Small and midsize businesses finally have a shot at enterprise-level employee experience—without the enterprise headache. Innovation Minds, a rising player in HR tech, has launched Release Ubuntu, a major platform update designed to give SMBs the kind of engagement, recognition, and performance tools usually reserved for Fortune 500 budgets.
At the heart of this release are three standout innovations: the I’M Identity framework, the Wizzy™ AI Engagement Copilot, and the OKRise module, backed by modular Powerpacks that infuse AI-driven engagement into the daily rhythm of work.
“Our new release is more than software—it’s a lifeline for SMBs,” said Bala Balasubramaniam, CEO of Innovation Minds. “We’re putting the power of AI, daily engagement, and fair performance insights in their hands, at a fraction of enterprise cost.”
Closing the Engagement Gap for SMBs
For years, engagement platforms catered to enterprises with deep pockets and dedicated HR ops. SMBs, meanwhile, had to juggle disjointed tools—survey apps here, recognition software there, and no cohesive system to pull it together.
Innovation Minds is betting that Release Ubuntu can change that. Built around the I’M Identity framework, the platform reimagines engagement through five daily affirmations:
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I’M Connected: Community-building through challenges, events, and shared spaces.
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I’M Celebrated: Authentic recognition and rewards employees actually want.
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I’M Elevated: Transparent feedback loops and fair performance calibration.
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I’M Valued: Continuous dialogue through surveys and “Hall Talks.”
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I’M Inspired: Tools for co-creation and innovation at every level.
It’s engagement that feels personal, not programmatic—an important distinction in a post-pandemic world where employees increasingly crave belonging and authenticity.
AI + Human Touch: The Wizzy Copilot
The star of the show might just be Wizzy™, the AI Engagement Copilot. Far from being another HR chatbot, Wizzy acts as a daily engagement assistant—helping leaders recognize achievements, summarize sentiment, and surface actionable insights in real time.
For SMBs with lean HR teams, this could be a game-changer. Wizzy handles the heavy lifting of communication and culture maintenance, leaving humans free to focus on leadership and creativity.
OKRise: Reinventing Performance Reviews
Also new is OKRise, a module designed to replace clunky annual reviews with continuous, fair performance feedback. Using Innovation Minds’ Proprietary Fair Calibration, OKRise aims to remove bias from evaluations—an issue that’s haunted traditional HR processes for decades.
Think of it as a hybrid between OKRs and equitable growth tracking—performance management without the bureaucracy.
Powerpacks Bring Enterprise Muscle to SMBs
To round things out, Innovation Minds is launching Powerpacks, add-ons that bring top-tier functionality into SMB workflows. Highlights include:
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Amazon Marketplace Rewards Integration: Recognition with millions of instant reward options.
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Hall Talks: A digital watercooler for feedback, ideas, and sentiment sharing.
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Culture 360 Tools: Daily engagement loops that keep company culture alive beyond HR events.
Together, these modules make Release Ubuntu feel like a living, breathing ecosystem—something most SMB tools have struggled to achieve.
Early Wins and Culture Shifts
Initial adopters report strong results. A CHRO from SPL Inc., a healthcare SMB, said:
“With I’M Identity and Powerpacks, our employees feel more connected and celebrated than ever—and we’ve done it at a scale that finally works for us.”
Another client, SRP, noticed that the platform’s affirmations are transforming workplace language itself.
“Our people now say things like ‘I’M Celebrated’ or ‘I’M Valued.’ That language shift reflects a deeper cultural shift.”
Why This Matters
Innovation Minds isn’t just shipping features—it’s pushing a cultural reset in how SMBs view engagement. In an era of hybrid work, burnout, and retention battles, making engagement tools simple, affordable, and identity-driven is not just smart—it’s necessary.
While giants like Workday, CultureAmp, and BambooHR dominate enterprise HR tech, the SMB market has remained underserved. With Release Ubuntu, Innovation Minds may be carving out a niche that redefines how smaller organizations think about employee experience—where AI and empathy coexist.
If the platform’s promise holds, SMBs won’t just get better tools—they’ll get a fair shot at building workplaces people genuinely want to belong to.
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