Our Story
Pivotal Talent was born from a simple question: can we scientifically predict who will perform in a specific role?
In 2010, behavioural scientist Dr Juan Swartz began building performance-prediction models through his research institute, Scientia. These models were tested and refined with organisations such as EY, Lloyds Bank, Vodafone and Sky, across banking, media, telecoms and retail – and consistently validated by real-world performance.
In 2012, Juan partnered with Pivotal to scale this science into a business. He brought the models, data and assessments; we brought funding, networks and experience in growing technology ventures. Since then, we’ve evolved into a fully automated, AI-enhanced platform (built with Optix) that is chat-based, mobile-friendly, data-light and multilingual.
Today, we’ve analysed over 6.2 million data points and assessed more than 100,000 candidates, using AI to predict who will truly excel in specific roles – not just who interviews well.
The Problem & Our Solution
Traditional recruitment delivers roughly 55% hiring accuracy and can take 5–9.5 weeks per hire. Interviews favour familiarity over performance, recruiters are stretched across highly specialised roles, and standardised tests measure generic traits.
We focus on what actually predicts success.
We map the role-specific predictors of performance – the combination of skills, experience, abilities, motivation, interests and traits that drive success in each role – and use AI models to:
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Generate ranked shortlists of candidates most likely to perform and stay
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Reduce reliance on CVs, focusing on predictive signals instead of surface impressions
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Compress time-to-hire by automating screening and comparison
Why We're Different
Most solutions focus on sourcing or chatbot experiences. We specialise in the middle layer: scientific matching between application and shortlist.
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Research-built, market-tested: Originating in a research institute and proven across global brands before being productised.
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Role-specific, not one-size-fits-all: Finance, sales, customer service, operations – each role has its own performance blueprint.
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Automated, CV-light journeys: Interactive, chat-based, mobile-first and multilingual, designed for real hiring environments.
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Productised for the full lifecycle
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Smart Screen – Predict new hires’ performance and automatically surface the strongest candidates.
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Develop – Predict current employees’ performance in-role, identify development areas and recommend targeted learning.
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The result is objective, accurate and fast talent decisions – helping organisations and individuals flourish through better matches.
Our Team
The Minds Driving Our Mission
