Do planning tools assess people?

Planning tools model headcount, cost and scenarios. They work with the people data you give them; they do not measure how leaders behave. Atlas adds that read, on its own assessment, against the same plan.

Can I use Atlas with Pigment or Anaplan?

Yes. Keep modelling the plan in your planning tool, and use Atlas to read whether the leadership team can deliver it.

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.

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.

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.

Can Atlas be used for hiring?

Yes. A Match Report reads a candidate against the role and the team they would join, and Atlas supports high-volume hiring too, with a person making every decision. Atlas is not involved in finding or placing candidates, so its read stays separate from the search.

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.

Is Atlas designed to align with the EU AI Act?

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.

Where is my data stored?

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

Compare · Best-of guide

The best strategy planning tools, and how to add the people layer

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

In short

Use a planning tool to model the plan and track it. Add Atlas when you need to know whether the leadership team can deliver it, and to keep that read current as the plan changes.

Planning tools model the plan: the numbers, the headcount and the scenarios. What they leave to you is whether the people in the plan can deliver it. This guide compares the leading planning and strategy tools, and shows where a people read fits alongside them.

Quick comparison

The best strategy planning tools, and how to add the people layer: quick comparison
Provider	Read against the plan	Context beyond the assessment	Ongoing reforecasting	AI assistant for leaders	Own assessment	EU data hosting
Atlas People	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Anaplan	No public information	No public information	Yes	Yes	No public information	Yes
Cascade	No public information	Yes	No public information	Yes	No public information	No public information
Pigment	No public information	No public information	Yes	Yes	No public information	Yes
WorkBoard	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No public information	No public information

Competitor details from each provider's own site and public pages, checked 30 October 2026.

1. Atlas People

Atlas is an execution intelligence platform for leadership teams. It runs its own 34-construct assessment of behaviour under pressure, puts the results in context with your plan, roles and teams, and can cover one team or every team in the organisation on the same model. It shows whether your organisation can deliver the plan, what could get in the way and what to address first. The read stays current: Atlas reforecasts when the plan, the team or the evidence changes.

Its own forced-choice assessment, with faking detection built in
Team Reports, Collaboration Playbooks and an Execution Forecast against your plan
Match Reports for hiring, including high-volume hiring
One method from a single team to the whole organisation, at the same depth
An AI assistant in the portal, with expert support
EU data hosting, SSO, Danish and English, designed to align with the EU AI Act

Best for: CEOs, boards, investors and HR leaders who need to know whether a team can deliver a plan, and want that read kept current.

See what Atlas says about your execution risk

Talk to us

2. Anaplan

Anaplan is an AI-driven scenario planning and analysis platform that connects finance, HR and operations, including workforce planning that keeps positions aligned with the budget.

Anaplan connects finance, HR and operations planning in one model, which suits large enterprises planning headcount against budget.

Best for: Connected scenario planning across finance, HR and operations, with workforce plans tied to the budget.

3. Cascade

Cascade is strategy software for planning and execution: a strategy-led performance platform with AI that helps leaders turn strategy into measurable plans and track results.

Cascade gives the whole organisation one place to plan the strategy and track progress against it. Read Atlas vs Cascade.

Best for: One platform to plan the strategy and track progress against it.

4. Pigment

Pigment is an AI-powered business planning and performance management platform that lets organisations centralise, model and forecast financial, workforce and operational plans, with AI agents that analyse performance and simulate scenarios.

Pigment models the plan itself, including headcount and workforce scenarios, at enterprise scale.

Best for: One platform to model and forecast financial, workforce and operational plans, with AI agents for scenarios.

5. WorkBoard

WorkBoard is a strategy execution platform for OKRs, business reviews and alignment, with AI agents that help leaders plan and track the strategy.

WorkBoard is built for running OKRs and business reviews across the whole organisation. Read Atlas vs WorkBoard.

Best for: To run OKRs and business reviews across the organisation.

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.

How to choose