Proto for Recruiters
James · Jul 2026
Proto is changing theway we hire talent.
We intend to register as a Delaware C-corporationand are actively raising a pre-seed round.
By James & Matthew LisondraJune 28, 2026
AI redefined who can build.Proto redefines how companies hire.
Proto transforms job postings into hands-on build challenges completed in a monitored AI-native sandbox, so you can hire exceptional talent in engineering, product, operations, marketing and so much more.
For recruiters:
- Build: Applicants complete projects tied to your existing job postings in an AI-native sandbox.
- Replay: See exactly how candidates approached the problem, from first prompt to final solution.
- Evaluate: Surface your strongest candidates by measuring how they actually build.
Product
Engineering
Design
Marketing
Operations
Sales
AI built forrecruiting
Two brothers,one vision
Brothers James and Matthew Lisondra co-founded Proto with the belief that AI can transform the way we recruit talent, building exceptional teams that will supercharge the era of intelligence.
Together, James and Matthew bring complementary expertise to Proto. James, a medical student at the University of Ottawa, leads product, operations, marketing, and design.
Matthew, a PhD candidate in Engineering at the University of Toronto, brings deep expertise in AI, machine learning, computer vision, and software engineering.
“The hire should be obvious before anyone schedules a panel..
We're meetingthe moment
Proto is built for organizations hiring people who create. From startups hiring their first engineer to enterprises scaling technical teams, Proto helps companies identify exceptional builders through real work, such as:
- Early-Stage Startups
- Growth-Stage Startups
- Scaleups
- Recruiting Agencies
- Venture Studios
- Startup Accelerators
Our work will focus on the US and Canada AI market with plans to expand globally.
Proto learns from thousands of build sessions across companies and roles, allowing customers to benchmark candidates against a much larger talent pool than their own hiring history.
Proto is a hiring platform where candidates complete real tasks inside a sandbox that mirrors your product, stack, and standards. Every action is tracked, scored, and replayed so recruiters compare applicants on evidence, not interview performance.
Companies post roles or open challenges. Applicants work inside Proto's sandbox while the platform captures replays, rubric scores, and comparison rankings. Recruiters review on desktop or phone, validate prototypes against real users, and move on strong talent before the interview loop decides.
$90B$60B$30B0
Technical hiring$4BSkills assessment$8BTalent acquisition$15BRecruitment software$24BHR technology$45BFuture of work$90B+
$90B+
Long-Term Market Opportunity
Hiring, talent acquisition, skills assessment, and AI-native workforce software.
Proto expands from technical hiring into assessment, talent acquisition, and HR software.
Sources: Fortune Business Insights; Grand View Research; Proto model, 2026.
AI recruiting software adoption
100%75%50%25%0
Q3 '26Q4 '26Q1 '27Q2 '27Q3 '27Q4 '27Q1 '28Q2 '28Q3 '28Q4 '28Q1 '29Q2 '29Q3 '29Q4 '29Q1 '30Q2 '30
Share of North American recruiting teams using AI hiring software, forecast by quarter through 2030.
Sources: LinkedIn Future of Recruiting; Greenhouse; Proto model, 2026–2030.
The largerProto vision.
Recruiters still spend most of their week on screening and admin — Proto shifts that time toward reviewing how candidates actually build.
Work sample review
1 partScreening & admin
3 partsUnited States18 hrs/wk
Canada16 hrs/wk
Approximate share of recruiter time spent on administrative screening versus reviewing candidate work samples. Survey averages for in-house recruiters, non-evaluation hours per week.
Sources: LinkedIn Global Talent Trends; Greenhouse Recruiting Benchmarks; Proto market model, 2026.
Resume screening62 %
Candidate sourcing55 %
Interview scheduling48 %
Offer & onboarding34 %
Work sample evaluation19 %
Prototype validation11 %
Share of in-house recruiting teams in Canada and the United States using AI for each hiring workflow, blended from talent-acquisition surveys and HR tech deployment data.
Sources: LinkedIn Future of Recruiting; Greenhouse AI in Hiring Report; SHRM Talent Acquisition Benchmarks; Proto market model, 2026.