New Brunswick Companies at Demo Day: Enkidu
With Propel ICT’s Demo Day coming up on June 26 in Halifax, we’re chatting with the New Brunswick companies who will be pitching at the Marriott Harbourfront.
Today we chat with Mike Wright, CEO of Moncton-based Enkidu Inc.
What is your pitch?
Enkidu is a creative, results-oriented technology firm focusing on staff, leadership and organizational development. We help our clients recognize and develop a culture of success through the implementation of training and management solutions that are relevant, practical and applicable to both their short and long-term needs.
Our SaaS Platform brings 3 core pillars into client organizations; Emotional Intelligence, Diversity IntelligenceTM and Engagement. The platform delivers an MRI-like view into the behavioural realities of a company, allowing businesses to hire fast, fire less and most importantly build productive innovative cultures.
A number of the challenges within the corporate world today revolves around Diversity. Most people only think of race when they hear the word diversity, in fact, it includes cultural, generational and gender diversity, diversity of education, experience and perspective as well. Companies are at greater and greater risk of driving out talent and retaining mediocrity because of unconscious bias – managers not seeing the forest for the trees.
Examples of the pain companies are feeling include: engagement challenges with the millennial generation, technology companies not being able to move the dial with their diversity numbers and low representation of females in technology positions, executive ranks and on boards. Each representing significant lost opportunities.
The root of these issues are challenges with organizational culture.
The Enkidu Platform enables organizations to measure and continually advance positive cultural changes while helping drive out unconscious bias.
What’s your story?
Building off our co-founder Dr. Leeno Karumanchery’s 25+ years in the diversity and inclusion space we have build a SaaS platform that helps organizations define, track, manage and advance their cultural health.
Dr. Karumanchery recognized early in his journey that Emotional Intelligence (EQ) was a key component in building inclusive environments where the advantages of diversity can be realized and innovation (which thrives on diversity) can succeed.
I have spent the majority of my career in various executive roles with software companies and witnessed first hand how powerful a platform like this will be. All organizations have a unique culture that sits on a spectrum somewhere from Healthy to Unhealthy. My experiences have always tended to be on the healthier end of that spectrum but having said that there is always room for improvement – it is like the old adage that good is the enemy of great.
Our team brings over a century of experience building and growing successful companies and we each bring very distinct skill sets to the mix ranging from Dr. Karumanchery’s Diversity and Inclusion experience to Hugh Comerford’s expertise in non-verbal communication to Donna Carson’s stellar career in operations and business development. Jason Aube and I have spent our entire careers with IT firms straddling the business and technology teams while building and bringing software products to market.
We are all very passionate about building strong and innovative organizations. Enkidu comes from the Epic Tale of Gilgamesh where in the end Enkidu walked beside Gilgamesh helping him to become a better leader for his people – that is what we have set out to do – help our clients build a strong leadership and organizations where everyone is given the opportunity to be at their best.
What’s next for you?
The build program from Propel ICT was a transformative experience for us as an organization and as individuals. The program helped us accomplish exactly what it was designed to do: accelerate our business by showing us where to focus and transferred our passion from our product to helping our clients’ businesses thrive leveraging change as the world rapidly continues to diversify before their (and our) eyes.
Armed with our experience and wisdom gained from the program, and the passion we bring to our mission we are excited to help our clients grow their businesses while continuing to grow Enkidu.
The cornerstone of our philosophy comes from Dr. Karumanchery’s brilliant observation: “We are the only ones who judge ourselves based on our intent – everyone else judges based on our impact.” The impacts of resisting diversity are quite simple – if you think of diversity as a growing set of waves, each bigger than the last, the shore is no match for the changes that are coming – business must adapt or risk being swept away. We are helping the business world surf above the danger of diversity avoidance, one customer at a time.
RELATED: New Brunswick Companies at Demo Day: GradsFinder
RELATED: New Brunswick Companies at Demo Day: SnapAp
RELATED: New Brunswick Companies at Demo Day: Hit the Road App