“As a lean team, running PR on our own wasn’t realistic, but PR Volt made it seamless. We were genuinely surprised to land features in Forbes and Yahoo! so early. The PR campaigns naturally aligned with our existing marketing and sales efforts. And the data in the PR Volt dashboard helped us understand which topics were resonating with reporters. Those insights directly informed our marketing content and priorities.”
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Erudit AI is an emerging workplace AI platform designed to give companies real-time insights into team engagement, burnout risk, and potential turnover — without traditional surveys. Developed by a team of machine learning engineers and organizational psychologists, Erudit aims to bring accuracy, ethical measurement, and scientific rigor to people analytics.
While the technology was still in development, the founding team wanted to share early findings from their workplace studies, publish their perspectives on the future of AI in HR, and demonstrate thought leadership in the space. What they lacked was a scalable PR engine capable of telling their story even before they had customer stories or a fully ready product.
This case study highlights how early-stage startups can use PR Volt to build credible visibility even before product-market fit.
The Situation
When Erudit joined PR Volt, they were actively searching for product-market fit and refining their ideal customer profile. Their AI models were evolving, they were onboarding early pilot users, and they were conducting significant research on engagement, burnout, turnover, and the ethical use of AI in HR. Although they had a deep bench of technical and psychological expertise, they did not yet have enough clients or user data to satisfy reporters who typically require proof points before covering a new SaaS product.
A traditional PR agency had proven too costly and lacked transparency. As a data-driven startup, Erudit wanted to clearly understand how many pitches were being sent, which outlets were being targeted, and what progress was being made — something their previous agency could not provide. PR Volt’s transparent dashboard, activity tracking, and AI-powered matching appealed to the team immediately, giving them a way to scale early-stage PR with far greater visibility and accountability.
The Strategy
Lead with Thought Leadership, Not Product
Because the product was still evolving, PR Volt focused on establishing Erudit’s founders as credible voices in the industry. Their expertise in AI ethics, workplace psychology, engagement and burnout analytics, and the future of HR technology became the foundation of the campaigns. Rather than pushing premature product announcements, the program emphasized research findings, expert insights, and authoritative commentary that positioned Erudit as a forward-thinking leader in workplace AI.
Assign Each Founder a Strategic Media Niche
To increase relevance and credibility, each founder was aligned with media verticals that matched their strengths. The AI-focused co-founder was introduced to technology, business, and AI reporters, offering perspectives on machine learning and ethical innovation. The HR and psychology-focused co-founder became the spokesperson for people-management publications, speaking to trends in workforce wellbeing and organizational behavior. This specialization made pitches more targeted and significantly more compelling to editors.
Leverage Timely Themes
The campaign also tapped into broader news cycles that aligned naturally with Erudit’s mission. The rapid acceleration of AI coverage, rising concerns about burnout and workplace wellbeing, and continuing trends in remote work and employee turnover created strong editorial demand for the kind of insights Erudit could provide. Their research and expertise made them a valuable source at a moment when the press was actively seeking credible commentary on these topics.
Develop a Media Pipeline for Future Launches
As the team engaged with journalists, many expressed interest in Erudit’s vision but asked to wait for more client data before featuring the product. Instead of letting these conversations go cold, PR Volt developed a structured media pipeline — essentially a journalist waitlist — ensuring those relationships stayed warm. When Erudit reached future milestones, a ready group of reporters was already primed to cover the next phase of the story.
The Results
Erudit quickly established early visibility in major outlets, including bylined pieces in Forbes, expert contributions picked up by Yahoo!, and regular columns in Employee Benefit News. The company generated more than 200,000 earned media impressions during a period when many startups remain largely invisible. This early coverage helped validate the expertise behind the product, build trust with investors, and attract early adopters interested in participating in the beta.
Most importantly, the PR momentum was created before the product was fully launched. By using PR Volt’s AI-powered journalist matching, transparent dashboard, and targeted pitching engine, Erudit was able to share its research, articulate its vision, and position its founders as leaders in the future of workplace AI. The result was a strong foundation of credibility that continued to support the company as it moved toward product-market fit and broader commercial rollout.
