Acquisition will allow HR leaders to extend AI-powered manager effectiveness programs from 15Five into native workflows such as Slack, Zoom and Google Meet

15Five, the performance management platform that drives action and impact for thousands of organizations, announced it has acquired Kona, the AI-powered assistant and coach for remote managers.

“People managers are the critical lynchpin for maximum employee performance, engagement and retention”

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Virtual work continues to accelerate, with virtual meetings up 60% since 2020, according to Harvard Business Review, making it even harder for HR teams to diagnose and resolve the manager skill gaps in their organization that matter most. Founded in 2019, Kona joins virtual meetings in platforms such as Zoom or Google Meet, providing tailored, privacy-conscious coaching and enablement to remote managers in the flow of work. Trusted by the likes of Amplitude and Cribl, AI-powered Kona uses the context it builds over time to help people managers continuously level up across a wide range of critical skillsets – from leading more effective meetings to navigating difficult performance conversations.

The acquisition of Kona will soon allow 15Five customers to deploy manager enablement at scale and drive high-impact behaviors effortlessly, within the existing flow of work. It expands 15Five’s impact beyond their existing platform––solving costly performance, engagement, and retention issues in partnership with people managers.

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“People managers are the critical lynchpin for maximum employee performance, engagement and retention,” said Jim Morrisroe, 15Five CEO. “The team at Kona has built a leading-edge product that allows organizations to tap into the power of their managers at scale, with surgical precision, in virtual communications channels where leaders are increasingly honing their craft. We’re thrilled to join forces with Kona and help HR teams further unlock the impact of manager effectiveness.”

“Empowering managers is the cornerstone of helping HR build successful teams and businesses, and we’ve long admired 15Five’s work in doing exactly that,” said Sid Pandiya, Kona CEO. “Together we’ll raise the bar for what AI-powered manager enablement can deliver. We’re incredibly eager to begin this new chapter in Kona’s story.”