§ The result
2 points separate Textkernel and Versant by Pearson.
Textkernel holds a 2-point edge over Versant by Pearson under rubric v1.0, 51 to 49, across the Sourcing and Assessment cohorts. The 7 criteria split 5 to 2 in favour of Textkernel: Textkernel is ahead on Bias Audit Transparency and Versant by Pearson on Article 11 Technical Documentation. Bias Audit Transparency is both the widest raw gap and the heaviest weighted swing — Textkernel 55, Versant by Pearson 42 — and at an 18% weight it carries 67% of the weighted advantage Textkernel holds across the 5 criteria on that side of the table.
Vendor profile
Textkernel
Textkernel provides AI-powered CV/resume and job parsing, semantic search, and candidate-job matching technology (including the acquired Sovren engine) embedded inside ATS, job board, and HR systems.
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
Textkernel is filed under Candidate sourcing AI, Versant by Pearson under Assessment AI. They also share 1 secondary category: Screening.
Both are in scope of EU AI Act, Colorado AI Act, NYC LL 144 and Illinois HB 3773. Only Versant by Pearson is in scope of Mobley v. Workday.
| Record | Textkernel | Versant by Pearson |
|---|---|---|
| Price tier | Enterprise | Mid |
| Headquarters | NL | GB |
| Founded | 2001 | 1844 |
§ What decides it
The criteria that move the gap, heaviest swing first.
18% weight · 43% of the movement so far
Bias Audit Transparency
Textkernel 55 · Versant by Pearson 42
2.3 weighted points to Textkernel
20% weight · 72% of the movement so far
Article 11 Technical Documentation
Textkernel 55 · Versant by Pearson 63
1.6 weighted points to Versant by Pearson
12% weight · 81% of the movement so far
Human Oversight Design
Textkernel 60 · Versant by Pearson 56
0.5 weighted points to Textkernel
12% weight · 88% of the movement so far
Post-Market Monitoring
Textkernel 40 · Versant by Pearson 43
0.4 weighted points to Versant by Pearson
15% weight · 93% of the movement so far
FRIA Support
Textkernel 32 · Versant by Pearson 30
0.3 weighted points to Textkernel
15% weight · 99% of the movement so far
Data Governance Disclosure
Textkernel 55 · Versant by Pearson 53
0.3 weighted points to Textkernel
8% weight · 100% of the movement so far
Customer Documentation
Textkernel 62 · Versant by Pearson 61
0.1 weighted points to Textkernel
Weighted delta is the raw difference times the criterion weight, so the 7 figures above sum to +1.5 — the difference between the two totals before either is rounded. Shares are of 5.5 points of movement counted without direction. The table below rounds each side to a whole number first, so its Δ raw total reads +2 beside that +1.5.
§ Category-by-category
Raw score per criterion, with weighted delta.
Δ is Textkernel minus Versant by Pearson.
| Category | Weight | Textkernel | Versant by Pearson | Δ raw | Δ weighted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 55 | 63 | -8 | -1.6 |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 55 | 42 | +13 | +2.3 |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 32 | 30 | +2 | +0.3 |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 55 | 53 | +2 | +0.3 |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 60 | 56 | +4 | +0.5 |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 40 | 43 | -3 | -0.4 |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 62 | 61 | +1 | +0.1 |
| Total | 100% | 51 (F) | 49 (F) | +2 | +1.5 |
§ 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 | Textkernel | 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 | — | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 1 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 3 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 5 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 1 | 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 | 5 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 23 | 6 | Sources on the vendor's own domainSources on a separate domain |
Textkernel has 18 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 13 with a source URL, 5 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 47 evidence rows on file for these two vendors: 18 for Textkernel, across 1 distinct source domain, and 29 for Versant by Pearson, across 2 distinct source domains.
- Rubric
- v1.0
- Textkernel last reviewed
- June 7, 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