Building a company to audit the auditors of tomorrow, it’s accountability wrapped in vision. The AI age isn’t just arriving, it’s already taking interviews, screening resumes, and quietly reshaping who gets hired. But if the system decides your fate, someone better be watching the system. Enter Warden AI. And they’re not showing up with a flashlight, they’re bringing forensic floodlights to the HR tech stack.
Warden AI just closed a fresh funding round in July 2025, bringing total funding to $1.6M and locking in a $10M valuation. Not bad for a company that didn’t even exist two years ago. The round was led by the founders of Onfido, the same Onfido that went for $650M when Entrust came knocking last year, with Playfair joining in from London. A sharp bet by sharp minds who’ve seen what happens when trust breaks down in digital systems.
Founded in late 2023 by Jeffrey Pole and Eduard Schikurski, Warden AI runs dual headquarters in London and Austin. That Austin office? Brand new in 2025. Right in the heart of the US market, where the buyers are hungry and the regulations aren’t playing around. NYC Local Law 144, Colorado’s SB205, the EU AI Act, compliance isn’t just paperwork anymore. It’s a moat.
So what does Warden AI actually do? Think of it as continuous compliance for hiring algorithms. Their embedded platform plugs into HR tech systems, like Greenhouse, Beamery, and Sense, and audits AI in real time for bias, fairness, and explainability. No black-box excuses. No “trust us” logic. Just results, logged with timestamped, immutable receipts. And here’s the kicker: 15% of systems still fail basic fairness tests. But when done right? AI is 45% more fair to women and minorities than humans. That’s the real headline, when built responsibly, AI can level the playing field, not just automate it.
Jeffrey Pole brings deep product DNA from Onfido, while Eduard Schikurski knows regulated tech like few others, from Monzo to Abatable. Alexander Özkan (ex-Google) leads data with surgical precision. And Victoria Holdsworth steers the narrative, because truth only matters if it gets heard. Meanwhile, James Baston-Pitt, also ex-Onfido, advises from the frontlines of digital identity and trust.
Their recent “State of AI Bias in Talent Acquisition 2025” dropped some sobering truths: 75% of HR leaders are worried about bias, yet 85% of AI models they’ve audited pass. So the tech is there. It just needs a Warden.
This isn’t hype. This is infrastructure. The AI hiring boom is real, projected to hit $15.24B by 2030, and Warden AI is positioning itself as the certification layer for trust. They’re not just riding the wave, they’re making sure the wave doesn’t drown us all.
