dib: Great question. The platform centres around one-to-one meetings as the key lever for driving engagement and performance. Wellence provides you with a structured approach to these conversations - not just agenda items, but contextual insights based on what's happening with each team member. Over time, the platform builds context, improving the quality of your one-to-ones. It's like having a management coach available 24/7, providing personalised guidance at exactly the right moment. 

Q: What if I have a specific issue - say, an employee who frequently makes typos in client-facing documents? 

Dib: Issues like that would naturally surface during your structured one-on-one sessions within the platform. Wellence provides a framework for addressing performance issues constructively - helping you have those difficult conversations in a way that builds trust rather than creates defensiveness. The AI guides you through best practices for giving feedback, setting expectations, and creating improvement plans. 

Q: You mentioned AI. What's the underlying knowledge base that drives these insights? 

Dib: Over seven years, I've absorbed vast amounts of knowledge about leadership and management, hundreds of books, research papers, industry insights. The platform uses AI to assimilate this knowledge and providecontextualized insights at the right time. It's not generic advice; it's specific guidance based on your situation, your team member's history, and proven management practices. 

Q: The employee engagement space is crowded. Who do you see as your main competitors? 

Dib: I categorise our competitors into several groups: manual HR support, traditional HRIS solutions like Workday or BambooHR, coaching services, and newer companies offering similar solutions. But honestly, the presence of other companies validates the need for solutions like ours. What differentiates us is our integration approach and focus on real-time, actionable insights rather than periodic surveys or separate platforms. 

Q: Wellence launched its manager effectiveness product in April. How has the traction been? 

Dib: We're still relatively new, but the response has been encouraging. We've signed several clients, including two enterprise clients who are acting as design partners. What's been particularly exciting is our partnership growth, we've signed nearly 20 partners across the UK, US, Asia, and the Middle East over the summer. These are primarily HR consultancies who integrate our platform into their offerings. 

Q: That's interesting about the partnerships. Aren't you worried about cannibalization? Why would coaching consultants want to be replaced by software? 

Dib: It's actually the opposite, we see the partnership between service and technology as a 'healthy marriage.' Our platform doesn't replace human consultants; it amplifies their effectiveness. They can serve more clients, provide better insights, and focus on high-value strategic work while the platform handles routine coaching and tracking. It's about augmenting human expertise, not replacing it. 

Q: You mentioned targeting CTOs rather than HR departments. That's an interesting go-to-market strategy. 

Dib: Absolutely. HR departments often have lengthy procurement cycles and may be resistant to change. CTOs and executives understand the immediate impact of poor management on team performance, retention, and productivity. They can make decisions faster and see the direct ROI of investing in manager effectiveness. It's about speaking to people who feel the pain most acutely. 

Q: What about funding? Where are you in your fundraising journey? 

Dib: We're pursuing a twin-track approach, we have an open round with angel investors while simultaneously engaging with selective VCs who are active in the future of work and productivity tech sectors. We raised £300,000 through Angels initially, and we're aiming to close a VC round by the end of the year. The changing VC landscape requires strategic engagement, but we're confident in our approach. 

Q: Any advice for other mission-driven startups? 

Dib: Absolutely - engage advisors and supporters early, especially if you are mission driven. Don't try to do everything yourself. We've brought in Rohit as a commercial advisor. He has an enterprise background from Amazon and Bunzl and helping us with sales and partnership. He's working with us because he believes in the mission and wants to stay at the cutting edge. Find people who are aligned with your vision and can bring complementary skills. 

Q: Looking ahead, what's your vision for Wellence's future? 

Dib: Our mission is simple but ambitious: redefine manager effectiveness and create workplaces where employees are empowered to reach their full potential. We want to transform managers from task-oriented supervisors into inspirational leaders who drive engagement, performance, and retention. When managers thrive, teams succeed - and businesses transform. That's the world we're building toward. 

Key Takeaways 

🎯 The Problem: Poor management is a systemic issue affecting millions, often stemming from promoting individual contributors to management roles without proper training or support. 

⚡ The Solution: AI-powered coaching integrated directly into daily workflow tools (Slack/Teams) provides real-time, contextual management guidance. 

👥 Target Market: First-time and middle managers who need the most support, with enterprise sales through CTOs rather than HR departments. 

🤝 Partnership Strategy: Collaborating with HR consultancies creates a "healthy marriage" between technology and human expertise, amplifying rather than replacing consultants. 

📈 Market Validation: Strong early traction with enterprise design partners and nearly 20 partnerships across four continents within months of launch. 

💡 Founder Insight: Sometimes personal pain points reveal the biggest market opportunities. Dib's experience with poor management led to a solution that could help millions of managers worldwide. 

Dib Rakshit is the Founder and CEO of Wellence, a London-based AI-powered manager coaching platform that integrates directly into Slack and Teams. A former Deloitte consultant with over 20 years of experience in technology and management consulting, Dib holds an MBA from INSEAD and engineering degree from IIT Kharagpur. Wellence has raised £300,000 through Angels and is currently pursuing a VC round to accelerate growth and expand its AI-driven management coaching capabilities.