Over the last six months, you’ll have seen us talking a lot about Helix, the AI skills intelligence platform we launched in 2025.
We’re very conscious that to most organisations, the concept of an AI skills intelligence platform is brand new, so you may be wondering exactly what it is. Well, wonder no more! Below, we’re going to set out exactly what an AI skills intelligence platform is, what it does and how it can help you understand and leverage the soft skills within your organisation.
What is an AI skills intelligence platform?
An AI skills intelligence platform is a software tool that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to map, analyse and optimise the soft skills of your workforce in the flow of work.
Unlike traditional talent management systems, an AI skills intelligence platform doesn’t just store data – it actively identifies skill gaps, predicts future learning needs and recommends personalised development paths for every employee, with AI helping to spot and surface trends efficiently.
In other words, it gives HR and L&D teams the ability to answer questions like:
- Which skills are we strong in, and which do we need to develop?
- Which employees are ready for promotion or cross-functional projects?
- What learning programmes will have the biggest impact on productivity and engagement?
How does an AI skills intelligence platform work?
Of course, we can't speak for all AI skills intelligence platforms, but we can tell you exactly how Helix works – and it's surprisingly straightforward!
Put simply:
- Create Helix accounts for everyone who could benefit from skills tracking
- Invite Helix to your virtual meetings (on Microsoft Teams, Google Meet or Zoom)
- Conduct your meeting as normal with the Helix bot present
- Receive your skills analysis email straight after the meeting identifying strengths, growth areas and suggested development opportunities
- Review your soft skills development regularly in your personalised dashboard
It works because it cuts out the need for biased self-assessments, time-consuming manager observations or clunky post-learning quizzes that measure post-learning knowledge, not real behaviour change. It's also fully scalable, so whether you want to measure the skills of 10 or 1,000 employees, it works in exactly the same way.
The more you use your AI skills intelligence platform, the more useful the data you collect. For instance, you can see which employees are best equipped to take on new challenges, which teams are strongest in your key skills or where skills gaps could indicate a need for new learning initiatives.
How Helix uses AI to drive skills intelligence
Helix is more than a basic skills database – it’s a dynamic, AI-driven engine that continuously updates and evolves as your organisation grows. Here’s how it works:
- Skill mapping and discovery
Helix analyses real-world performance to create a comprehensive skills map, including strengths, growth opportunities and improvements over time. This gives the L&D team a clear, up-to-date view of your organisation’s capabilities.
- AI-driven insights and recommendations
By leveraging advanced AI algorithms, Helix identifies skill gaps, recommends learning opportunities and surfaces which skills lie where in the organisation.
- Personalised learning pathways
Employees receive tailored learning suggestions that match their current skills, career goals and the needs of the organisation, boosting engagement and skills development.
- Integration with existing systems
Helix works seamlessly alongside the rest of 5app’s product suite, including The Hub LMS, VeeCoach AI tutor agent and VeeCreate AI authoring tool, providing actionable insights within the same learning ecosystem.
Use cases for Helix
Helix is highly versatile and can be applied across a wide range of HR and L&D scenarios. Examples include:
- Assessing the soft skills of coaches and mentors – Evaluate communication, leadership and coaching effectiveness to ensure teams are supported by skilled facilitators and to maximise ROI on your live training and coaching spend.
- Tracking leadership skills – Monitor the development of your current and future leaders, identify skills gaps and create targeted growth plans to take your leaders to the next level.
- Monitoring skills across the employee lifecycle – From employee onboarding and early development to succession planning, Helix keeps a real-time view of evolving skills across the organisation.
- Upskilling teams for strategic projects – Identify which employees have the right skills for critical initiatives and provide personalised learning paths to close gaps.
The benefits of an AI skills intelligence platform
Keeping track of skills across a growing team, whether that's a team of 20 or 2,000, can be challenging. Not every organisation will have a huge L&D budget, dedicated development teams or sophisticated analytics tools, but that doesn't mean your skills development has to hit a wall. Helix gives businesses of all sizes access to the same AI-driven intelligence previously only available to multinational enterprises with L&D budgets in the millions of dollars.
With AI skills intelligence platforms like Helix, businesses can:
- Optimise workforce planning – Ensure the right people with the right skills are in the right roles
- Boost employee development – Provide personalised, effective learning without guesswork
- Direct budget to where it counts – Spend your skills development budget on the teams or skills that need them most
- Build a continuous learning culture – Make every day count by keeping skills development front of mind as part of a thriving continuous learning culture
- Future-proof your organisation – Prepare for evolving business needs and industry trends by predicting the skills gaps you’ll need to fill
The future of workforce development
AI skills intelligence platforms like Helix are transforming how organisations manage talent. By combining AI, real behavioural data and human insight, Helix doesn’t just track skills – it helps organisations grow smarter, faster and more efficiently, without the need for sky-high budgets or hours and hours of observation time.
At 5app, we believe every business should have the tools to understand their people as deeply as possible, and Helix makes that a reality with minimal intrusion or manual effort.
Key takeaways
- An AI skills intelligence platform like Helix uses AI to measure, analyse and optimise workforce skills.
- Helix identifies skill gaps, predicts future needs and recommends personalised learning pathways.
- Small and medium businesses can now use solutions like Helix to leverage AI-driven insights to improve workforce planning and employee development.
- Helix supports multiple use cases, from tracking leadership skills to monitoring soft skills and managing the full employee lifecycle.