What Motivations AI does

Motivations AI is a private, Plymouth, Minnesota-based personality-assessment company that operates the SIMA (System for Identifying Motivated Abilities) methodology, a narrative-based, non-psychometric approach that mines autobiographical stories of achievement to identify innate motivational patterns. The company was formed in October 2022 when its parent, Cherith, acquired and consolidated several SIMA-related technology businesses under a single entity. It distributes its assessment across four sub-brands: MotivationCode (coaches, SMBs, enterprises), TruMotivate (50+ colleges and universities, expanding into high schools), TruSpark (junior high and homeschool students), and TruCenter (churches and faith-based organizations).

The underlying technology is the SIMA methodology, refined over 60+ years by Arthur Miller Jr. and contemporaries including Bernard Haldane, Richard Bowles, and Marshall Goldsmith, with a proprietary motivational taxonomy applied to phenomenological analysis of personal stories. The dataset spans more than one million stories analyzed for hundreds of thousands of individuals. The flagship product is the MCode digital assessment, delivered via brand websites (MotivationCode.com, TruMotivate.com, TruSpark.me, TruCenter.co) as digital self-serve assessments, with separate higher-touch channels for enterprise licensing and a certified practitioner / licensed consultancy network.

Revenue mechanics combine subscription and per-assessment pricing for individual and coach users with quote-based enterprise licensing across corporate, education, and faith verticals. Go-to-market is multi-modal: product-led growth through the brand websites, community-led growth via certified coaches (including a dedicated coach-resource build-out led by VP Shawn Hesketh), and enterprise field sales targeting HR, leadership development, and organizational development buyers. No revenue, funding, or pricing tiers are publicly disclosed. The current management team (CEO Chris Lema, CMO Jennifer Bourn, VP Growth Rod Penner, VP Assessment Science Peter Larson PhD, VP Higher Education Josh Williams, VP Ministry Tim Yee) was substantially assembled between October 2022 and February 2023.

Name

Motivations AI

Legal name

Motivations AI

Website

https://motivationsai.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Motivations AI operates the SIMA methodology — a narrative-based, non-psychometric personality assessment — delivering MCode assessments through four vertical sub-brands (MotivationCode, TruMotivate, TruSpark, TruCenter) to corporate, education, faith, and coach markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Personality Assessment Software

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (61143), Educational Support Services (6117), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Emotional Intelligence, Motivation & Culture-Fit Assessments (BPACAMAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Personality & Behavioral Assessments (BPACAMAC), Assessment Analytics & Item/Question Intelligence (IRT, Item Banks, Diagnostic Insights) (EDAFAFAG)

Keywords

• Narrative personality assessment
• Motivational pattern analysis
• Career guidance assessments
• Leadership development tools
• Volunteer placement software

Headquarters

HQ city

Eden Prairie

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Personality Assessment Subscriptions: Digital assessment platform providing MCode personality assessments to individuals, coaches, and organizations through subscription or per-assessment pricing models.
2. Enterprise/Corporate Licensing: Licensing SIMA tools and MCode assessment to enterprise clients for employee development, leadership coaching, and organizational development purposes.
3. Educational Institution Licensing: TruMotivate brand provides assessment services to colleges, universities, and high schools for career guidance and major selection.
4. Ministry/Faith Sector Licensing: TruCenter brand provides church volunteer management and placement services based on MCode assessment.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Motivations AI delivers the SIMA (System for Identifying Motivated Abilities), a narrative-based, non-psychometric personality assessment that analyzes individuals' autobiographical achievement stories to reveal innate motivational patterns. The assessment is offered through four branded digital platforms — MotivationCode (coaches, SMBs, enterprises), TruMotivate (higher education), TruSpark (junior high and homeschool), and TruCenter (churches/ministries) — built on 60+ years of empirical research and over one million analyzed stories.

Product overview

Motivations AI operates as a multi-brand platform offering a single unified assessment science (SIMA) through differentiated products targeting distinct market segments. The core technology is the MCode narrative-based personality assessment, which has been adapted into four branded offerings: MotivationCode (the flagship digital platform for coaches, small businesses, and enterprises), TruMotivate (for higher education students), TruSpark (for junior high and homeschool students), and TruCenter (for faith-based organizations/churches). All products share the same underlying SIMA science but are shaped for specific vertical markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MotivationCode: Brand (previously Pruvio) that first brought SIMA to the world via a digital platform. First story-based personality assessment in the market, used by thousands of coaches, small businesses, and enterprises.
• TruMotivate
• TruSpark
• TruCenter

Products and services

• MotivationCode Digital narrative-based personality assessment platform using the SIMA/MCode methodology; the first story-based personality assessment in the market, used by thousands of coaches, small businesses, and enterprises for personal and leadership development.
• TruMotivate Specialized version of the MCode assessment for higher education, helping college and high school students discover their unique MCode to inform major selection and first-job placement.
• TruSpark Simplified MCode assessment adapted for junior high and homeschool students, recognizing that motivational patterns can emerge early and remain constant throughout life.
• TruCenter MCode assessment solution for churches and faith-based organizations to transform volunteer program management by discovering congregation members' MCodes and matching them to appropriate volunteer roles.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 1 million stories analyzed over 60+ years
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Traitify:
• Crystal Knows: Crystal Knows uses personality frameworks to generate communication and team-fit insights at the individual professional level — a more digital, self-serve alternative that overlaps with MCode's SMB/coach user segment.

Direct peers

• The Myers-Briggs Company: The Myers-Briggs Company sells MBTI and related personality assessments to enterprises, coaches, and educational institutions, competing head-to-head with MCode in leadership development, team building, and student/career guidance markets.
• Gallup (CliftonStrengths): Gallup's CliftonStrengths is the dominant strengths-based talent assessment, directly comparable to Motivations AI's MCode in both methodology philosophy (identifying innate patterns) and target buyer (enterprise HR, coaches, higher ed). Several Motivations AI leaders came from Gallup.
• Hogan Assessments: Hogan provides personality assessments used primarily for executive selection, leadership development, and succession planning — the same core enterprise use cases Motivations AI targets with its corporate MotivationCode offering.
• Predictive Index (PI): PI offers behavioral and cognitive assessments for hiring, team design, and leadership development — directly competing with MotivationCode in the enterprise HR and people-analytics buyer segment.
• Wiley (Everything DiSC): Wiley's Everything DiSC is one of the most widely used workplace behavioral assessments, sold through coaches and enterprise L&D teams — overlapping directly with Motivations AI's coach-channel and corporate-leadership use cases.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Korn Ferry is a large global organizational consulting firm offering a portfolio of assessments, leadership development programs, and executive search — competing with Motivations AI primarily at the high end of the enterprise leadership and succession market.
• Center for Creative Leadership (CCL): CCL is a well-established leadership development provider offering assessments, coaching, and programs — a broader incumbent targeting the same enterprise leadership and talent development buyers as Motivations AI's corporate product.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MotivationsAI
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/motivations-ai

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Motivations AI