Does Atlas replace Heidrick & Struggles?

No. Heidrick & Struggles finds and places leaders, while Atlas gives an independent read of a shortlist against the role, the team and the plan, and keeps the read current after the appointment.

Can I use Heidrick & Struggles and Atlas together?

Yes. Use Heidrick & Struggles to find candidates and Atlas for an independent Match Report on the shortlist, with no placement incentive.

Why get an independent read alongside a search firm?

The job of a search firm is to find and place the right leader. An independent read adds a view of the candidate against the role, the team and the plan.

How does Atlas define what the role needs?

From the people the role has to work with. Atlas runs a short survey across the board and the leadership team, so the role is defined by everyone it affects, not by one sponsor's view, and then reads candidates against it.

Why not just use the assessment we already have?

Keep it if it works for you. Many assessments are built to describe one person at one point in time. Atlas reads people against the role, the team and the plan, and updates the read when any of them changes.

Can Atlas look at the whole organisation, not only the top team?

Yes. Atlas can bring every assessment, survey answer, role and the plan together for one team or for every team in the organisation, on the same model and at the same depth, with experts reviewing the read. You can start with the leadership team and widen from there.

Can't we just ask ChatGPT?

A general AI model has no measured data on your people or your plan. Atlas works from your own assessed data and the plan you upload, and a person makes every decision. You can still connect Atlas to the AI tools you already use.

Will Atlas replace our HR team?

No. It gives HR and leaders the same evidence to work from, so people decisions rest on data rather than gut feeling, and the decision stays with a person.

What does an Execution Forecast tell you?

It is an evidence-based assessment of execution risk: which parts of the plan the current team is best and least placed to deliver, based on the assessment, the Clarity Survey, roles and the plan itself. It shows where risk is highest and what to address first. It is not a prediction of results, and it is updated when the plan, the team or the evidence changes.

What is execution intelligence?

Working out whether a company can do what its plan says, finding where it is most likely to get stuck, and testing what to change, with the evidence behind every conclusion. Atlas People is the execution intelligence company. The full definition is in the Atlas glossary.

Is Atlas a personality test?

No. Atlas uses its own assessment as one input, and the product is the read of your team against your plan. The assessment never ranks people; it describes how the work and the people fit.

What does the Atlas assessment measure?

34 behavioural and cognitive constructs, focused on natural behaviour under pressure: role and collaboration fit, trust and decision style, and what gives and drains energy. It uses a forced-choice format with faking detection built in.

How long does Atlas take?

It depends on scope: how many people take part and how much of the plan is shared. Each person spends about 20 to 25 minutes on the assessment and has a one-to-one feedback session, then the team read follows. After that, Atlas updates the read when the plan, the team or the evidence changes.

Do I need to be certified to use Atlas?

Leaders read the results in the portal and can ask questions in plain language, with expert support to turn the read into decisions.

Atlas is bought through one annual agreement, scoped to the people covered, the leaders using it and the organisational work you need. Pricing is scoped to your organisation; see how Atlas is bought.

Where is my data stored?

Customer data is hosted and processed in the EU, and enterprise teams can sign in with SSO / SAML.

Compare · Atlas vs

In-depth: Atlas vs Heidrick & Struggles

Kevin Bjerring · Philip Myrup · Published 30 October 2026 · Checked 30 October 2026

In short

Consider Atlas People if you need to know whether your leadership team can deliver a specific plan, and want that view updated when the plan, the team or the evidence changes.
Need a global search firm to find and place a CEO, board member or senior executive? Heidrick & Struggles is probably the right choice.
Heidrick & Struggles finds and places leaders, and assesses them as part of that work. Atlas gives an independent read of the person against the role, the team and the plan, and keeps the read current after the appointment.
Atlas People is not the right fit if you need someone to find and approach candidates. Atlas does not run executive search.

Atlas and Heidrick & Struggles both help you judge whether a leader is right for a role. Heidrick & Struggles does it as part of finding and placing people; Atlas does it as an independent read of the person against the role, the team and the plan.

Heidrick & Struggles is a leading retained executive search firm that also offers on-demand talent, leadership coaching and development, and culture consulting. Heidrick Immersive is its AI-enabled leadership assessment that simulates real leadership situations.

Atlas is an execution intelligence platform for leadership teams. It runs its own assessment, then puts the results in context with your plan, your roles and your teams, so you can see whether your organisation can deliver the plan, what could get in the way, and what to address first. It can read one leadership team or every team in the organisation on the same model, at the same depth. When the plan changes, the read changes with it. It is built for CEOs, boards, investors and HR leaders who own a plan.

How is Atlas different?

1. We're independent of the hire

Atlas is not involved in finding or placing candidates, so its read of a leader stays separate from the search.

Use it alongside any search process: a Match Report shows how a candidate fits the role and the team they would join.

2. We read the whole organisation, not a sample

One person can interview a handful of leaders and read a few reports. Past that, the work has to be sampled.

Atlas brings every assessment, survey answer, role and the plan together, across every team, and analyses them at the same depth, with experts reviewing the read. One method from a single team to the whole organisation, so results can be compared across teams, units and countries.

3. We read people against your plan

Most tools describe people, teams or the organisation. The harder question is whether that person, in that role, on that team, can carry the strategy you approved last quarter.

Atlas starts from the plan. The plan is modelled; the organisation is assumed. Atlas replaces the assumption with evidence, reading each leader against the role, the team around them and what the plan demands of both.

4. Your read doesn't end up on a shelf

Assessment reports are often read once, discussed in a debrief and filed. Six months later the plan has moved, people have changed roles, and the report describes an organisation that no longer exists.

Atlas keeps the intelligence running. It starts with an Execution Forecast, keeps the baseline, records what changed and reforecasts when the plan, the team or the evidence moves.

5. Built for European leadership teams

Customer data is hosted and processed in the EU, the assessment and reports run in Danish and English, and enterprise teams can sign in with SSO.

Atlas is designed to align with the EU AI Act: the human makes the decision, the evidence behind every conclusion is traceable, and people are never ranked.

See what Atlas says about your execution risk

Talk to us

Comparing Atlas and Heidrick & Struggles

Heidrick & Struggles finds and places leaders, and assesses them as part of that work. Atlas gives an independent read of the person against the role, the team and the plan, and keeps the read current after the appointment.

Hiring

Atlas's Match Report reads a candidate against the role and the team they would join, so you see how a new leader changes the team's ability to deliver the plan, and Atlas supports high-volume hiring too, with a person making every decision.

Hiring: Atlas compared with Heidrick & Struggles
Capability	Atlas	Heidrick & Struggles
Senior hiring: Assess candidates for leadership roles	Yes	Yes
Candidate against the team: How the hire fits the team they would join	Yes	Yes
High-volume screening: Hiring at volume, with a person making every decision	Yes	No public information
Independent of search: No placement fees or candidate incentives	Yes	No public information

Assessment

Heidrick's global search practice and its immersive simulations are what it is built for. Atlas's assessment is built around the behaviour a plan demands, with faking detection built in so the read holds up when the stakes are high.

Assessment: Atlas compared with Heidrick & Struggles
Capability	Atlas	Heidrick & Struggles
Own assessment: The provider designs and owns its instrument	Yes	Yes
Behaviour under pressure: How people act when strain or stakes rise	Yes	Yes
Motivation and energy: What drives people and what drains them	Yes	Yes
Forced-choice format: People rank statements instead of rating themselves	Yes	No public information
Faking detection: Built-in controls for faking and careless answers	Yes	No public information
Languages: Languages the assessment and reports run in	Danish, English	Not published

Teams and the plan

Atlas reads the team against the plan it has to deliver, and turns that into named recommendations with the trade-offs, ready for a board.

Teams and the plan: Atlas compared with Heidrick & Struggles
Capability	Atlas	Heidrick & Struggles
Team analysis: Strengths, gaps and friction across a team	Yes	Yes
Read against the plan: Whether the team can deliver a specific strategy or value creation plan	Yes	No public information
Execution Forecast: Where the plan is likely to get stuck, and what to address first	Yes	No public information
Collaboration Playbooks: Practical guidance on how specific people work best together	Yes	Yes
Board-ready recommendations: Named actions with trade-offs, not a descriptive report	Yes	No public information

Platform and AI

Atlas is AI-native: the portal puts the assessment, the plan, roles and teams in one place, and leaders can ask questions in plain language. The same analysis runs for one team or for every team in the organisation.

Platform and AI: Atlas compared with Heidrick & Struggles
Capability	Atlas	Heidrick & Struggles
AI assistant for leaders: Ask questions in plain language, answered from your own data	Yes	No public information
Context beyond the assessment: Plan, roles, teams and organisational evidence in one place	Yes	Yes
Ongoing reforecasting: The read updates when the plan, the team or the evidence changes	Yes	No public information
Baseline and history: Keep the starting point and record what changed	Yes	No public information
Who reads the results: The person who acts on them	Leaders, with expert support	leadership experts / senior consultants trained in assessments

Security and compliance

Atlas hosts and processes customer data in the EU and is designed to align with the EU AI Act.

Security and compliance: Atlas compared with Heidrick & Struggles
Capability	Atlas	Heidrick & Struggles
EU data hosting: Customer data stored and processed in the EU	Yes	No public information
SSO / SAML: Single sign-on for enterprise teams	Yes	No public information
EU AI Act: Human decision, traceable evidence, no ranking of people	Designed to align	Not published
People never ranked: Results describe the work, not a person's worth	Yes	No public information

Heidrick & Struggles details from its own site and public pages, checked 30 October 2026.

How Atlas works in practice

What you provide

The plan you want to test: strategy, goals or OKRs
Roles and team structure for the people involved
Who takes part, and when

What participants do

Each person takes the Atlas assessment, about 20 to 25 minutes
A one-to-one feedback session on their own results
A short Clarity Survey, about 10 to 15 minutes, on how well the plan is understood

What you receive

Personal Collaboration Playbook (In the platform)
AI assistant answering questions from your own data (In the platform)
Team Report and Execution Forecast (Reviewed by Atlas experts)
Match Report for a hiring decision (Reviewed by Atlas experts)
Recommendations and follow-up (With Atlas expert support)

The Clarity Survey repeats on an agreed cadence, typically quarterly, and Atlas updates the read when the plan, the team or the evidence changes. A person makes every decision.

Scenario simulation and organisation-wide forecasting are in development and are not part of Atlas today.

See an illustrative sample forecast, how the assessment method works, how data is handled and how Atlas is bought.

When to choose Atlas vs Heidrick & Struggles

Want to know whether your leadership team can deliver the plan, where execution risk is highest and what to change, with a platform that keeps the read current as the plan moves, EU-hosted and designed to align with the EU AI Act? Go with Atlas.

Need a global search firm to find and place a CEO, board member or senior executive? Heidrick & Struggles is probably the right choice.

Recommendations by buyer

AtlasBoards making a CEO or C-suite appointmentAn independent read of the shortlist against the role, the team and the plan, with no placement incentive.
AtlasCEOs who need the team to deliver a new planAtlas reads the whole leadership team against the plan, not only the person being hired.
Heidrick & StrugglesBoards running a global CEO or board searchHeidrick & Struggles's search networks and board advisory are built for finding and placing senior leaders.
BothTeams already using Heidrick & StrugglesUse Heidrick & Struggles when you need a global search firm to find and place a CEO, board member or senior executive. Add Atlas to read the leadership team against the plan. The two are used side by side; there is no technical integration between them.

Put your plan to the test