§ The result
3 points separate HiringBranch and Versant by Pearson.
Within the Assessment cohort, HiringBranch edges Versant by Pearson by 3 points under rubric v1.0, 52 to 49. HiringBranch leads 4 of the 7 criteria, including Bias Audit Transparency, while Versant by Pearson leads 3, including Article 11 Technical Documentation. One criterion, Bias Audit Transparency, is both the widest raw gap (HiringBranch 60, Versant by Pearson 42) and the heaviest weighted swing, and at 18% weight it makes up 72% of the weighted advantage HiringBranch holds across the 4 criteria it leads.
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
Versant by Pearson
Versant by Pearson is a suite of AI-scored English proficiency tests (plus spoken Spanish, French, Arabic and Dutch) that automatically score candidates' spoken and written responses on Pearson's Global Scale of English within minutes, used by employers such as contact centres and BPOs to screen applicants and benchmark staff through the ScoreKeeper dashboard.
§ The record
HiringBranch and Versant by Pearson 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 | Versant by Pearson |
|---|---|---|
| Price tier | Enterprise | Mid |
| Headquarters | CA | GB |
| Founded | 2014 | 1844 |
§ What decides it
The criteria that move the gap, heaviest swing first.
18% weight · 54% of the movement so far
Bias Audit Transparency
HiringBranch 60 · Versant by Pearson 42
3.2 weighted points to HiringBranch
15% weight · 67% of the movement so far
FRIA Support
HiringBranch 35 · Versant by Pearson 30
0.8 weighted points to HiringBranch
20% weight · 77% of the movement so far
Article 11 Technical Documentation
HiringBranch 60 · Versant by Pearson 63
0.6 weighted points to Versant by Pearson
12% weight · 85% of the movement so far
Human Oversight Design
HiringBranch 52 · Versant by Pearson 56
0.5 weighted points to Versant by Pearson
12% weight · 91% of the movement so far
Post-Market Monitoring
HiringBranch 40 · Versant by Pearson 43
0.4 weighted points to Versant by Pearson
15% weight · 96% of the movement so far
Data Governance Disclosure
HiringBranch 55 · Versant by Pearson 53
0.3 weighted points to HiringBranch
8% weight · 100% of the movement so far
Customer Documentation
HiringBranch 64 · Versant by Pearson 61
0.2 weighted points to HiringBranch
Weighted delta is the raw difference times the criterion weight, so the 7 figures above sum to +3.1 — the difference between the two totals before either is rounded. Shares are of 6.0 points of movement counted without direction. The table below rounds each side to a whole number first, so its Δ raw total reads +3 beside that +3.1.
§ Category-by-category
Raw score per criterion, with weighted delta.
Δ is HiringBranch minus Versant by Pearson.
| Category | Weight | HiringBranch | Versant by Pearson | Δ raw | Δ weighted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 60 | 63 | -3 | -0.6 |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 60 | 42 | +18 | +3.2 |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 35 | 30 | +5 | +0.8 |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 55 | 53 | +2 | +0.3 |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 52 | 56 | -4 | -0.5 |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 40 | 43 | -3 | -0.4 |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 64 | 61 | +3 | +0.2 |
| Total | 100% | 52 (F) | 49 (F) | +3 | +3.1 |
§ 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 | Versant by Pearson | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | ||
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 2 | 1 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 4 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domainSources on a separate domain |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 1 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 1 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 5 | 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 | 4 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| All criteria | 100% | 13 | 6 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 23 | 6 | Sources on the vendor's own domainSources on a separate domain |
HiringBranch has 19 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 13 with a source URL, 6 documented absences; Versant by Pearson has 29 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 23 with a source URL, 6 documented absences; some documentation or audit rows for Versant by Pearson sit on a domain separate from the vendor's own site.
Provenance
The scores above are documented by 48 evidence rows on file for these two vendors: 19 for HiringBranch, across 1 distinct source domain, and 29 for Versant by Pearson, across 2 distinct source domains.
- Rubric
- v1.0
- HiringBranch last reviewed
- July 17, 2026 · HireAIScore editorial team
- Versant by Pearson last reviewed
- September 25, 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