This is more of a quality of life change for color blind individuals. When you select an agent for a quest the condition modifiers for positive or negative highlight if applicable. The color for negative active modifier is hard to differentiate from the inactive modifier.
Non color blind ( I think ) and I have a hard time reading the elite agent status which is black or grey text on purple background.
I wish there was just a color icon next to their name/status, instead of highlighting the whole thing in color.