5app's Helix Review, 2025: What Does the AI Skills Intelligence Platform Offer?
AI and similar technological advancements have transformed how businesses invest in their employees’ professional development. Helix, an AI skills intelligence platform, claims to be a leader in this department, offering more than a few features to help companies invest in their employees.
But, does the platform actually live up to its marketing, or is it all just a bunch of hype? Since the platform can be a significant investment, it’s always worth diving into a Helix review to make sure it’s actually worth putting the time, effort, and funds into. Let’s dive in.
What is an AI Skills Development Platform?
First, it’s worth looking at what an AI skills development program actually is, as there’s often a little bit of confusion around it. These platforms use artificial intelligence to identify, analyse, and strengthen skills across an organisation.
Unlike traditional LMS systems, which usually focus on content delivery, AI-driven platforms aim to:
Understand how employees actually behave and perform;
Detect skill strengths and gaps;
Recommend personalised development opportunities;
Provide insights that help L&D teams make data-driven decisions, and;
Track organisational skill growth over time.
These platforms give organisations a much richer understanding of capability, making it easier to deliver targeted training, develop leaders, and measure the return on learning investments.
What is Helix?
Helix is an AI-powered skills intelligence platform created by 5app. What sets it apart from other AI skills intelligence platforms is its ability to join real online meetings through various online tools and silently assess soft skills in the moment. After each meeting, Helix sends the learner a personal email summarizing:
Their strengths.
Areas for improvement.
Skill-specific insights.
Tailored recommendations.
Beyond individual development, Helix helps organisations identify skill gaps, understand learning needs, and measure the impact of their L&D programmes.
A recent addition to the platform lets businesses track their own custom skills, meaning organisations can measure exactly what matters to them. This can be spread across leadership behaviours, client-facing communication, or culture-based competencies.
Helix also integrates directly with 5app’s wider ecosystem:
The Hub (5app’s LMS)
VeeCreate (AI elearning authoring)
VeeCoach (AI-powered coaching agent)
When combined, these can act as a full AI-powered skills cycle that powers employee learning long-term.
But, what does the platform actually offer, and is it worth the investment? Let’s dive a little deeper with a more comprehensive Helix review.
Comprehensive Helix Review: Digging a Little Deeper
Pros:
Passive, Real-World Skill Capture - Helix evaluates behaviour in real meetings instead of relying on self-assessments or artificial tests. This creates a more accurate picture of how people actually collaborate and lead.
Actionable, Personalised Feedback - Learners receive concise, helpful emails that break down their strengths and growth areas, as well as clear next steps. This immediate feedback loop encourages consistent development.
Custom Skills Tracking - Organisations can now track their own custom skills, letting them focus on the areas that matter most to them. This is perfect for leadership frameworks, cultural values, and industry-specific competencies.
Strategic Visibility - Helix gives learning and development (L&D) teams much more visibility into granular insights about what employees need to work on, skill gaps, progression, and more.
Cons:
May Be Costly - Helix isn’t exactly the most affordable option on the market, which might put it out of budget for many smaller companies. While it’s worth the cost, it’s a significant upfront investment.
Highly Dependent on Meeting Quality - The platform can only glean insights from quality, communicative insights. If these meetings are poorly attended or one-sided, for example, insights mightn’t be as accurate as you’d like.
Quality of Skills
Helix predominantly focuses on its Core 9 soft skills, which include collaboration and similar areas. These can all be high-quality skills, and are usually needed for leadership roles. There’s no reason why employees shouldn’t benefit from them if you’re nurturing them for upper management roles.
As appealing as this is, it also means the platform could lack a little in other areas. While the custom skills tracking compensates for this, it could be an issue for companies that want their platform to be perfect right outside of the box.
It’s not a major issue, but it could still be a problem for some companies.
Customer Service
As easy to implement as Helix is, it doesn’t mean there aren’t times when you or employees will need help from the platform. Thankfully, 5app has a strong reputation for this across each of its apps and platforms, so there’s no reason why it should be a problematic area here.
This includes:
Smooth onboarding processes.
Responsive support teams.
Clear guidance on implementation.
Regular updates as the platform evolves.
Since Helix is a flagship product in 5app’s ecosystem, there’s no reason why businesses and learners shouldn’t benefit from ongoing innovation and direct contact with the customer support and even product development teams.
Is it Recommended?
So, is Helix actually a worthy investment? This depends a little on exactly what you’ll need. It’s a great option for medium to large businesses focused on leadership development, coaching programmes, and soft skill development.
The passive approach to skill capture is innovative and far more aligned with workplace behaviour than traditional assessments. Organisations with robust meeting cultures, particularly those focused on client calls and collaboration, stand to gain quite a bit from using the platform.
But, that doesn’t mean it’s the best option for smaller organisations. The overall cost could make it harder to justify when a budget is relatively tight, and the return on investment might take too long to see.
Last Thoughts
Helix is a great platform for larger businesses looking to foster leadership and innovation among their workforce. While it has its issues, the same can be said for any other AI skills intelligence platform. But, this 5app platform offers more than a few benefits that outweigh these.
It’s a solid option for companies looking to take their business to the next level, gain real-time insights into employee learning, and take a much more personal approach to employee development. The long-term ROI it offers should make it more than worth it.