How Hunar.ai is Transforming Frontline Staff Engagement AI, WhatsApp, and Wati
How Hunar.ai is Transforming Frontline Staff Engagement AI, WhatsApp, and Wati
In India's bustling job market, ~80% of the workforce consists of frontline workers. Tellers, field force, retail associates, bank tellers, and restaurant staff keep the economy running. Yet while IT, professional services, and management professionals enjoy sleek hiring platforms and exhaustive processes, frontline recruitment has remained chaotic, inefficient, and deeply manual.
Before and After: The Wati Transformation
Before Wati (Challenges)
After Wati (Solutions)
Hunar.ai is changing that. Founded in 2022, Hunar (a rough English translation is an amalgamation of skill, talent, and art; how beautiful) is more than a recruitment automation platform, with a bold mission: to democratize hiring for India's vast frontline workforce. Founded by veterans from the tech space, Hunar recognized a glaring gap: while everyone was building sophisticated tools for white-collar hiring, millions of blue and grey-collar workers were still being recruited through outdated methods.
We sat down with Shantanu Battacharyya (CTO and Co-founder) to discover how they're using Wati to transform frontline hiring from a spray-and-pray approach into a precise, scalable, and humane process.
In a market where WhatsApp is ubiquitous, "WhatsApp is pretty much everything in India," as Shantanu highlights. That's where Hunar saw an opportunity. While Silicon Valley startups were building complex platforms that required app downloads and registrations, Hunar realized that India's frontline workers were already on WhatsApp. Why not meet them where they are?
"We're bringing the sleekness and efficiency of IT hiring to the frontline workforce. The problem really exists, but there hasn't been enough noise about how to solve it effectively." — Shantanu Battacharyya
Frontline Engagement Needed a Methodically Different, Highly Scalable and Everyday Channel Approach
"Everyone talks about IT hiring, but who's thinking about the person serving you coffee, delivering your packages, or helping you at the bank? These workers represent 80% of India's workforce, yet the hiring tech for them was stuck in the stone age." — Shantanu Battacharyya
Shantanu recalls the inefficiency that sparked Hunar's transformation: "Recruiters were going through resumes like it's first-come, first-serve. Just taking their best shot and hoping. Nine out of ten people they'd reach would say 'I'm not interested.' We thought. What if we could harness that information upfront?"
And these candidates preferred a casual mode of communication, Hunar needed to meet them where they are: WhatsApp. But just WhatsApp was not enough. Shantanu and team, being tech-first as they are, wanted simplicity of outreach automation, APIs, webhooks, and flexibility in scaling.
Finding, Utilizing and Scaling with Wati
The Search for the Perfect Partner
"Wati was already established when we were researching. But I wanted to test two or three players before deciding. What made it an easier decision than expected were specific features that were crucial for us." — Shantanu Battacharyya
The "Yes, this is what I want" Moment
"The webhooks just worked – that was our aha moment. For us, sending messages isn't the main utility. It's how fast we can update our platform about what's happening with each candidate. When Wati's webhooks worked flawlessly from day one, we knew we'd found our partner in growth." — Shantanu Battacharyya
Wati gave the right fuel for Hunar's fire, providing the infrastructure to automate and scale frontline hiring like never before:
• Lightning-fast template setup enabling rapid campaign launches
• Bulletproof webhooks that "just work" without breaking
• Multi-account management for enterprise clients
• Exceptional support that goes beyond troubleshooting to actually help with growth
• Seamless scalability from hundreds to tens of thousands daily
"We haven't looked back since." — Shantanu Battacharyya
How Wati Powers Hunar's Multi-Stage Journey
Interest Gauge
Cold outreach with job details to check intent via WhatsApp
Voice AI
Integrated across different stages of the candidate journey
Smart Screening
Quick qualification to filter interested candidates
Journey Updates
Automated nudges for interview reminders, next steps
Assessments
Qualifying questions or form links sent automatically
Real-time Tracking
Every interaction updates the recruiter's dashboard instantly
"The entire conversation—from first contact right up to the interview stage—happens on WhatsApp. Recruiters track everything, candidates get timely updates, and our voice AI handles detailed queries. It's a complete ecosystem." — Shantanu Battacharyya
The Technical Excellence That Makes It Possible
"Without webhooks working efficiently, it would be a struggle. Wati's webhooks have been rock-solid from day one, enabling us to maintain real-time visibility across thousands of concurrent candidate journeys." — Shantanu Battacharyya
Support That Actually Supports
"Whenever we had issues, we got prompt responses. But more importantly, our account managers have been phenomenal. They've grown with us, understanding our needs and sometimes even helping with feature requests that weren't strictly Wati-related." — Shantanu Battacharyya
The Bottom-Line Impact
~50,000
candidates reached daily (up from single digits at launch)
90%
reduction in time wasted on uninterested candidates
100%
of hiring volume flows through WhatsApp
Hours
saved per recruiter daily through automation
Thousands
of successful hires made through the WhatsApp journey
Multiple
industries transformed, especially retail, BFSI, and food services
What Makes This Partnership Special
"The primary value of Wati lies in its reliability and the absence of issues. It's like a well-functioning system that rarely requires attention. We can focus on innovation and growth rather than troubleshooting. That confidence in Wati's consistent performance is invaluable. And that's one less thing for a founder to worry about."
— Shantanu Battacharyya
What stands out in the Hunar-Wati relationship is the genuine partnership approach. "Vidisha and her support have been phenomenal—we have grown with Wati," Shantanu emphasizes. This isn't just a vendor relationship; it's a collaboration where both companies are invested in each other's success.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Frontline Hiring
Hunar is constantly evolving, embracing AI to efficiently and empathically scale frontline hiring. The immediate future revolves around:
• Deeper voice AI integration for fully automated screening
• Advanced analytics for trend analysis and anomaly detection
• Expansion into new industries and geographies
"We see WhatsApp-based hiring evolving into a voice + WhatsApp + automation trinity. The future is conversational, intelligent, and accessible to everyone, regardless of their technical sophistication."
— Shantanu Battacharyya