Fintech · Scale-up · UK

How Cleo rebuilt its skills frameworks in 3 weeks

Key results

  • Skills frameworks defined for every role in the organisation in 3 weeks
  • Self-assessment time cut from hours to less than 10 minutes

At a glance: Fintech unicorn · 500 employees

Operational challenge: Ambiguity in role definitions and a complex, poorly understood 6-box matrix.

Revolut People impact and results:

  • Strict skills frameworks implemented for every role across the company in just 3 weeks, using the pre-built skills library
  • Self-assessment time dropped from hours to 5–10 minutes
  • Headcount up 63% since bringing in Revolut People, while ARR rose 121%
  • ARR per FTE increased from $250k to $750k

From the Revolut People executive overview (2026).

The challenge

Cleo, an AI-powered fintech founded in 2016, was measuring performance with a complicated 6-box grid. The skills it referenced were vague and didn't match what people actually did day to day. Employees didn't understand how they were being evaluated, reviews didn't feel fair, and they said so in engagement surveys. Cleo needed to start again with a shared, objective picture of what excellent looks like in every role.

The solution

Rather than writing frameworks from a blank page, Chief People Officer Matthew Maher gave department heads simple framework templates they could adapt, drawn from the Revolut People skills library. Each team defined excellence quickly, and the result became one source of truth built into every stage of the new review cycle.

The results

Cleo defined and rolled out new skills frameworks across the whole organisation in 3 weeks. Because the new scorecards were built on clear frameworks, employees could finish a self-assessment in 5 to 10 minutes instead of hours. Reviews became clearer and fairer, giving employees a visible path for growth and leaders more confidence in the process.

“The competency frameworks embedded in Revolut People are one of the main ways it helps provide clarity. We were able to define every single role in the organisation, from top to bottom, in 3 weeks.”

Matthew Maher, Chief People Officer, Cleo
Cleo x Revolut People customer video (about 2 min, with audio).
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Source: Revolut People published customer story. Rewritten in our own words; metrics, names, titles and quotes as published.