Indianapolis Founders Launched AI-Driven Startup Helm
The startup uses artificial intelligence to streamline executive team evaluation without outside capital or staff.
Updated on Oct. 5, 2026 in Startups
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In February 2026, Indianapolis-based founders Adam Weber and Andrew Clark launched Helm, a startup offering executive team performance evaluations. The company leverages artificial intelligence to handle operations that historically required 20 full-time employees.
Why it matters
Helm represents a lean-startup model that bypasses traditional venture capital and large-scale hiring by automating management consulting workflows. This approach allows the firm to scale performance diagnostics without the overhead common to human-led consultancy models.
The startup utilizes artificial intelligence tools to replicate the functions of 20 full-time employees. By automating these administrative and diagnostic tasks, Helm has successfully eliminated major startup costs traditionally associated with human-intensive consulting services.
The players
Adam Weber
Co-founder of Helm who previously led teams at BlueBridge Digital and Emplify.
Andrew Clark
Co-founder of Helm who collaborated with Weber on previous digital ventures including the $50 million sale of Emplify.
Helm
An Indianapolis-based startup providing executive performance evaluations using automated AI workflows.
The details
Helm functions as an evaluation service that analyzes executive group dynamics to isolate friction points affecting corporate growth. The platform utilizes artificial intelligence — specialized software capable of performing complex analytical tasks — to automate processes that previously necessitated a 20-person headcount. By deploying this automation, the company avoids the need for external investment capital and plans to remain a lean, founder-led organization.
Timeline
2021: Emplify was acquired for $50 million.
February 2026: Weber and Clark founded Helm.
The Tech Race
The launch of Helm represents a shift away from the traditional growth-at-all-costs model observed during the founders' tenure at Emplify, which saw a $50 million exit in 2021. By prioritizing AI-driven automation over headcount, the startup challenges the conventional venture-backed consulting paradigm.
The firm operates without planned expansion in staff or reliance on investor capital, focusing purely on existing client executive teams. Interested companies can engage these performance diagnostic services, which replace manual consulting workflows with automated data processing.
The takeaway
Helm demonstrates how specialized AI can remove the need for large consulting teams in niche business performance sectors. Observers should track if this lean-operation model sustains growth without subsequent capital raises or employee expansion.
Further reading
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Source note: This article includes information reported by Indianapolis Business Journal.
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