Certifyde Inc. today announced it has raised $2 million to help businesses turn investment in artificial intelligence into broader adoption and fluency among rank and file. 

According to a 2025 report from McKinsey & Co., although 88% of companies surveyed said that they had adopted AI across their organizations, only 7% indicated they had fully scaled it within their operations. Most companies indicated they were still in the early stages of their AI journey. 

Certifyde notes that AI tools exist throughout the market and investment in AI by the enterprise is at an all-time high. The problem isn’t access; it’s a deep understanding of how AI can affect the everyday work and lives of employees and the workforce and that’s down to guidance and education. 

To bridge this gap, the company provides a browser extension called the Productivity Companion, which immediately begins providing personalized, role-specific AI guidance — no migration required.  

The Companion works alongside whichever productivity tools the team already uses — Salesforce, Slack, Microsoft Teams or Google Workspace – and meets employees in their natural flow of work by providing them actual guidance, reinforcing habits and providing helpful tips on how to use AI tools to enhance workflow. 

Co-founder and Chief Executive Skylar Hauswirth told SiliconANGLE that Certifyde focuses on what the company calls “AI fluency.” 

“In simple terms, AI fluency is the capability to use AI as a natural, integrated part of their daily work where tasks flow with the use of AI,” he said. “Like a seamless handoff between teammates, with fluency, AI picks up where the human leaves off, and vice versa, without breaking momentum.” 

A year ago, he added, many companies were reporting they saw productivity issues and wished to bring AI into their workflows. In 2026, companies are no longer asking about how to implement AI; they’ve given their employees the tools, and they’re asking why workers won’t use them. 

“They launched the product, hosted training sessions and even offered follow-up support,” he said. “Yet usage across companies plateaued at a small percentage of users.” 

The insight, he said, isn’t about age or demographics as much as it is confidence in the AI tools. People don’t want to risk AI getting it wrong, so they fall back on what already worked in the past. 

For companies trying to build a way to provide employees with a way to work with AI tools and bring them into their work. Certifyde also provides Academy, a complementary product that gives organizations a centralized host for education and compliance needs. This includes the ability to design and deploy custom training and certifications. 

The round drew participation from K5 Global and Flamingo Capital, as well as notable investors including Honey co-founder George Ruan, Ripple Labs Inc. CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Nutrafol founder Roland Peralta, among others. 

Certifyde said it would use the influx of seed funding to expand the company’s sales and go-to-market efforts. It would also be used to build on the current product development and strengthen the infrastructure needed to support increased growth to meet current demands. 

 Image: Microsoft Designer/SiliconANGLE