Insider Brief
- Tenor, an AI-driven leadership development platform, raised $5.4M in seed funding led by Base10 Partners, offering managers tailored voice AI simulations and real-time coaching to enhance communication and leadership skills.
- The platform integrates seamlessly with tools like Slack and Teams, aligns with enterprise systems, and focuses on “in-the-flow-of-work” learning to improve real-world manager effectiveness.
- Co-founders Charlie Stigler and James Cross, leveraging their Workday Learning expertise, aim to redefine leadership development through AI, addressing a $60 billion global market with innovative, contextual solutions.
PRESS RELEASE — Tenor, providers of AI-driven leadership development solutions that help every manager be more effective, today emerged from stealth and announced its seed funding round. Base10 Partners led the $5.4M round, with participation from Reach Capital and notable angel investors across the AI, HR technology, and learning spaces.
Research shows that when managers are more effective, it has an outsized impact on the productivity and effectiveness of the overall organization. Every year, $60 billion is spent on leadership development globally — and this is set to grow, with a Gartner survey recently finding that leadership development is a top spending priority in 2025. Gartner also reported that traditional management training activities have a negative impact on managers’ effectiveness. With companies eager to try new approaches, this creates a huge opportunity for AI innovation.
Tenor brings a brand-new approach to this problem, enabled by AI. Tenor’s platform helps managers hone their communication skills through realistic voice AI simulations that are hyper-tailored to their company’s leadership philosophies. By receiving immediate coaching-style feedback, managers can track their growth and progress. With voice, text, Slack, and Teams integrations, Tenor’s AI leadership coach can help managers to grow their skills in the flow of work. Enterprise-ready from day one, Tenor is SOC 2 Type 1 Certified, integrates with learning management systems, and has built-in AI trust and safety features. And Tenor will soon integrate across the HR stack, making the coaching experience personalized and contextual to each manager.
“Tenor allows our managers to practice critical conversations right when they need it most — whether it’s minutes before a feedback session or in preparation for a performance review,” said Eli Bildner, senior director of Talent at Guild. “We’re already seeing this ‘in-the-flow-of-work’ learning boosting our managers’ communication skills and confidence. With Tenor, we’re not just investing in AI; we’re investing in our managers’ ability to lead effectively in real-world situations.”
“Nothing is more important to the success of a company than the effectiveness of its managers. Great leadership is about how you show up and engage with the people around you,” said Tenor co-founder James Cross. “AI will help leaders be more effective across every dimension: how they communicate, how they set goals for their teams, how they give feedback, and how they’re supported day-to-day as they face situations and challenges. This is one of the highest-leverage uses of AI for learning, and with this funding, we’re building the defining platform in the category.”
Rexhi Dollaku, General Partner at Base10, commented, “As companies reimagine their businesses with the digital transformation AI is promising, having great managers becomes more important than ever. Tenor is already having clear and immediate impact for its early customers, and we are thrilled to see this company drive change in the HR market.”
About Tenor
Tenor’s co-founders, Charlie Stigler and James Cross, have dedicated their careers to unlocking human potential with technology. Their earlier start-ups were both acquired by Workday and serve as the foundation of Workday Learning, now one of the world’s leading learning management systems. Their latest venture is Tenor, the AI platform for leadership development. For more information and to find out how Tenor can be easily incorporated into your learning and development programs, visit www.tenorhq.com
About Base10 Partners
Founded by Adeyemi Ajao and TJ Nahigian, Base10 is a San Francisco-based venture capital fund investing in founders who believe purpose is key to profits and in companies that are automating sectors of the Real Economy. Through its program the Advancement Initiative, Base10 donates a percentage of profits to underfunded colleges and universities to support financial aid and other key initiatives. Portfolio companies include Notion, Figma, Nubank, Stripe, Popmenu, and Aurora Solar.
Featured image: Tenor Co-Founders James Cross (l) and Charlie Stigler (r). Credit: Tenor
