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Compare · Best-of guide

Executive assessment providers, compared

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

In short

If you are also running a search, the search firm's assessment is convenient. If you want an independent read of the person against the role, the team and the plan, with no placement incentive, choose an independent provider.

Executive assessment is offered by search firms, consulting firms and assessment platforms. They differ in independence, speed and what the assessment is read against.

This guide compares the main providers boards and CEOs use.

Quick comparison

Executive assessment providers, compared: quick comparison
ProviderOwn assessmentFaking detectionLanguagesWho reads the resultsRead against the planOngoing reforecasting
Atlas PeopleYesYesDanish, EnglishLeaders, with expert supportYesYes
DDIYesNo public information12 languagesDDI consultants, company stakeholders, HR, hiring managers, leaders, and participants, depending on the productNo public informationNo public information
Egon ZehnderYesNo public informationNot publishedEgon Zehnder assessors/consultants and the client organisation’s leaders (including the CEO or board, depending on the engagement)No public informationNo public information
ghSMARTYesNo public informationNot publishedCEOs, boards, investors, private-equity deal partners, and management teamsYesNo public information
Heidrick & StrugglesYesNo public informationNot publishedleadership experts / senior consultants trained in assessmentsNo public informationNo public information
Korn FerryYesYes21 languagesNot publishedNo public informationNo public information
Russell ReynoldsYesNo public informationNot publishedleadership advisors, researchers, and specialists; trained psychologists and expert practitionersNo public informationNo public information
Spencer StuartYesNo public informationNot publishedSpencer Stuart assessment experts, in collaboration with consultantsNo public informationNo 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

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2. DDI

DDI is a global leadership consulting firm with more than 50 years of experience, helping organisations hire, promote and develop leaders through assessment, simulation and development programmes. It is built for enterprises building leadership pipelines.

DDI's simulations and development programmes are built for growing leaders over time. Read Atlas vs DDI.

Best for: Simulation-based assessment centres and large leadership development programmes run by a long-established firm.

3. Egon Zehnder

Egon Zehnder is a global leadership advisory firm that helps organisations find, assess and develop leaders, across executive search, board advisory and leadership development.

Egon Zehnder's global search practice and board advisory are what it is built for. Read Atlas vs Egon Zehnder.

Best for: A global search firm to find and place a CEO, board member or senior executive.

4. ghSMART

ghSMART is a leadership advisory and consulting firm helping CEOs, boards and investors move from strategy to results. Its due diligence and M&A work assesses the management team that will run the business on day one.

ghSMART's senior advisers bring long experience advising CEOs and boards, which some investors want alongside the assessment. Read Atlas vs ghSMART.

Best for: A leadership advisory firm whose senior partners work directly with your CEO and board.

5. Heidrick & Struggles

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.

Heidrick's global search practice and its immersive simulations are what it is built for. Read Atlas vs Heidrick & Struggles.

Best for: A global search firm to find and place a CEO, board member or senior executive.

6. Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry is a global organisational consulting firm. Korn Ferry Assess evaluates candidates and employees against thousands of success profiles, drawing on what Korn Ferry describes as the world's largest talent dataset. It is built for large enterprises running selection, succession and development at scale, often alongside Korn Ferry's search and consulting work.

Korn Ferry's benchmark data is larger: it compares people against thousands of success profiles across industries. Read Atlas vs Korn Ferry.

Best for: Succession planning against thousands of predefined success profiles, bundled with global search and consulting.

7. Russell Reynolds

Russell Reynolds (Russell Reynolds Associates) is a global executive search and board advisory firm. Its executive assessment and benchmarking evaluates candidates with a data-backed approach to reduce risk in external hiring and succession.

Russell Reynolds' board and CEO advisory and global search networks are what it is built for. Read Atlas vs Russell Reynolds.

Best for: A global search firm to find and place a CEO, board member or senior executive.

8. Spencer Stuart

Spencer Stuart is one of the world's leading executive search and leadership consulting firms, specialising in chief executive, board director and senior executive roles. Its executive assessment uses multiple methods to judge an individual's ability to perform and fit in a critical leadership role.

Spencer Stuart's global search reach and board-level networks are what it is built for. Read Atlas vs Spencer Stuart.

Best for: A global search firm to find and place a CEO, board member or senior executive.

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

If you are also running a search, the search firm's assessment is convenient. If you want an independent read of the person against the role, the team and the plan, with no placement incentive, choose an independent provider.

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, EU-hosted and designed to align with the EU AI Act? Go with Atlas.

Put your plan to the test

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FAQ

Search firms such as Spencer Stuart, Heidrick & Struggles, Russell Reynolds and Egon Zehnder, consulting firms such as DDI and ghSMART, and independent platforms such as Atlas.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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