Performance Leader uses AI, branded Compass AI, in several parts of the platform. This page explains the principles behind it, what it is used for, and what data each feature draws on. It is written to be linked from anywhere you encounter AI in the product.
Our principles
We do not train on your data. Your firm's content is used to produce a result for your firm. It is not used to train or improve AI models.
We do not retain prompts. The text sent to produce a summary or suggestion is not kept after the result is returned.
People remain accountable. Compass AI summarises, analyses and assists. It does not make decisions about anyone, and it is not a substitute for the judgement of the people running a performance process. The platform says so at the point where summaries are configured:
Compass AI summaries can include errors, omissions, or misinterpretations. Always review generated content before sharing or using it in people decisions.
You can see what it is doing. Every prompt that drives an AI feature to end users is visible to your administrators, who can edit it, override it for a single review cycle, or reset it to our default. Administrators can also see what the AI has actually done in your environment: requests, response times and error rates, broken down by module. Nothing about how AI behaves in your firm is hidden from the people responsible for it.
Your firm decides what is switched on. AI is not all-or-nothing. Each module and add-on has an independent control, and turning one off stops its AI processing while the module carries on working normally.
Where AI is used, and what it reads
Feature | What it does | What it reads |
Review summaries | Summarises a completed review, including summaries for managers | The responses in that review: self-assessment, reviewer and contributor answers |
360 feedback summaries | Synthesises contributor feedback into themes | Contributor responses for that review |
Custom review summaries | Summary types your firm writes for a particular cycle | The responses in that review |
Review readiness | Checks a review's design before launch | The review's configuration only: forms, steps, emails and reports |
Objective setting assistant | Helps someone write a well-structured objective | The objective being drafted, and your firm's plans where they are available |
Objective quality review | Scores an objective for clarity and completeness | The text of that objective |
Strategic alignment | Explains how firm plans relate to a role | Firm plans and the individual's objectives |
Feedback quality and sentiment | Scores feedback across calibrated dimensions, feeding analytics | The text of the feedback given |
Personal feedback summary | A development-focused summary for the person receiving feedback | Feedback that person has received |
Check-in and debrief summaries | Summarises a conversation or a project debrief | The responses recorded in it |
Direct reports and leadership analytics | Engagement patterns and conversation starters for a team | Engagement, feedback and objectives data for people in that scope |
Email campaign content | Drafts the wording of a campaign email | Only the instruction the administrator types. No employee data |
Not every feature is switched on in every firm. If something here is unfamiliar, your firm has most likely turned it off or not enabled it.
What your firm controls
Your administrators, not Performance Leader, decide which AI features are available, what the prompts say, and who can see certain outputs. Those controls are covered in Enable or disable Compass AI features and Review and update Compass AI prompts.
A small number of features are configured by Performance Leader at your firm's request rather than from a settings page. The effect is the same; the route is a conversation with your Customer Success Manager.
Data processing and security
Questions about data processing, residency, retention periods and sub-processors are answered in our data protection impact assessment and its addendum, which your firm will hold. That document is the authoritative source on those points.
Questions or concerns
If you are using Performance Leader at your firm and something about an AI feature concerns you, speak to whoever administers the platform there. They can tell you what is enabled, show you the prompt behind a feature, and turn it off if that is the right answer.
Administrators should raise anything they cannot resolve with their Customer Success Manager.