Twice a year, managers sit down to rate people on work they half remember. The result is predictable: reviews shaped by the last few weeks, ratings that depend on who writes most persuasively, and HR teams chasing forms instead of improving them.
AI can fix much of this, if it is used for the right job. That job is gathering evidence and drafting. Deciding is the manager's.
Where AI helps
- Templates. Draft an evaluation template, with KPIs, weights and questions, from a short description of the role.
- Evidence all year. Connect notes managers log during the year, project work from tools like Jira, and HR data, and tag each item to the KPI it relates to.
- A first draft. At review time, suggest a rating per KPI with the evidence behind it, so the manager starts from facts instead of a blank page.
- Both languages. Write the draft directly in Arabic or English, rather than translating it.
The rules that keep it fair
- AI suggests, people decide. An AI rating should never become final without a manager accepting or changing it.
- Show the evidence. Every suggestion should cite where it came from, so it can be challenged.
- Protect personal data. Names, emails and phone numbers should be masked before any text reaches an AI provider.
- Keep an audit trail. Rating changes, overrides and calibration moves should all be recorded.
The goal is not to let AI judge people. It is to make sure managers judge them on the whole year.
What changes for HR
HR spends less time chasing forms and more time on calibration and development. Employees get reviews that reflect their whole year, in their own language, with the evidence visible to them. And the conversation shifts from "what do you remember?" to "here is what you did; what comes next?"
How Orbit does it
Orbit is our AI-first performance management tool, now in development. HR models the company and drafts templates from a brief, employees set goals and KPI targets for managers to approve, and Jira work and HR data flow in all year. At review time, AI suggests a rating per KPI with cited evidence, and the manager decides. Orbit works fully in Arabic and English, masks personal data before it reaches any AI provider, and runs in the cloud or on your own servers.
