Product | Your people questions answered
Our web platform changes the way core people management questions are answered. With powerful, pre-designed analytics, your data fuels smarter workforce decision-making.
Identify micro-labor markets and target recruiting efforts in areas with untapped potential.
Current demographics, competitor wages, commuting patterns, and labor market conditions provide context at a hyper-local level.
Track attrition patterns over the employee lifecycle and identify the highest turnover periods in a typical career. Compare flight risk profiles across distinct workforce segments.
Give managers the predictive intelligence they need to target retention strategies.
Understand the drivers of performance to build a more productive workforce.
Score candidates in real time to fuel a data-driven hiring strategy.
Understand how current compensation policies manifest on the ground. Identify potential misalignments in pay and benefits.
Identify the role referrals are playing in your recruitment. Discover differences in quality across referrals so you can focus on the strongest networks.
Smart surveys provide structure to interviews, reducing bias and noise in crucial decision-making.
Understand the effect of a policy before implementing it. Quantify expected outcomes on your workforce and your bottom-line.
Collect the right information from your applicants, employees, interviewers, managers, and referrals to enable powerful predictive analytics.
Philosophy | Our approach to human capital analytics
At the heart of the labor market lies one central challenge: finding, creating, and sustaining the right match between employee and employer. This pursuit underpins nearly all aspects of an employment relationship—from compensation and training to attraction and engagement. Yet in practice, companies approach these core questions piecemeal, establishing best-practices largely through trial and error.
Three major developments, however, have set the stage for a new way to ask and answer the core questions in an employment relationship.
First, technology has emerged to facilitate the systematic collection of electronic career and labor market data. Second, advances in statistics and processing power have given rise to powerful machine learning techniques, enabling the extraction of underlying patterns from large quantities of data. And finally, new theoretical frameworks—human capital, incentives, imperfect information, signaling, cognitive bias, and the fast versus slow brain—have fundamentally transformed our understanding of labor markets and the actors within them.
Each of these three pillars—technology, pattern recognition, and theory—must come together to realize their transformative potential. Theory without data is inactionable. Data without technology is limited. Pattern without theory is noise. The future of HR lies in harnessing these powerful synergies.
Research | Grounded in theory and experience
Our intellectual foundations are rooted in academic research and practical experience. This collection of case studies, white papers, and related academic articles is a way to share some of this knowledge.
Team | A cross-disciplinary environment
Our team is a collection of our founder's top students, collaborators, and co-authors. Coming from a wide range of educational and professional backgrounds, we share a common vision for the future of people analytics.
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Lalith Munasinghe
Founder
Lalith is the founder of TalenTeck and a Professor of Economics at Barnard College and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York City. Educated in Philosophy and Economics at Princeton, Cambridge and Columbia, he has since pursued a dual career in academia and industry.
While his research and work experience have been expansive, two questions have remained central, forming a consistent conceptual thread through all his work: What constitutes a good match between an employee and a company? and What is the role of human capital investments in our conception of freedom?
Lalith’s research has focused on employment outcomes: productivity, compensation, and turnover. He has established theoretical and empirical links between these key outcomes and worker characteristics such as experience, training, mobility, expectations, networks, time preferences, and gender. In a study of record-breaks using track and field data, he also developed novel methodology for modeling discrete outcomes, applicable in the labor market, climate change, and beyond. His most recent work has explored the role of referrers and interviewers in today’s workplace. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Labor Economics, Journal of Political Economy, and Labour Economics, among other academic journals.
In addition to studying company data in an academic environment, Lalith also collaborated with companies to translate his research into tangible business outcomes. He worked on several consulting projects in human capital strategy with Mitchell Madison Inc., William M. Mercer Inc., IntelliRisk Management Corp., and the World Bank. He was also the Head of Analytics at iQor Inc., a financial services company. There, he leveraged technology to build and implement a suite of human capital analytic products.
Over his decades-long career, Lalith has come to view theory as an integral part of effective analytics, and particularly, in human capital analytics. His perspective is that these powerful abstract ideas are what enable us to ask the right questions, build scalable solutions, and ultimately create impact. In 2014, Lalith founded TalenTeck, in many ways a culmination of these ideas.
Kate Gautier
Product
As the head of product development, Kate is dedicated to creating an extensive, scalable analytics platform that provides actionable intelligence for our client base. She is integral in solving some of the toughest analytic problems we face, using her mathematical training in abstraction, recursion, and conceptual isomorphisms. She also synthesizes expertise from our team of top academic researchers, technologists, and design architects. Her experience collaborating directly with clients across diverse industries—including retail, manufacturing, BPO, consulting, and software engineering—informs her work, ensuring solutions remain tied to real business problems.
Kate graduated summa cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Mathematics from Barnard College, Columbia University. Her studies also included advanced coursework in Economics and Machine Learning.
Sakthi Thirumavalavan
Technology
As the head of technology and database management, Sakthi is responsible for the development, security, and integrity of our technology infrastructure. She plays a key architecting role in the product and manages the software development team. Her extensive experience in diverse technology stacks and commitment to quality inform her work. Prior to joining TalenTeck, she worked at Cognizant.
Sakthi earned her B.Tech in Information Technology from Vellore Institute of Technology.
Ellorine Carle
Product
As a key contributor to product development, Ellorine focuses on Smart Data collection technologies. Her excellent writing skills, developed in part during her time as a staff writer for the Columbia Spectator, are invaluable in product development, communications, and several other areas. She also manages client onboarding, working closely with client technology and data teams.
Ellorine graduated cum laude from Barnard College, Columbia University with a B.A. in Economics. Her studies also included independent research in bias and transparency in machine learning algorithms.
Calvin Lu
Product
Working in product development, Calvin is dedicated to a strong marriage of form and function. He brings an eye for design, coupled with an understanding and deep respect for the conceptual foundations and functionality of the product.
Calvin is currently pursuing a B.A. in Computer Science and Mathematics at Columbia College, Columbia University.
Stephen Cameron
Research
With a focus on Labor Economics, Stephen’s research contributes to the intellectual foundations for our product. He is most noted for his econometric and applied work on educational selection and the dynamics of educational attainment. His published work has appeared in the Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Labor Economics, and American Economic Review, among others.
He spent many years as an Associate Professor at Columbia University, and is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
Stephen obtained his B.A. in Economics from Brigham Young University, and his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago, where he studied under Nobel Laureate James Heckman.
Tackseung Jung
Research
As an economist, Tack’s research contributes to the intellectual foundations for our product. His topics of primary interest are networks and climate change. His published work has appeared in the Journal of Climate, Journal of Evolutionary Economics, and Economic Theory, among others. He also co-authored a paper with founder Lalith Munasinghe on climate change.
Tack was a key member of the product development team during a sabbatical year in the United States. He is currently a Professor at Kyung Hee University in South Korea.
Tack earned his B.A. in Economics from Kyung Hee University, and his Ph.D. from Columbia University.
Tavis Barr
Research
With a focus on Labor Economics and Econometrics, Tavis’s research contributes to the intellectual foundations of our product. His topics of primary interest are cohort analysis, referral networks, and the role of interviews. His published work has appeared in the Journal of Labor Economics and Journal of Macroeconomics, among others. He also co-authored a paper with founder Lalith Munasinghe on the role of referrals in labor market matchmaking.
Tavis was also a key member of the product development team during TalenTeck’s first two years, building technology infrastructure and contributing rich analytic content. Prior to joining TalenTeck, he taught at Beijing Normal University and School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
Tavis obtained his B.A. in Computer Science and an M.A. in Economics from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University.
Raicho Bojilov
Research
With a focus on Econometrics and Labor Economics, Raicho’s research contributes to the intellectual foundations for our product. His topics of primary interest are matching, incentives, and interviews. His published work has appeared in the Journal of Labor Economics, among others, and he co-authored a paper with founder Lalith Munasinghe on the role of referrals in labor market matchmaking.
He is an Assistant Professor at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris.
Raicho obtained his B.A in Economics and Political Science from Grinnell College, and his Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University.
Karl Sigman
Research
Karl’s research in stochastic modeling and queuing theory contributes to the intellectual foundations for our product. He uses probability theory, random process theory, and simulation theory to model and analyze systems in which randomness is inherent, such as in telecommunications systems, queueing systems, inventory systems, and insurance risk businesses. His published work has appeared in Operations Research and the Journal of Applied Probability, among several others. He also co-authored a paper with founder Lalith Munasinghe on mobility in the labor market, published in Labour Economics.
He is the current Director of Columbia University’s Center for Applied Probability and the Director of Undergraduate Programs for the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research.
Karl received a B.A. in Pure Mathematics from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1980, and then an M.A. in Mathematics and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, all from the University of California, Berkeley.
Brendan Price
Research
As a labor economist, Brendan’s research contributes to the intellectual foundations for our product. His research explores the labor market impacts of technology and trade, the consequences of job loss, and the efficacy of public policies designed to help displaced workers and distressed areas recover from adverse changes in labor demand. His published work so far has appeared in the Journal of Labor Economics, and American Review of Economics Papers & Proceedings.
He is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Davis.
Brendan graduated summa cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Columbia University. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a co-winner of the first-place prize for the W.E. Upjohn Institute’s Dissertation Award.
Sonya Heil
Advisory
As an advisor, Sonya brings a wealth of expertise and experience in business strategy and corporate development.
Sonya has been serving as C.E.O. and President of Carl Fischer Music & Theodore Presser Company since 2006. Here, she played an integral role in combining operations with Theodore Presser Company, including the development and installation of a comprehensive software package for both companies. Prior to joining Carl Fischer Music & Theodore Presser Company, she spent three years in New York working with founder Lalith Munasinghe at the Human Capital Strategy Practice at Mercer Consulting before moving to California for a brief foray into the world of software development as the Senior Manager of Strategic Planning at Struxicon.
Sonya earned her B.A. in Economics and Music at Barnard College, Columbia University and Julliard School, through the Columbia-Juilliard Joint Program, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School
Rena Rosenberg
Advisory
As an advisor, Rena brings a wealth of expertise and experience in entrepreneurial thought leadership and business strategy, particularly in growth strategy.
Rena was a partner at McKinsey & Company from 2010 to 2016, where she founded a digital service line for the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Device Practice, and directed brand strategy design. As a partner at Robin Hood Ventures, she invests in early stage, high-growth life sciences and technology companies, and advises seed and growth-stage organizations on growth strategy, product and business development, and sales and marketing efforts. She is currently an Adjunct Professor at Barnard College, Columbia University, where she teaches economics of healthcare.
Rena graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Economics from Barnard College, Columbia University. She earned her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago.
Cynthia Howells
Advisory
Cynthia brings a wealth of experience in finance and communications to her role as an advisor.
Cynthia served as Director of Project Finance at Fitch Ratings from 2009 to 2013. Prior, she was a Vice President at the Bank of New York. During her 17 years as a corporate finance executive, she provided project finance ratings and corporate banking analysis to renewable and traditional electric companies. She has unique expertise in identifying business strength and weaknesses, as well as exceptional writing skills. Before entering finance, she served as Editor of the Columbia Journal of World Business.
Cynthia earned her B.A. in English Literature from Columbia College, Columbia University, and her M.A. in Banking and Finance from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
Sanjay Tikku
Advisory
As an advisor, Sanjay brings a unique perspective with his extensive experience in Finance.
Sanjay is senior advisor to KAUST Investment Management Co. Previously, he was managing director for alternative-investment solutions within UBS Global Asset Management A&Q, where he served on the global investment committee in addition to heading the London, Hong Kong and Tokyo investment offices of the group. He is currently a visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong School of Economics and Finance.
Sanjay graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in Computer Science, and was a doctoral candidate and teaching fellow in the Philosophy program at Harvard University.
Matt Sato
Advisory
As an advisor, Matt brings extensive experience in human capital analytics.
Matt currently leads Edelman Intelligence’s Business Analytics and Science offering, which leverages advanced analytics to link clients’ paid, owned, and earned environments to business outcomes. Prior to joining Edelman, he was a partner at Accenture, where he led their Advanced Analytics and Digital practices. He also worked with founder Lalith Munasinghe at the Human Capital Strategy Practice at Mercer Consulting, and on the analytics team at iQor.
Matt earned his B.S. in Economics and Finance from the University of Illinois, M.A. from Johns Hopkins University and was a former Ph.D. candidate at Georgetown University.
Gregory Harmer
Legal
As our legal advisor, Greg brings extensive experience and expertise in corporate law, with a focus on compliance.
He has served as Chief Compliance Officer and Executive Vice President at iQor since 2005. Previously, he was engaged in private practice as a partner in a large New England-based law firm where he focused on corporate and transactional matters.
Greg earned his B.A. in Economics from Fairfield University and his J.D. from John Marshall Law School.