InsideBoard AI
Brand OS.
A living operating system for the brand — from strategy to automation. The single source of truth for every team that thinks, speaks, or produces in the name of InsideBoard AI.
Governance layer.
Defines who can read, modify, and validate this document, how it is structured, and its current validation status.
The Brand OS
The InsideBoard AI Brand OS is the single source of truth for how the brand thinks, speaks, looks, and operates. It is not a static style guide — it is a living operating system that governs every brand expression, from a sales deck to an event keynote, from product micro-copy to a partner proposal.
Access & Usage
Document Map
Built in layers, from strategy to automation, it can be understood at any depth — and used consistently by anyone authorized to produce brand content.
Ownership
v1.1 · Q2 2026 · Sections 04, 05 validated.
v1.2 · Q2 2026 · Layers 01 and 02 reverted to in progress — pending co-founder review and sign-off.
The strategic foundation.
Positioning, Closed Loop, Success Formula, audiences, application territories, IRON, and trust architecture. Everything that makes the brand promise defensible.
Positioning
InsideBoard AI is the performance layer that sits on top of the client's existing ecosystem. It addresses what nobody else covers: what happens between tool deployment and actual team performance.
Strategic definition
- Internal Performance Orchestration Platform.
- Tagline Always by your side.
Always alone, never combined. Its strength comes from its isolation. - Promise (EN) Your team's success isn't a matter of luck. We orchestrate it by your side, day after day.
- Promise (FR) Le succès de vos équipes ne se joue pas au hasard. Nous l'orchestrons à vos côtés, jour après jour.
- Former "Activate your success" — phased out. Must not appear in any new material.
Client trajectory
The client enters with a simple need and progressively discovers the platform's depth. We never promise transformation. We promise what makes transformation last.
Visual references
- Linear Rigor, purity, density without heaviness.
- Notion Human tone, accessible, without being casual.
- Figma Dual register: event-driven AND enterprise depending on context.
The Closed Loop
InsideBoard's engine is a closed-loop system. This is what transforms a static program into a living system.
InsideBoard doesn't just orchestrate — it measures the impact of what it orchestrates, and feeds that measurement back into the next cycle. This is the fundamental difference with every tool that stops at content delivery or reporting.
Differentiation
The Success Formula
InsideBoard's value architecture captured in a single formula. The Loop is the engine. The Formula is the architecture of value.
Each dimension is powered by a dedicated IRON Agent. Together with the Closed Loop, they form the mechanism of proof in the verbal system: what makes the brand promise credible and defendable.
The four agents
Structural model — The Community
The Community is the foundational architecture unit of InsideBoard — not a feature, not a module, but the structural container around which the entire platform is organized.
- Transversal layer One community per BU or program — cross-functional, strategic, owned by leadership.
- Role-based layer Dedicated communities per role (account managers, service, ops) — focused, measurable, actionable.
- Proven model General Motors and Michelin both operate on this two-layer architecture.
Audiences
Four targets with distinct roles, access points, and purchase stakes. The platform addresses all four — but not through the same channel, nor with the same voice.
Application territories
InsideBoard positions by problem type, not by industry. Five primary territories.
CRM Adoption
Salesforce, Dynamics. Deployment is done, data quality is poor, sales reps work around the tool. InsideBoard activates the right behaviors and measures adoption quality.
Sales Performance & Coaching
Coaching is inconsistent, individual performance visibility is fragmented. InsideBoard connects KPIs to coaching actions and makes them manageable by frontline leaders.
ERP / S4HANA Transformations
Change fatigue, low post-go-live adoption. InsideBoard orchestrates engagement over time and aligns behaviors with program objectives.
Customer Service / Call Centers
High handling times, inconsistent quality. InsideBoard provides real-time guidance and per-agent KPI tracking.
Learning & Upskilling
LMS content exists but goes unused. InsideBoard activates it through performance — learning becomes a lever, not an obligation.
IRON
The unified conversational interface across all platform objects. Never describe it as "an integrated AI assistant" or "an AI feature."
IRON — The interaction layer
Provides access to the entire platform in natural language. Interacts with KPIs, communities, training, teams, documents.
Access points
- Sidebar InsideBoard native sidebar — persistent access across all platform objects.
- Widget Success Widget embedded in client applications (Salesforce, M365, etc.).
- Leaders Lab Dedicated coaching interface for frontline managers.
"Hello. What are you working on right now?"
"Hello. Where do you want to move forward today?"
"Hello. What's your priority at the moment?"
Emotional territory
Immediate efficiency + Duration. Fast, then long. InsideBoard doesn't promise transformation. It promises what makes transformation last.
Trust architecture
Enterprise client base. Microsoft 365 environments. More than half of the CAC40. The client enters through proof, not through promises.
The full verbal system.
How InsideBoard speaks, what it says, the registers it adopts by context, and the rules that govern every written output.
Verbal architecture
Three levels. Each has a distinct function. They reinforce each other without replacing each other.
Authorized usages
- Tagline of the logo, end-of-deck signature, standalone title in editorial communications, brand campaign signature.
- Combined with the promise (Level 2) or the formula (Level 3).
- Translated into French in commercial communications. English version is canonical.
Level 2 — Promise
- Hero statement on website, opening slide of commercial decks, major event keynotes.
- The full version (17 words) is dense by design. Never alongside "Always by your side".
Level 3 — Mechanism (proof)
Tone & voice
Direct. Confident. Human. Outcome-oriented. With a deliberate dose of lightness as a sign of confidence — never a sign of looseness.
- Vouvoiement Systematic in French, including in micro-copy.
- English-first For all canonical formulations. French is strategic adaptation, not literal translation.
- Hype, buzzwords, "disrupt" language, false intimacy ("Hey there").
- Speak from the silent wound. Do not demonstrate. Displace.
- Arrive as evidence, not as promise.
Copywriting direction — reference benchmarks
These validated examples define the right level. They name a felt reality the audience has never heard formulated with this precision.
Verbal registers
Four distinct registers. The posture and promise remain consistent — only their delivery adapts.
Enterprise
Audience: Decision-makers (CHRO, CFO, CIO), large enterprise communications.
- Sober, dense, confident without aggression.
- Short sentences. Specific numbers. Named realities. Silence around important statements.
- Adjectives, marketing intensifiers, conditional statements, hedge words ("might", "could potentially").
"Two transformations out of three fail after deployment. Not before. After. We address what comes after."
Event
Audience: Conferences, summits, IST, salons, keynotes.
- Rhythmic, energetic, generous.
- Rhythm. Repetition for emphasis. Surprise. Direct address to the audience.
- Hype, hyperbole, motivational poster tone.
"You came here to talk about transformation. We'd like to talk about what happens after."
Product
Audience: End users — sales reps, advisors, field operators, managers using the platform daily.
- Clear, supportive, present without being intrusive.
- Action-oriented language. Plain words. Vouvoiement maintained even in micro-copy.
- Jargon, system-speak, condescension.
"Hello. What are you working on right now?"
"Hello. Where do you want to move forward today?"
"Hello. What's your priority at the moment?"
KPI behind → "Hello. Your weekly target is at [x]%. What do you want to do?"
Training in progress → "Hello. You have an ongoing module. Where do you continue?"
No open signal → "Hello. What's your priority at the moment?"
Partner
Audience: Integration partners (PwC, Deloitte, BearingPoint, IBM).
- Peer-to-peer, open, slightly more relaxed than Enterprise.
- Mutual recognition of complexity. Concrete operational benefits.
- Hierarchical posture, vendor-customer asymmetry.
"Your clients are asking for what comes after deployment. We give you the answer — and the platform to deliver it."
Audience messaging
The brand thread operates differently per audience. Same posture, different activation mode. This section defines how to write for each — not who they are, but how the message lands.
Non-negotiable rules
These rules apply across all registers, all audiences, all formats. No exceptions.
Verbal rules
- "Always by your side" combined with any other formulation.
- "Activate your success" — being phased out.
- Describe IRON as "an integrated AI assistant" or "an AI feature."
- Inherit change-management terminology from legacy Confluence docs.
- Language English-first. French is strategic adaptation, not literal translation.
- French Vouvoiement systematic in all contexts including product.
Tone rules
- Hype, "disrupt", startup posture.
- Corporate buzzwords ("synergy", "leverage", "best-in-class").
- False intimacy ("Hey there", first-name basis in commercial communications).
- Claims of transformation. We claim what makes transformation last.
Formatting rules
- Em dashes in body copy. Use periods, commas, or colons.
- Specific numbers over rounded approximations ("2 out of 3" rather than "most").
- Short sentences in Enterprise register.
Naming & typography rules
- "Brand OS" is written with a space and capitalised initials. Never BrandOS, brandOS, brand os, or BRAND OS. Exempted: technical filenames (brandOS-content.md, brandOS-tokens.css, brandOS-components.css) keep their existing form as established identifiers.
- IRON is uppercase and rendered in bold in body copy. In headings, the heading weight already provides emphasis — no additional bold needed.
- "InsideBoard AI" is written with a capital I and B (no space between Inside and Board), followed by a space and uppercase AI. Never Insideboard AI, Inside Board AI, or INSIDEBOARD AI in body copy. Exempted: deliberate all-caps graphic treatments (email signatures, stamps, letterheads).
Anti-patterns
What the brand sounds like when it goes wrong. If a draft falls into one of these, return to the Verbal Architecture and rewrite from there.
Reference card
Condensed daily reference. Print, pin, share.
(always alone, never combined)
We orchestrate it by your side, day after day.
KPI → Insight → Action → Behavior → Performance → KPI
Lightness as a sign of confidence.
Speak from the silent wound. Don't demonstrate. Displace.
Em dashes in body · Hype · Corporate buzzwords
Always by your side combined with anything else
Visual system — in progress.
Type, color, spacing, iconography, illustration, photography, motion, and cross-register coherence.
Type system
One family, five roles. Outfit carries the entire system.
- 400 Regular for all running text. 500 Medium for titles, KPIs, captions.
- 700 Bold. Contrast comes from size and color, not from Bold.
- Italic Outfit anywhere in the system.
JetBrains Mono — the second voice
JetBrains Mono handles everything that is systemic, indexed, or technical — it is not a display font, it is a distinction device. When something is in Mono, it signals: this is UI, this is metadata, this is a label, not prose.
- Role Labels, captions, metadata, counters, section numbers, code, navigation indices.
- Weight 400 and 500 only. Never 600 or above.
- Size Always ≤ 13px in the system. Mono at large sizes reads as code, not as brand.
- Any UI element that names, indexes, or classifies — nav counters, eyebrows, captions, tags, timestamps.
- Running text, headlines, or any element larger than 13px.
Highlight system
One highlight technique authorized in body copy: the Ember 80% gradient underline. Documented here as the reference for all future produced assets.
InsideBoard is the performance layer that sits on top of the client's existing ecosystem.
- Opacity 80% — below this the signal disappears. Above it competes with primary Ember uses.
- CSS
background:linear-gradient(180deg,transparent 75%,rgba(238,46,32,.80) 75%) - Usage on dark backgrounds and Ember backgrounds: rule not yet defined.
- Chapter principles, editorial hooks, key phrases in body copy.
Color system
Five primaries carry the identity. Twelve functional anchors carry meaning. Ember is not an accent — it is a signal.
Primary palette
Warm gray scale — 11 steps
Functional palette — 12 anchors
IRON agents — reserved colors
General functional palette — 12 colors
Allowed combinations
Functional palette — usage rules
IRON family — dark vs light legibility rule
Dark vs Light — legibility rule
- Ink text On Sage and Lavender — these two colors are too light for Ivory text.
- Ivory text On Coral and Blue — these two colors are dark enough to carry light text.
- On Ink background All four IRON colors are authorized as surfaces. Internal text follows the rule above.
- Ink text on Coral or Blue. Ivory text on Sage or Lavender.
UI state & priority
Four semantic states map to functional colors across all internal tooling — backlogs, task boards, status indicators, and documentation.
Data visualisation
Charts are where a brand system dies or holds. The rule: mapping before decoration.
Categorical sequence — max 6
For all data unrelated to IRON agents, use this ordinal sequence. IRON colors (Coral, Blue, Sage, Lavender) are exclusively reserved for agent contexts.
Bar chart — categorical data
Line chart — trend over time
Donut chart — distribution
Circular gauge — KPI single value
Trend: +2 pts vs last month.
- Axes 1px stroke, gray-300. No gridlines other than the zero line.
- 3D charts, shadows, beveled bars. Pie charts above 3 slices. Dual-axis charts.
Tables — dense data
| Region | Active accounts | Adoption | Delta vs Q1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| EMEA | 14 | 68% | +12 pts |
| APAC | 9 | 82% | +18 pts |
| AMER | 11 | 54% | −3 pts |
| LATAM | 6 | 91% | +9 pts |
Space & grid
The system breathes on an 8-pixel base. Four was tempting for UI finesse — eight forces respiration.
- Web 12 columns, gutter 24, outer margin 64 (≥1440px) / 24 (mobile).
- Slide 12 columns on 1920×1080, padding top 100 / bottom 80 / side 100.
- Print HP Indigo 8 columns, gutter 6mm, outer margins ≥15mm, bleed 3mm.
- Confluence / Google Slides Use 6 columns as working grid.
Iconography
Two icon systems, two distinct roles. Brand iconography for communication. Platform iconography for the UI. They coexist — they do not mix.
System 1 — Brand iconography
Designed for external communications, presentations, marketing materials, and any context where InsideBoard speaks as a brand. Also used to reference platform objects or features within communication assets (decks, proposals, event materials).
- Style Outline 1.5px. Square caps. 2px corner radius. 24×24 native grid.
- Filled icons. Duotone. Literal figuration (dumbbell for Training, handshake for Collaboration).
- Status In production — set to be delivered and documented here.
System 2 — Platform iconography
The full icon set of the InsideBoard application. Covers navigation, platform objects (communities, KPIs, modules, agents), states, and interactions. Designed for functional legibility at small sizes in UI contexts.
- Within the product UI. When referencing a specific platform object or feature in a brand communication asset (e.g., showing a screenshot, explaining a mechanism).
- As decorative elements in brand communications. They carry product meaning, not brand meaning — the distinction must be maintained.
- Brand icons inside the product UI. The two systems do not cross.
- Asset availability Platform icons are available from the design system. Contact the Art Director for the current export set.
Illustration & visual treatment
No figurative illustration. Three registers only: type as image, butterfly signature, and documentary photography.
- Type The Formula, KPIs, verbatim set very large. The brand has a strong verbal system; it deserves to be looked at, not just read.
- Mark The butterfly in signature mode as the sole decorative element we allow.
- Isometric / vector illustration / blobs / gradient meshes.
- 3D abstraction, glassmorphism, glows.
- Stock photography. Non-negotiable.
The butterfly mark
Two modes, no third. Identity — inside the logo lockup. Signature — large, rare, as the closing gesture.
- Identity Always in the validated lockup. Minimum clear space = 1× mark height on all sides.
- Signature Minimum size = 1/6 of the support width. On Ink or Ivory only. At most one per support.
- Pattern, watermark behind text, multi-color or gradient version.
- Animation Stroke-dasharray reveal. 800ms, cubic-bezier(0.2,0,0,1), on load only, once. It builds, then holds. It does not fly.
Composition patterns
Seven root compositions. Consistency comes from what is forbidden everywhere — no shadows, no border-radius over 8px, no more than two colors.
- More than 2 colors per composition (excluding data-viz).
- Drop shadows, glows, blur effects.
- border-radius greater than 8px (except on the butterfly mark itself).
- Center-aligned body text. Centered is reserved for Formula/Hero only.
Photography
One direction only: documentary. Photography exists as proof — of a room, a person, a moment. Not as mood.
- Subjects People at work (not posed). Spaces, materials, event captures.
- Light Natural, available light. Shadows welcome.
- Diverse teams smiling at laptops. Handshakes. Boardroom power-poses.
- Aesthetic desk flat-lays. Anything retouched to look spontaneous.
- Duotone treatments toward brand colors. No Ember overlay.
Motion & interaction
Three principles, not a system. Movement exists to confirm a decision — never to perform. The brand decides, then holds.
240msBelow 160ms, motion is not perceived. Above 400ms, it becomes a demonstration. 240 is the floor of confidence.
cubic-bezier(0.2, 0, 0, 1)Standard-out. Starts fast, ends soft. Reads as "decision first, settle second."
user-initiatedNothing animates on a loop. Exception: the butterfly signature reveal, once, on page load.
- Bounce, spring overshoot, elastic curves.
- Scroll-triggered parallax.
- Staggered fade-ins on lists — SaaS cliché.
Transversal coherence
Four registers exist so the system can flex. They share everything except background, density, and Ember presence.
Register switcher — live
Register specs — side by side
- Canvas
- Ivory
- Ember
- Forbidden
- Density
- Airy (+15%)
- Type peak
- Title 48–56
- Supports
- RFPs, commercial one-pagers, LinkedIn
- Canvas
- Ink
- Ember
- Authorized — one element
- Density
- Default
- Type peak
- Display 72–96
- Supports
- Keynote decks, launch assets, event banners
- Canvas
- White
- Ember
- Forbidden in UI chrome
- Density
- Compact (−15%)
- Type peak
- Subtitle 28–32
- Supports
- App UI, documentation, onboarding
- Canvas
- Stone
- Ember
- Forbidden — Ember belongs to us alone
- Density
- Default
- Type peak
- Title 48–56
- Supports
- Co-branded material, integration pages
Decision rules — which register to pick
Invariants across all registers
- Type Outfit only, five roles, no italic, no Bold.
- Grid Base 8, 12-column working grid, same exclusion zones.
- Mark Two modes — identity or signature — never a third.
- Motion 240ms, standard-out, user-initiated.
- Composition No shadow, no radius >8, no centered body, max 2 colors.
- Exact HEX values for Ivory and Stone — currently running on plausible proposals.
- Functional palette: validate the 12 anchors, then map the remaining 12 from your 24-color Pantone list.
- IRON acronym: arbitrate and lock the official expanded name.
- IRON agent colors — keep Coral/Blue/Sage/Lavender as-is, or recalibrate?
- Photography — committed to documentary, or "no photo by default, escalation per case"?
- Butterfly "signature" mode — minimum size per support (slide / print / web)?
The operational bridge.
Maps every touchpoint to a register, tone rules, a production mode, and a target format. The reference for every content production decision.
Touchpoint map
How the brand manifests at every touchpoint — what register, what rules, what format, who produces. The operational bridge between verbal and visual systems.
Every brand output belongs to a touchpoint. Every touchpoint has a register, a set of actionable tone rules, a production mode, and a target format. This map is the reference for humans and the instruction set for AI-assisted production.
Production mode reads as: AI-generated → human-edited in all cases today. The ratio shifts toward full generation as output quality is validated over time.
Production logic
Tone rules — prompt-ready
These rules are written to be used directly as AI prompt instructions. Copy the relevant register block into any generation context.
The Brand OS in practice.
Annotated before/after examples from real InsideBoard content, named anti-patterns, and a five-question checklist to validate any output before release.
Before / After
Real examples, annotated. Built from actual InsideBoard material — what currently exists, and what the Brand OS produces instead.
This section translates the verbal system into concrete, annotated examples. Use it to calibrate any output before it leaves the building — human-written or AI-generated. Every Before/After pair is drawn from real InsideBoard content.
Enterprise · Commercial follow-up email
Enterprise · Short company description
Event · Keynote opening
Product · IRON greeting
"Hello. Where do you want to move forward today?"
"Hello. What's your priority at the moment?"
Training in progress → "Hello. You have an ongoing module. Where do you continue?"
No open signal → "Hello. What's your priority at the moment?"
Named anti-patterns
Real formulations currently in use at InsideBoard. Recognize and eliminate systematically.
Calibration checklist — 5 questions
To be used on any output before validation — by a human or injected directly into an AI generation prompt.