LEIDLIK: THE UNCHARTED PATH TO INNOVATION AND EMPATHY

This case talks about the journey of Rohit Sinha (19 Y/O) and his firm, Leidlik, which is trying to navigate through the challenging world of innovation and empathy in the competitive Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) industry. Founded in 2022 in Jamshedpur, India, Leidlik aims to provide SaaS-based AI and ML solutions to small startups and companies, focusing on addressing social problems with an empathy-driven approach. Despite having initial challenges in gaining trust, Leidlik is leaving an impression with comprehensive fundamentals to foster technological solutions to adapt to social issues. The key challenges that Leidlik is facing include the difficulty of building a skilled team, partnering with government agencies, funding for scalability, the market dynamics in India, consumer mindset, and the need for empathy in both technological and non-technological solutions, expanding its brand proposition and maintaining the momentum. How can Leidlik expand its reach and maintain its empathy-driven approach? What strategies should Sinha and his team implement to tackle the challenges and take Leidlik to the next level? The case provides insights into innovation management, market positioning, the balance between empathy and business growth and the requirements of a social entrepreneurship firm. In June 2024, Rohit Sinha (19 Y/O) in his hostel room, was recalling fondly his work and recognitions his firm Leidlik, had achieved in the past years. Sinha recalled the obstacles and difficulties that came along the way of initiating Leidlik in 2022. Among the various challenges faced by Leidlik, one major problem was meeting the project deadlines. Leidlik, a firm dealing with AI and ML, offering Software as a Service (SaaS)-based products to other startups/companies, was built with a team of 8 people. In the initial years of launch, it was tough to gain the trust of startups and companies, but Sinha was able to launch products or services with an empathy factor so that the problem was addressed to solve the core issue. Sinha knew that the foremost challenge at that stage was to expand the brand proposition to a wider range of audience, specifically targeting both the socially needy and those requiring technological solutions. For Leidlik, it was not an easy task. Though Leidlik had made an impression in the new entrant market, at the bottom of the pyramid, the challenge was to maintain the momentum by taking the firm to the next level. However, a bigger issue loomed over their efforts: Leidlik was struggling to deliver projects on time. The delays were becoming a persistent problem, which also threatened to affect their credibility and ability to scale. What discussions should guide Sinha and how should he guide his team for the short-term and long-term, keeping in mind the empathy factor? Sinha called for a team meeting to discuss and plan the new potential project of the Waste Segregation Detection System. However, an important question for Sinha and his team remained unanswered “What should be the next step?”.