HUGE opportunity to bring AI to Government to fix the hiring crisis | Holly | GetAsterHQ

Interested in joining the Holly team? Drop a note to alex@asterhq.com

Today we're joined by Brendan and Cherie, founders of HollyGov—an AI startup that just closed a $2.2M pre-seed round to solve one of government's most critical problems: over 1 million vacant jobs crippling communities nationwide.
​
This isn't just another HR tool. Government hiring is broken—think blacksmith job postings and 25,000 applications flooding new administrations like Zohran Mamdani's, where hires might not happen until 2027. HollyGov uses AI to fix job design, salary benchmarking, and bureaucratic bottlenecks, turning unstructured data mountains into one-click insights that save workers hundreds of hours.

Why watch? If you're an engineer, designer, or PM who wants mission-driven work with massive impact—serving 24M public sector workers and $3T in payroll—this is your signal. HollyGov grew ARR 53x in 6 months, landed Bay Area counties like Santa Clara, and offers sticky 3-5 year contracts in a first-mover GovTech position.
​
They're aggressively hiring Senior Software Engineers (backend/AI/LLM focus) to build agentic modules and scale their class/comp platform into a full AI-native HRIS. Mission: empower civil servants, rebuild trust in government, and make public service desirable again.

Drop us a message at alex@asterhq.com if this excites you—roles are open now. Follow for more deep dives into AI startups solving real problems. Let's jump in!

Timestamps
00:00 - Introduction - HollyGov's mission to solve government's hiring crisis
02:20 - The government hiring bottleneck - job classification crisis
04:02 - Why government careers are appealing to younger generations
05:54 - How HollyGov's product works - the platform walkthrough
08:10 - Long-term vision: AI-native HRIS for the entire employee lifecycle
10:01 - Engineering challenges in legacy government systems
12:17 - Real impact: Turning hundreds of hours into one-click solutions
14:26 - Building trust with AI in government
16:40 - Customer success stories - tears of relief from government workers
18:30 - Company culture: Building with, not for government users
20:01 - Product roadmap: From clerical assistant to strategic advisor
22:05 - Explosive growth: 53x ARR increase in 6 months
22:35 - Working with major counties: Santa Clara, San Mateo, Contra Costa
24:44 - Why 3-5 year contracts signal massive customer confidence
26:33 - Sales velocity: 3.5 month cycles vs. 12-18 month industry standard
28:29 - Current hiring: Senior Software Engineers with backend/AI focus

Key Topics
AI in government - GovTech innovation - Engineering opportunities - Startup growth - Public sector transformation - Mission-driven careers

Reach out about opportunities: alex@asterhq.com
Follow Alex on LinkedIn:   / alexpavlou  
Follow Alex on X: https://x.com/alexpavlou
Check out Aster AI: https://www.asterhq.com/

More on Holly:
https://www.hollygov.com/
https://hollygov.substack.com/
Brendan's LinkedIn:   / brendanhellweg  
Cherie's LinkedIn:   / cheriechung