15Five, the AI-powered performance management platform used by more than 3,000 companies, today gathered HR leaders in Austin and online for Thrive, its annual event exploring how organizations can remain human-led and AI-elevated.
15Five announced at the event the general availability of the newest version of AI-Assisted Reviews, introduced the 15Five MCP (Model Context Protocol) and debuted Meeting Assistant, a new AI-powered agent designed to improve manager 1-1s. These solutions add more context and continuity into the conversations that shape employee development and performance.
“HR leaders and managers don’t need more AI tools just for the sake of saying they have them; they need AI that fosters more informed conversations that help people achieve, lead and grow,” said Dr. Jeff Smith, CEO of 15Five. “Everything we showcased at Thrive is designed around the simple idea that technology, including AI, should elevate humans and their performance, not diminish their role. This belief has guided our work at 15Five since day one.”
“The risk I see in how a lot of organizations are approaching AI right now is that the tools start to lead and people start to manage the output,” said Mike Randolph, President-Elect of SHRM Austin, who spoke at Thrive. “What I’ve found in my own work is that AI is most useful when it’s handling the things that don’t actually require me…so I have more capacity for the work that does. That’s a different framing than ‘AI will do HR.’ It’s AI giving HR professionals more room to do their actual jobs better.”
New Version of AI-Assisted Reviews Launched
The new version of AI-Assisted Reviews drafts a performance review based on the actual work completed during the review period. Drafts are built from documented goals, feedback, 1-1s, prior reviews and information from connected work tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Asana, Jira, Google Drive and more.
Every statement in the review links back to its source, giving managers direct visibility into the evidence behind the feedback.
“I want people to do their work in the tools and workflows they already use and have the important moments from that work show up in 15Five when they’re relevant,” said Jon Rosenson, President and COO of Expedient. “Instead of asking employees and managers to assemble check-ins and 1-on-1 content only manually, 15Five can bring the right context together automatically, with the employee still in the loop to review and approve it.”
Once self and manager reviews are completed, managers receive guidance for the review conversation, so the discussion is tied tightly to the written feedback, and talking points are based on detailed context. Development plans can then be created within 15Five Growth Studio, creating a continuous feedback loop that carries into future review cycles.
“What really surprised me was how well the product was able to help me develop a response to how I had grown professionally,” Ashley Jones, Senior People & Culture Program Manager at NexTech. “It not only generated a thoughtful response based on the information I provided, but it also helped me think through the question in a way I hadn’t necessarily done on my own. That was probably the most valuable part of the experience for me.”
Introducing 15Five MCP
MCP is an open industry standard that allows AI tools to securely connect with business systems and understand the information inside them. Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and agents built in-house can read the company’s 15Five data directly, scoped to existing permissions. Additionally:
- Your team works in the AI tool it already prefers, and every answer traces back to the 15Five record behind it.
- Access comes from 15Five and is enforced at the data layer, so each person sees exactly what they’d see logged in and nothing more.
- Users connect with their own login and build agents and workflows on current 15Five data instead of stale exports.
15Five MCP also allows organizations to build custom workflows and AI agents using current 15Five data. The platform is designed to provide a governed alternative to the common practice of employees pasting sensitive data and information into external AI. This ensures privacy and security while giving employees the flexibility to work in their preferred AI tools.
“The 15Five MCP gives team members who build their own apps a way to connect what they create directly into our people-management workflows,” said Rosenson. “Instead of building isolated automations, they can bring meaningful context into 15Five where it can be reviewed, acted on and ultimately used for better conversations. It makes 15Five a complementary layer to the innovation happening across the organization, rather than asking us to centralize all that innovation inside one platform.”
Meeting Assistant Enhances Manager 1-1s
15Five also introduced Meeting Assistant, a new AI-powered agent that improves one of the most important elements of employee development: 1-1s with a manager.
Before a meeting, the Meeting Assistant prepares managers with an agenda, open action items from previous conversations and a summary of relevant changes since the last discussion.
After the meeting, it automatically generates notes, key takeaways, wins, blockers and recommended actions. Summaries can be delivered through Slack, Microsoft Teams or email, ensuring both participants leave with a shared understanding of the discussion and next steps.
“The quality and professionalism of our team’s written feedback improved noticeability while testing Meeting Assistant,” Kelly Sims, Chief of Staff at Orca Intelligence. “It acts as a great sounding board, helping managers articulate constructive feedback clearly and objectively.”
Meeting Assistant works with both manager and employee 1-1s using Kona Notetaker or Google Meet as meeting sources. It also integrates with Google Calendar and Outlook for ease of scheduling. The record stays private to meeting participants. 15Five does not store recordings, and transcripts are encrypted, retained for 30 days for quality purposes and then deleted.
Over time, every 1-1 contributes to a more holistic record of employee progress so when performance conversations occur later, managers have a cohesive year-long history right at their fingertips.
Catch the Thrive session recordings at www.15five.com/thrive and visit www.15five.com to learn more.
About 15Five
15Five is an AI-powered performance management platform built for business impact and helping people thrive. Its easy-to-use, all-in-one system delivers insights and tools that empower HR leaders and managers to drive engagement, performance, and retention through reviews, surveys, goal tracking, coaching, and continuous feedback. Over 3,000 companies trust 15Five as part of their daily work.
Learn more at www.15five.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261008183643/en/
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