Index › Performance and talent management › Skills intelligence › Enterprise › September 2026 Edition

Skills intelligence for enterprise buyers

Asked as “skills intelligence platform”, and as “skills taxonomy and inference tool”, on behalf of an enterprise B2B company. 43 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.

Standing

Eightfold AI

Contested

33% of first choices, contested.

ShowinginAll 50 categories →

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.

Small business

Skills Base35%ContestedStanding →Mid-market

TalentGuard19%ContestedStanding →Enterprise

Eightfold AI33%ContestedThis page

01The standing

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models, for an enterprise B2B company. Ordered by share.

ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant

Eightfold AI18%40endorsed leader

Workday Skills Cloud4%23accepted challenger

TechWolf0%13accepted challenger

Lightcast Open Skills0%13accepted challenger

Gloat14%35accepted challenger

Fuel5016%19accepted challenger

Degreed12%17accepted challenger

Show the three products at 0%, ordered by negative rate

Beamery36%14criticized challenger

Cornerstone OnDemand17%12accepted challenger

365Talents7%14accepted challenger

Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its vendor page.

Head to head

TalentGuard vs Skills Base TalentGuard vs iMocha Skills Base vs iMocha

Recommended versus criticized

Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.

Criticized challengerCriticized default

Negative label rate →

Accepted challengerEndorsed leader

0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative50%

Key

Eightfold AI33%

Workday Skills Cloud12%

TechWolf12%

Lightcast Open Skills9%

Gloat5%

Fuel505%

Degreed2%

365Talents0%

Cornerstone OnDemand0%

Beamery0%

02What they warned about

Five of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. GPT-5.4 mini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity Sonar, Mistral Small, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Kimi K2 and GLM 4.7 FlashX changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.

Eightfold AI

18%

7 of 40 labels negative · 7 of 12 models · 1 hard negative

“Unpredictable Costs: Quote-only... they fail the "predictable total cost" criterion” Grok 4.1 Fast, budget prompt

Gloat

14%

5 of 35 labels negative · 5 of 12 models · 1 hard negative

“Gloat $15–25 PEPM + $100K+ setup... they fail the "predictable total cost" criterion” Grok 4.1 Fast, budget prompt

Beamery

36%

5 of 14 labels negative · 5 of 12 models

“**Beamery** has pricing around **$75/user/month** ... suggests variable or usage-based enterprise cost rather than inherently predictable flat pricing” Perplexity Sonar, budget prompt

LinkedIn Learning

71%

5 of 7 labels negative · 4 of 12 models · 1 hard negative

“Useful as a *supplemental* content source, but dangerous as a core skills infrastructure.” Kimi K2, negative prompt

03What they cite

Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: twelve of the twelve in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.

Sites the answers cite

64 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 12 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 6 of those lists are Google grounding redirects that name no site and are left out of the counts. 917 links across 322 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page.

fuel50.com

vendor site · Fuel5029 answers · 53 citations · 9 models

hrtechsaas.com

vendor site · HRTechSaaS27 answers · 40 citations · 10 models

peoplemanagingpeople.com

vendor site · People Managing People25 answers · 28 citations · 10 models

darwinbox.com

vendor site · Darwinbox19 answers · 24 citations · 9 models

365talents.com

vendor site · 365Talents17 answers · 21 citations · 8 models

docebo.com

vendor site · Docebo15 answers · 17 citations · 8 models

cloudassess.com

vendor site · Cloud Assess14 answers · 14 citations · 7 models

bestrecruitingtools.com

13 answers · 15 citations · 8 models

g2.com

11 answers · 25 citations · 7 models

acorn.works

vendor site · Acorn11 answers · 11 citations · 8 models

everestgrp.com

10 answers · 14 citations · 6 models

skillsdb.com

vendor site · SkillsDB10 answers · 14 citations · 6 models

Pages the answers cite

The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.

peoplemanagingpeople.com/tools/best-skills-management-software-for-enterprises

25 answers · 10 models

hrtechsaas.com/blog/skills-intelligence-software

22 answers · 10 models

fuel50.com/blog/skills-assessment-platforms

16 answers · 8 models

cloudassess.com/blog/best-skills-intelligence-platforms

14 answers · 7 models

fuel50.com/blog/skills-intelligence-platforms

14 answers · 7 models

365talents.com/en/resources/skills-intelligence-platform-buyers-guide

12 answers · 8 models

darwinbox.com/blog/best-skills-management-software

12 answers · 8 models

darwinbox.com/blog/8-best-skills-gap-analysis-software-enterprises

10 answers · 6 models

docebo.com/learning-network/blog/skills-intelligence-platforms

10 answers · 8 models

everestgrp.com/report/egr-2026-24-r-8016

10 answers · 6 models

04How they answered

Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.

ModelDirect“What is the best skills intelligence platform for an enterprise B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which skills taxonomy and inference tool would you recommend to a large B2B company with thousands of employees?”Comparative“What are the top enterprise-grade skills platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best skills intelligence platform for a large company that needs predictable total cost across thousands of users?”Scale-constrained“We are a 5,000 person company with SSO, SOC 2 and procurement review requirements evaluating a skills intelligence platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which skills platforms should a large enterprise avoid or be cautious about?”

Claude Haiku 4.5no first choiceno first choiceHeldEightfold AI, Fuel50

One alternative

OpenSesame

Eightfold AI

Two alternatives

Cloud Assess, Gloat

against: Beameryno first choicenothing named

GPT-5.4 miniFuel50

Three alternatives

Eightfold AI, Gloat, Workday Skills Cloud

Workday Skills CloudChangedWorkday Skills Cloud

Two alternatives

Cornerstone Workforce AI, Eightfold AI

Degreedno first choicenothing named

Gemini 3.5 FlashTechWolf

Five alternatives

CodeSignal, Eightfold AI, Gloat, SkyHive, iMocha

Lightcast Open Skills, TechWolfChanged

Four alternatives

ESCO, Eightfold AI, Gloat, SFIA

TechWolf

Three alternatives

Eightfold AI, Gloat, Workday Skills Cloud

TechWolf

Three alternatives

SAP SuccessFactors, Workday Skills Cloud, Workera

against: Eightfold AI, Gloatno first choicenothing named

Perplexity SonarEightfold AI

Four alternatives

Darwinbox, Fuel50, Gloat, TechWolf

against: SeekOutLightcast Open Skills, Mercer's Skills MapChanged

One alternative

SkillsDB

Degreed

Seven alternatives

360Learning, Cornerstone OnDemand, Coursera, OpenSesame, SAP SuccessFactors Learning, Udemy Business, Workday Skills Cloud

Workday Skills Cloud

Two alternatives

Eightfold AI, Gloat

against: Beameryno first choiceagainst: Degreed, Gloat

Grok 4.1 FastEightfold AI

Three alternatives

Beamery, Gloat, Phenom

Eightfold AIHeld

Four alternatives

Gloat, Lightcast Open Skills, SAP SuccessFactors Talent Intelligence Hub, Workday Skills Cloud

against: ESCO, O*NETno first choice

Six alternatives

365Talents, Degreed, Eightfold AI, Fuel50, Gloat, Workday Skills Cloud

against: Cornerstone OnDemandSkillsDB

Three alternatives

AG5, SkillPanel, Skills Base

against: Eightfold AI, Fuel50, GloatGloat, Workday Skills Cloud

Four alternatives

365Talents, Cloud Assess, Fuel50, MuchSkills

against: Beamery, Phenomagainst: CodeSignal, Coursera, HackerRank, LinkedIn Learning, O'Reilly, OpenClaw/ClawHub, SAP SuccessFactors, ServiceNow, SkillPanel, Skillable, Udemy Business, Workday, edX

Mistral SmallEightfold AI

Four alternatives

Cornerstone OnDemand, Docebo, Gloat, Phenom

Eightfold AI, Lightcast Open Skills, O*NETChanged

One alternative

ESCO

Degreed

Six alternatives

365Talents, Cornerstone OnDemand, Coursera, Docebo, LinkedIn Learning, Skillsoft Percipio

Bryq

Two alternatives

365Talents, Eightfold AI

against: HackerRank, TestGorillano first choiceagainst: Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, O'Reilly, Pluralsight Skills, Udemy Business, edX

DeepSeek V4 FlashEightfold AI, Fuel50

Four alternatives

Gloat, Lightcast Open Skills, SAP SuccessFactors Skills, Workday Skills Cloud

Workday Skills CloudChanged

Five alternatives

Eightfold AI, Gloat, Lightcast Open Skills, TechWolf, iMocha

Degreed

Three alternatives

Cornerstone OnDemand, Gloat, Skillsoft Percipio

against: LinkedIn LearningSkillsDB

One alternative

Bryq

against: 365Talents, Beamery, Degreed, Eightfold AI, Gloat, PhenomEightfold AI

Five alternatives

365Talents, Fuel50, Gloat, TechWolf, iMocha

against: LinkedIn Learning, Udemy Business

Llama 4 Maverickno first choiceno first choiceHeld

Four alternatives

Beamery, OVI, Skills Base, TechWolf

no first choiceBryq

One alternative

SkillPanel

against: Eightfold AIno first choicenothing named

Qwen 3.7 FlashEightfold AI

Four alternatives

Altogether (formerly Hiive) / Fuel54, Gloat, Pymetrics, SeekOut

Eightfold AIHeld

Two alternatives

Acorn PLMS, Gloat

against: Workday Skills CloudEightfold AI

Three alternatives

Gloat, SAP SuccessFactors Skills, Workday Skills Cloud

Leverage.ai

One alternative

Gloat

against: Eightfold AIno first choiceagainst: Fuel50, Oracle HCM Cloud, Pymetrics, SAP SuccessFactors, Workday

Kimi K2Eightfold AI, Gloat

Three alternatives

Beamery, Fuel50, Phenom

TechWolfChanged

Five alternatives

Beamery, Eightfold AI, Fuel50, Gloat, SAP SuccessFactors Skills

no first choiceWorkday Skills Cloud

One alternative

Cornerstone Skills Graph

against: Eightfold AIno first choiceagainst: Cornerstone Galaxy, Cornerstone OnDemand, Fuel50, Gloat, LinkedIn Learning, SAP SuccessFactors Learning, Udemy Business, Workday Learning

GLM 4.7 FlashXEightfold AI, INOP

Five alternatives

365Talents, AG5, Degreed, Gloat, iMocha

against: Oracle HCM Cloud, SAP SuccessFactors, WorkdayLightcast Open Skills, TechWolfChanged

Six alternatives

Acorn PLMS, Beamery, Docebo, SkillsDB, TalentGuard, iMocha

Degreed

Eight alternatives

365Talents, AG5, Fuel50, Kahuna, Lightcast Open Skills, Pluralsight Skills, SeekOut, TalentGuard

against: Skillsoft PercipioSkills Base

Two alternatives

MuchSkills, SkillsDB

against: Beamery, Eightfold AIno first choiceagainst: AG5, ClickUp, Legacy Workday Talent Management, SkillPanel, Skills Base

MiniMax M2.5Eightfold AI

Five alternatives

Fuel50, Gloat, Phenom, Workday Skills Cloud, iMocha

Eightfold AIHeld

Three alternatives

Lightcast Open Skills, TechWolf, Workday Skills Cloud

Cornerstone OnDemand, Degreed

Six alternatives

AG5, Eightfold AI, O'Reilly, Pluralsight Skills, Reejig, Skillsoft Percipio

Skilltype

Two alternatives

365Talents, SkillsDB

no first choicenothing named

Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

05The record

One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record

Seventy-two rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.

Prompt	Model	Version string	Time (UTC)	Searched	Sources	Latency
Direct recommendation	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 20:01	no	0	4 s
Direct recommendation	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 18:39	yes	4	8 s
Direct recommendation	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 20:04	yes	26	29 s
Direct recommendation	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 18:33	yes	20	8 s
Direct recommendation	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 21:35	yes	40	18 s
Direct recommendation	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 18:36	yes	5	4 s
Direct recommendation	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 21:25	yes	13	18 s
Direct recommendation	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 19:36	yes	5	3 s
Direct recommendation	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 20:16	no	0	28 s
Direct recommendation	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 19:44	yes	10	40 s
Direct recommendation	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 20:14	yes	14	27 s
Direct recommendation	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 19:28	yes	9	26 s
Paraphrase	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 18:15	no	0	4 s
Paraphrase	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 18:57	yes	3	7 s
Paraphrase	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 21:55	yes	11	46 s
Paraphrase	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 19:26	yes	20	6 s
Paraphrase	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 19:31	yes	39	20 s
Paraphrase	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 21:21	no	0	7 s
Paraphrase	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 20:39	yes	16	23 s
Paraphrase	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 20:46	yes	5	3 s
Paraphrase	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 20:13	yes	5	26 s
Paraphrase	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 19:24	yes	14	81 s
Paraphrase	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 21:08	yes	27	121 s
Paraphrase	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 20:28	yes	8	37 s
Comparative	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 18:19	yes	9	12 s
Comparative	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 19:34	yes	5	9 s
Comparative	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 18:24	yes	21	34 s
Comparative	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 19:47	yes	17	12 s
Comparative	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 21:02	yes	31	18 s
Comparative	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 20:32	yes	9	11 s
Comparative	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 18:21	yes	12	21 s
Comparative	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 19:28	yes	5	4 s
Comparative	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 21:39	yes	10	22 s
Comparative	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 20:04	yes	15	36 s
Comparative	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 18:09	yes	25	193 s
Comparative	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 20:52	yes	5	19 s
Budget constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 19:37	yes	20	11 s
Budget constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 20:54	yes	4	7 s
Budget constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 21:59	yes	20	61 s
Budget constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 19:03	yes	20	8 s
Budget constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 20:34	yes	44	21 s
Budget constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 21:43	yes	5	5 s
Budget constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 19:59	yes	27	24 s
Budget constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 19:09	yes	5	3 s
Budget constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 20:44	no	0	28 s
Budget constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 21:06	yes	25	34 s
Budget constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 21:17	yes	23	95 s
Budget constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 19:28	yes	17	47 s
Scale constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 20:02	yes	18	15 s
Scale constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 21:27	yes	4	11 s
Scale constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 20:10	yes	6	25 s
Scale constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 18:53	yes	20	9 s
Scale constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 20:48	yes	14	11 s
Scale constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 21:04	no	0	8 s
Scale constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 21:36	yes	28	34 s
Scale constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 21:29	yes	5	3 s
Scale constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 20:51	no	0	29 s
Scale constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 18:56	yes	14	46 s
Scale constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 19:20	yes	21	135 s
Scale constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 18:43	yes	5	43 s
Negative framing	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 21:13	yes	27	13 s
Negative framing	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 18:08	yes	4	7 s
Negative framing	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 22:07	yes	14	54 s
Negative framing	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 20:32	yes	20	7 s
Negative framing	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 20:00	yes	24	18 s
Negative framing	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 18:33	yes	5	8 s
Negative framing	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 18:37	yes	29	32 s
Negative framing	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 18:53	yes	9	4 s
Negative framing	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 20:42	no	0	32 s
Negative framing	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 18:30	yes	30	43 s
Negative framing	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 20:57	yes	26	70 s
Negative framing	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 21:10	yes	24	68 s

Normalization in this category

Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.

Category-scoped readings

Acorn read as Acorn PLMS

Acorn (Acorn Works) read as Acorn PLMS

Cornerstone read as Cornerstone OnDemand

Coursera for Business read as Coursera

Coursera for Enterprise read as Coursera

Eightfold read as Eightfold AI

Eightfold Talent Intelligence read as Eightfold AI

Eightfold Talent Intelligence Platform read as Eightfold AI

Lightcast read as Lightcast Open Skills

Lightcast (Emsi Burning Glass) read as Lightcast Open Skills

Lightcast (formerly Emsi Burning Glass) read as Lightcast Open Skills

Litmos read as SAP Litmos

Oracle read as Oracle HCM Cloud

Pluralsight read as Pluralsight Skills

SAP read as SAP SuccessFactors

Skillsoft read as Skillsoft Percipio

Unresolved, counted raw

Altogether (formerly Hiive) / Fuel54

Cornerstone Workforce AI

Legacy Workday Talent Management (Skills add‑on)

Leverage.ai

Mercer's Skills Map

OpenClaw/ClawHub

SFIA (Skills Framework for the Information Age)

Skillable

Skilltype

Skillwell

Discontinued, still offered

No shut-down product was recommended here.

Skills intelligence for enterprise buyers

By buyer segment

01The standing

Recommended versus criticized

02What they warned about

03What they cite

Sites the answers cite

Pages the answers cite

04How they answered

05The record

Normalization in this category

Also in performance and talent management