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Who We Are

We build the layer between what people do and why they do it

AgileBrain turns forty years of motivation research into a measurable, AI-ready system, so every experience can respond to what actually drives someone forward.

Where It Started

It started with a question, not a founder

What if motivation could be measured in seconds instead of surveys, and built directly into the systems people use every day. That question is what brought AgileBrain together: decades of validated motivation research, a research-grade validation process to hold it to scientific standards, and the technology to put it to work in real time. What started as a question is now the twelve needs behind everything we build — see how it works on our Science page.

J.D. Pincus, Ph.D.
J.D. Pincus, Ph.D.
Chief Innovation Officer

“I spent forty years proving why people do what they do. AgileBrain is the first place I’ve gotten to build that proof into something people actually use.”

Why Now

AI knows what people do.
Not why they do it.

Every platform today can tell you what someone clicked, watched, or bought. Behavior data is everywhere. But behavior without motivation is a guess dressed up as a data point. As AI systems take on more of the decisions that shape someone’s day, they need more than a pattern to act on. They need a reason. AgileBrain gives them one.

How We Work

Three principles we don’t bend on

Grounded in science, not trend theory

Every need, every score traces back to peer-reviewed research and our validation process, not a framework invented to sound proprietary.

Model-agnostic by design

Motivation data should work with whatever AI system a client already runs, not lock them into ours.

Structure over spectacle

We measure motivation to make systems work better for people, not to produce another dashboard nobody acts on.

Bill Nolen, Ph.D.

“My job is to make sure the science holds up under pressure. If a number can’t survive peer review, it doesn’t ship.”

Bill Nolen, Ph.D.
Chief Scientist, AgileBrain
Leadership

The people building it

John Penrose
John Penrose
CEO
Lisa King
Lisa King
COO and CMO
J.D. Pincus, Ph.D.
J.D. Pincus, Ph.D.
Chief Innovation Officer
Bill Nolen, Ph.D.
Bill Nolen, Ph.D.
Chief Scientist
Jamie Thompson
Jamie Thompson
Technology and AI Officer

See the framework in action

Explore the Platform