Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anant Agarwal. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Anant , appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

Aidora started with a deeply felt frustration: why is taking leave, especially something as life-changing as parental leave, still so complex and stressful? Employees often don’t know what they’re entitled to and HR teams are buried in administrative overhead. There was no modern system that brought clarity and care into the process. Once the idea was created, we went straight into the pain-points. We talked to hundreds of people: HR leaders, payroll admins, leave coordinators, and employees who had recently gone on leave. Some days, we were on five to ten interviews back-to-back. Every conversation helped us build conviction, see patterns, and understand pain-points from every angle. At the same time, we analyzed the market. What solutions already existed, and where were they falling short? We saw legacy platforms and service-heavy models that felt clunky, expensive, and stuck in a different era. It became clear there was whitespace. We realized we could bring something fundamentally different: a product-first, AI-powered experience paired with thoughtful automation and modern design. Once we knew we had a unique value proposition, we committed.

Coming from Google, I believed deeply in the power of a delightful user experience. We wanted Aidora to feel insanely intuitive. Like something you’d actually enjoy using, even when the topic is sensitive or complex. We obsessed over the design phase, thinking carefully about what information truly matters, when it matters, and how it should be presented. Every screen was crafted to reduce cognitive load and surface the essentials. Once the designs were ready, we started sharing them with potential customers, advisors, and HR leaders. We refined every detail until we started hearing reactions like, “Wait, this is leave software?” and “This feels so fresh.” That validation was the signal we needed. We went full speed ahead, and we’ve been building with focus and urgency ever since.

Anant , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Anant Agarwal, Co-founder and CTO of Aidora, an AI-powered platform transforming how modern companies manage employee leave.

Before Aidora, I spent over a decade working at the intersection of technology and complex systems, building financial models and infrastructure at Goldman Sachs, and later leading personalization efforts and user modeling at Google Search. Those experiences taught me how to design at scale and how to deeply understand user behavior in high-stakes environments.

I got into the leave management space in a very personal way. As my career progressed, many friends around me started having babies, and one by one, I watched them hit the same wall. Even at well-resourced companies, they didn’t know what they were eligible for, how to plan, or where to get trusted answers. That was my first exposure to how broken the system really was. I remember thinking: if they’re struggling, what’s happening at companies with fewer resources?

I’ve always been a heart-driven builder. I love creating products that meet people where they are and genuinely improve their lives. A leave of absence is one of the most emotional, high-stakes moments someone can go through, whether it’s the birth of a child, a medical emergency, or caring for a loved one. That’s what drew me in. I knew this was a space where we could make a meaningful impact.

At Aidora, we’ve built a modern, intelligent leave-of-absence platform that helps HR teams manage leave with ease, while providing employees with a simple, trustworthy experience. We support everything from parental, medical, and caregiver leave to more complex programs like military caregiver leave. Our product handles compliance logic, policy workflows, coordination across payroll and benefits, and all the messy edge cases. The goal is to help HR teams move faster, while making employees feel supported.

What truly sets Aidora apart is how deeply we’ve leaned into AI. Using AI in a compliance-heavy domain like leave management is complex. Mistakes can have serious consequences. But we believe AI, when applied thoughtfully, is the next frontier of user experience in HR. It allows us to deliver clarity, consistency, and care at scale.

Unlike other solutions that rely on case managers or third-party administrators, Aidora uses intelligent software to handle the complexity. In traditional solutions, the employee experience is only as good as the individual case manager assigned to them, which introduces inconsistency and friction. With Aidora, HR teams are empowered to offer a consistently delightful experience through our AI-powered tools, without relying on layers of manual support.

One thing I’m especially proud of is our free AI-powered Leave Plan Generator. Anyone in the U.S., even if they’re not a customer, can use it to get a personalized, visual leave plan based on their situation. It reflects what we’re here to do: make leave better for everyone. If you’ve ever felt frustrated or let down by third-party leave administrators, or if you just know your current process isn’t working as well as it should. We’d love to show you what we’ve built. Aidora helps you deliver a world-class leave experience that’s fast, compliant, and genuinely employee-friendly.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think my reputation in this space has been built through depth, urgency, and a strong commitment to thoughtful execution.
From the beginning, we took a research-first approach. We interviewed hundreds of HR leaders, payroll teams, and employees. In every conversation, we brought detailed, thoughtful questions that made people pause and reflect. Many had to revisit their policies or double-check how their systems were actually working. That level of depth helped people see that we were serious about solving this problem and thinking carefully about the edge cases that often break traditional leave systems.

We also brought those questions to labor law experts. Some of the scenarios we explored were so nuanced that even they had to go back, review the regulations, and return with a carefully considered answer. That kind of rigor built credibility early. People could tell we were willing to dig into the complexity, rather than avoid it. When we started building, we focused on delivering thoughtful, well-designed features that people could actually feel. The experience was clean, clear, and unexpectedly delightful, that level of product quality started turning heads.

Internally, I’ve always said that every Aidora user should have the best leave experience in the world. That belief shapes how we operate. If there’s a support issue, we jump on it immediately. We treat every issue like it matters, because for someone going through a major life event, it absolutely does.

Today, we’re announcing new features and updates every single week. In an industry where product innovation has been slow and mostly behind the scenes, this pace is making noise. Each launch sparks conversations, catches attention, and makes more people aware of what we’re building. These weekly drops are helping establish Aidora as the company driving the future of leave. And because the work is thoughtful and real, people are coming to us. Partners, prospects, and industry leaders alike are reaching out and saying, “We want in.”

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

My advice is to lead with clarity, build a blameless culture, and create real accountability through ownership.

At Aidora, we are remote-first by design. That means we’ve had to be intentional about how we work and how we stay connected. Morale comes from clarity, momentum, and mutual respect. We maintain a blameless culture. When something breaks or goes wrong, we focus on learning quickly and solving the issue. We don’t waste time assigning blame. This builds trust and encourages people to speak up, take risks, and improve together.

We have invested in creating structures that support both speed and autonomy. Everyone knows what they’re working on and why it matters. When someone ships something impactful, they share it with the team. Their work is visible. They get the credit, and they own the outcome. That kind of recognition and responsibility brings energy to the team. Accountability grows from ownership. Each person at Aidora leads their part of the work and is trusted to make decisions. At the same time, we encourage collaboration. People help each other and want their teammates to succeed. And finally, morale is powered by momentum. When we ship something and a customer says, “This is exactly what we needed,” the entire team feels it. Knowing your work is making a real difference is one of the most powerful motivators.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://getaidora.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/getaidora/posts/?feedView=all, https://www.linkedin.com/in/anantinvent/
• Other: Aidora Leave Plan Generator Page: https://getaidora.com/free-ai-leave-plan-generator

Image Credits

Anant Agarwal