Lattice buys performance startup Pando, names founder Gago as CMO
What's the deal? Lattice, the people management platform, has acquired Pando, a performance management startup, and appointed Pando founder and chief executive officer Barbra Gago as chief marketing and strategy officer. Terms were not disclosed.
What each side brings: Lattice offers tools for feedback, goals, 1:1s, and employee development. Pando adds features for employee progression, evidence-based calibrations, and real-time performance signals from where work happens.
The hire: Gago joins Lattice's executive team to lead marketing and help shape its category strategy. Before founding Pando, she helped scale Culture Amp, Greenhouse, and Miro. The deal also brings Pando's AI-native product and engineering talent into Lattice.
Why now? Lattice argues AI is compressing how fast jobs and required skills change, forcing performance systems to keep pace. It says most companies investing in AI struggle to link that spending to how their people actually perform.
What's the endgame? Lattice wants to deliver what it calls "trusted talent intelligence" that connects AI strategy to business outcomes. Pando is its latest AI push, following the acquisition of MandalaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s coaching technology and the launch of Lattice MCP, which feeds performance context into the AI tools employees already use.
"The next era won't be defined by which companies deploy the most AI," said Sarah Franklin, chief executive officer of Lattice. "It will be defined by which companies invest in the performance of their people and use AI to multiply human impact."
The signal: The deal reflects a broader push among HR software vendors to fold AI into performance management and consolidate talent tools. As Gago put it, "AI gives us an opportunity to turn performance into an engine for building capability and compounding employee impact."
Image credit: BAKOKO
