Career Coach wins SFA Best Emerging Award

TALLAGHT-based recruitment company The Career Coach won Best Emerging New Business at the SFA Awards.

Headquartered at Work IQ, the group are also finalists for Best New Start-Up at the Local Enterprise Awards for their new venture ‘teora’ – an AI-powered workforce planning platform.

Dan Potts, founder of The Career Coach, says they developed the platform to focus on reducing/ removing both unconscious and conscious bias from hiring — and helping organisations identify and develop internal talent before defaulting to external recruitment.

“In simple terms: we’re helping businesses make more objective, data-driven decisions about who can actually deliver value — rather than relying on job titles, tenure, or assumptions,” said Potts.

“The platform formally launches at the end of March, and we’re currently in discussions with a number of founding clients across hospitality, manufacturing, and construction who are helping shape the rollout.”

The venture will still operate under The Career Coach brand, which focuses on helping individuals progress their careers through coaching, training, and career development programmes.

Potts believes teora can help organisations identify untapped talent within their existing workforce.

“Rather than relying purely on CVs or qualifications, the platform looks at motivations, capabilities, learning styles, and behavioural traits to understand where individuals can perform best.”

The goal is to help businesses reduce hiring costs, improve retention, and build future-ready teams.”