§ The result
1 point separates HiringBranch and SHL.
Within the Assessment cohort, HiringBranch edges SHL by 1 point under rubric v1.0, 52 to 51. HiringBranch leads 3 of the 7 criteria, including Bias Audit Transparency, while SHL leads 2, including Human Oversight Design, and 2 are level. Bias Audit Transparency is both the widest raw gap and the heaviest weighted swing — HiringBranch 60, SHL 50 — and at an 18% weight it carries 63% of the weighted advantage HiringBranch holds across the 3 criteria on that side of the table.
Vendor profile
HiringBranch
HiringBranch is an AI skills-assessment platform that measures 50+ communication and soft skills from candidates' open-ended, conversational job-simulation responses (text and voice) to screen and rank applicants for customer-facing roles.
Vendor profile
SHL
SHL is a global talent-assessment provider offering AI-scored cognitive ability, personality, behavioral, situational-judgement, coding, and video-interview assessments that score, rank, and recommend candidates for hiring and development decisions.
§ The record
HiringBranch and SHL are both filed under Assessment AI. They also share 1 secondary category: Screening.
Both are in scope of NYC LL 144, Illinois HB 3773, EU AI Act, Colorado AI Act and Mobley v. Workday.
| Record | HiringBranch | SHL |
|---|---|---|
| Price tier | Enterprise | Enterprise |
| Headquarters | CA | GB |
| Founded | 2014 | 1977 |
§ What decides it
The criteria that move the gap, heaviest swing first.
18% weight · 45% of the movement so far
Bias Audit Transparency
HiringBranch 60 · SHL 50
1.8 weighted points to HiringBranch
15% weight · 63% of the movement so far
FRIA Support
HiringBranch 35 · SHL 30
0.8 weighted points to HiringBranch
12% weight · 81% of the movement so far
Human Oversight Design
HiringBranch 52 · SHL 58
0.7 weighted points to SHL
15% weight · 92% of the movement so far
Data Governance Disclosure
HiringBranch 55 · SHL 58
0.4 weighted points to SHL
8% weight · 100% of the movement so far
Customer Documentation
HiringBranch 64 · SHL 60
0.3 weighted points to HiringBranch
Weighted delta is the raw difference times the criterion weight, so the 5 figures above sum to +1.7 — the difference between the two totals before either is rounded. Shares are of 4.0 points of movement counted without direction. The table below rounds each side to a whole number first, so its Δ raw total reads +1 beside that +1.7.
§ Category-by-category
Raw score per criterion, with weighted delta.
Δ is HiringBranch minus SHL.
| Category | Weight | HiringBranch | SHL | Δ raw | Δ weighted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 60 | 60 | - | - |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 60 | 50 | +10 | +1.8 |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 35 | 30 | +5 | +0.8 |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 55 | 58 | -3 | -0.4 |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 52 | 58 | -6 | -0.7 |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 40 | 40 | - | - |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 64 | 60 | +4 | +0.3 |
| Total | 100% | 52 (F) | 51 (F) | +1 | +1.7 |
§ Evidence
Cited sources and documented absences, criterion by criterion.
An absence is a finding, not a blank: the reviewer looked for a named artefact and recorded that it is not located. Where a source sits is a fact about hosting only.
| Criterion | Weight | HiringBranch | SHL | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | ||
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 2 | 1 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 1 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 1 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 3 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 1 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 2 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 3 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 3 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| All criteria | 100% | 13 | 6 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 15 | 4 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
HiringBranch has 19 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 13 with a source URL, 6 documented absences; SHL has 19 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 15 with a source URL, 4 documented absences.
Provenance
The scores above are documented by 38 evidence rows on file for these two vendors: 19 for HiringBranch, across 1 distinct source domain, and 19 for SHL, across 1 distinct source domain.
- Rubric
- v1.0
- HiringBranch last reviewed
- July 17, 2026 · HireAIScore editorial team
- SHL last reviewed
- June 7, 2026 · HireAIScore editorial team
HireAIScore scores are editorial research, not legal advice, and no vendor pays for placement, scoring or removal — see the methodology, conflicts policy and terms.
§ Where next