Beyond Efficiency: How Kindred AI Is Redefining Success with EQ

While artificial intelligence continues to shape the way we work, one Canadian company is reminding the world that emotion still belongs in the equation. Kindred AI is helping organizations understand and grow their emotional intelligence at scale, proving that technology and empathy don’t have to be opposites.

“We like to think of what we’re doing as a quiet revolution,” says Amanda Richardson, Growth Manager at Kindred AI. “Tech has spent decades making us faster and more efficient. Now it’s time for it to strengthen the human side of work.”

Kindred took shape in the wake of the “Great Resignation” in early 2021, when many workers began seeking not just better pay, but workplaces grounded in well-being. What started as a way to help companies measure and improve emotional intelligence has since evolved into tools that let developers embed those same human qualities into their own products.

Today, Kindred powers emotionally intelligent tools and integrations for organizations around the world, including products like Waiting Room and MedChefs.Their platform tracks fifteen key social and emotional skills, including emotional expression, impulse control, stress tolerance, assertiveness, optimism, and interpersonal relationships. They then turn that data into actionable insights that leaders can use to build stronger teams.

“What we measure comes down to awareness, management, and connection,” Amanda explains. “Together, those provide a complete picture of a team’s emotional intelligence.”

Companies using Kindred typically see an 8-10% increase in emotional intelligence scores within the first 90 days. More than just a statistic, that growth reflects the deeper impact of people feeling heard, understood, and supported, the conditions that foster belonging and, in turn, improve retention.

Kindred stands out not just for its assessments and analytics, but for its ethical approach to AI. Built on more than 35 years of psychological research, the platform ensures emotional intelligence is embedded responsibly into digital systems. “There’s hesitation around AI, and that’s natural,” Amanda says. “That’s why Kindred exists, to build guardrails. If you’re creating an AI that interacts with thousands of people, it needs to understand emotion.”That mission extends to privacy. All data gathered through Kindred is encrypted, securely hosted on AWS, and never used to train external models. “We build trust by design,” Amanda emphasizes. “The data belongs to the people who create it.”

Kindred’s approach has already attracted major attention, including partnerships with two Fortune 30 companies that have integrated the platform directly into their leadership and learning programs. But whether it’s working with global organizations or smaller teams, Kindred’s goal remains the same, to make emotional intelligence accessible to everyone, not just executives or HR departments.As the company continues to expand, it’s developing new tools to connect Emotional Quotient (EQ) growth directly to performance outcomes and culture metrics. For teams curious about where to start, Amanda’s advice is simple:

“Ask better questions,” she says. “Ask your team, ‘How do we want to show up for each other?’ and really listen to the answers. That’s where emotional intelligence begins.”

Kindred AI is proving that empathy and innovation don’t exist on opposite sides of the spectrum, they’re at their best when they work together.Learn more about Kindred AI