Blue John today announces the launch of GREY, the People Risk Intelligence platform for SMEs and growth companies in regulated industries. By combining applied neuroscience, reputation analysis and AI, GREY is designed to give organisations a structured view of who a person actually is, not what they claim to be – including how they behave, build trust and show up under pressure – before a hire is made.
GREY is grounded in applied neuroscience research into what it takes to succeed in an organisation, combined with over 20 years of experience in reputation management and due diligence.
It delivers a reputation analysis of public data that starts with high stakes reputational issues using Black & White analysis, before surfacing a person’s Grey Flags – their hidden risks – and Lightning Bolts – their untapped potential. Applied neuroscience then defines the Traitmarks® that reveal how someone is likely to show up at work: whether they show qualities of Human, Rock, Compass, Architect and Chameleon.
Every GREY Insight is delivered in a human-reviewed report, guided throughout by Violet, GREY’s AI analyst.
GREY is designed to sit alongside the existing talent process, adding a new layer of due diligence and insight to mitigate people risk. Psychometric tests ask people to look inward and describe themselves, making candidates unreliable narrators of their own behaviour, and use models that pre-date the world of AI. GREY looks outward as reputation already exists and brings the due diligence done on the top 10% of talent to the 90% of people who are the heart of an organisation.
People are the biggest risk in an organisation and when one in three hires is a wrong hire, costing an estimated three times salary on average, the impact goes beyond financial cost and affects culture, momentum and reputation.
“The talent system is broken and we’ve been assessing talent the same way for too long,” said Lorna Cobbett, Founder & CEO of Blue John. “It’s time to look at who a person actually is, not what they claim to be.”
“GREY gives organisations the insight to see the person – not the AI-perfect CV – before they become a costly wrong hire,” continued Cobbett. “We’re here to protect your talent system, not replace it.”
The current talent, regulatory and legal environment mean the consequences of getting talent wrong have never been higher. The upcoming Employment Rights Act 2025, in particular, turns the traditional probation period into a legal milestone.
GREY also extends beyond talent acquisition to onboarding, talent management and leadership development. This is organisational intelligence that increases with every use.
Blue John has the backing of strategic angel investors from financial services, professional services and serial entrepreneurs, as it prepares to launch a Seed round targeting £3 million later this year.
“My vision has always been to create Open Reputation, doing for talent data what Open Banking did for financial data,” Cobbett added. “This is about building trust infrastructure and establishing a level playing field for talent. Personal reputation is no longer just a risk to be managed, it’s an asset to be understood.”
Register interest in early access to the GREY platform here.
