Articul8 Hex-Model™
AN INTRODUCTION
The Articul8 Hex-Model™ simplifies the complexities of HR Technology — providing a unified, visual assessment across eight critical dimensions, powered by our Tri-Axis methodology.
WHAT IS THE HEX-MODEL™?
The Articul8 Hex-Model™ is designed to help organisations navigate the complexities of the HR Technology landscape, translating that complexity into a unified, visual assessment. Powered by our Tri-Axis methodology, it brings together eight critical dimensions: Performance, Potential, Adoption & Impact, AI Integration, Market Presence, Total Cost of Ownership, and Vision & Strategy — giving leaders clarity and guidance for confident, strategic decision-making.
HOW IS THE HEX-MODEL™ FROM OTHER TOOLS?
The Articul8 Hex-Model™ moves beyond static comparisons and simplistic rankings. While many traditional tools rely on fixed quadrants or focus narrowly on isolated performance metrics, the Hex-Model™ takes a multi-dimensional, future-focused approach.
It doesn’t just assess where a solution stands today — it captures how that solution is evolving over time. The model combines current performance, potential, market presence, AI maturity, total cost of ownership, solution focus (Suite or Specialist), and the rate of change — or Trajectory — into one unified visual framework.
What makes the Hex-Model™ unique is its ability to reflect subtle shifts over time, differentiate between stable capability and accelerating innovation, and provide clear context for each solution’s role within the wider workforce technology ecosystem. It supports strategic decision-making by helping organisations evaluate solutions based on alignment, future readiness, and their specific complexity and transformation goals.
Rather than offering a single, linear ranking, the Hex-Model™ provides a layered, transparent view that reflects the realities of an evolving, dynamic market, helping leaders make informed, forward-looking technology choices.
WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF THE HEX-MODEL™?
The Articul8 Hex-Model™ is designed to help organisations navigate complex workforce technology decisions with greater clarity, confidence, and strategic alignment.
Its primary goal is to move beyond simplistic comparisons, providing a multidimensional assessment that reflects both current positioning and future potential. By integrating factors such as solution scope, market performance, AI maturity, total cost of ownership, and trajectory of change, the Hex-Model offers a nuanced and transparent view of how solutions align with different organisational needs and transformation priorities.
The model enables leaders to:
Understand where solutions sit in terms of capability, innovation, and maturity.
Evaluate how solutions are evolving relative to themselves and the broader market.
Balance investment, complexity, and scalability considerations.
Distinguish between broad Suites and focused Specialists, based on strategic fit.
Align technology decisions to future workforce transformation goals, not just immediate functionality.
Ultimately, the Hex-Model™ equips organisations to make informed, evidence-based technology choices, supporting a more sustainable, future-ready workforce ecosystem.
UNDERSTANDING THE HEX-MODEL™?
One of the most important aspects of the Articul8 Hex-Model™ is that every zone has value, much like workforce capability mapping. Placement within a zone is not a ranking, but a reflection of strategic positioning at a point in time. Each zone presents unique benefits and considerations, designed to help organisations maximise the impact of their vendor partnerships based on their specific needs, priorities, and risk appetite. Whether partnering with Visionary Architects, leveraging the bold innovation of Progressive Trailblazers, engaging with the agility of Dynamic Pathfinders, or exploring the disruptive potential of Pioneers, every position carries merit. The Articul8 Hex-Model™ equips leaders with the clarity to navigate these dynamics confidently.
WHAT DO ALL THE ZONES MEAN?
Progressive Trailblazer
Progressive Trailblazers drive innovation while maintaining enterprise-grade credibility. Their solutions offer strong capability, excellent customer advocacy, and proven market performance — often with a focus on ease of adoption or streamlined implementation. While they may lack the full complexity required by the largest global organisations, they excel at delivering value and transformation at scale.
Visionary Architect
Visionary Architects set the blueprint for the future of HR. They deliver a sophisticated, broad set of capabilities proven to meet the needs of large, complex, global organisations. Their market performance, enterprise adoption, and customer advocacy consistently position them as a reference point for the wider industry.
Dynamic Pathfinder
Dynamic Pathfinders combine sophisticated capabilities with agility. They appeal to mid-enterprise and complex organisations, though they may have a more limited global track record or regional maturity. Some are high-potential new entrants; others are strong regional players steadily building global adoption and customer advocacy.
Potential Pioneer
Potential Pioneers are on the rise — offering innovative, often niche, solutions with strong future potential. Their enterprise track record, market performance, or global presence is still developing. They appeal to organisations seeking differentiated, targeted capabilities with the agility to evolve and scale.
It is important to note that every zone within the Articul8 Hex-Model™ carries strategic merit. Placement reflects current positioning relative to market performance, solution capability, and enterprise readiness — not simplistic rankings. Organisations should engage with each zone based on their unique needs: whether partnering with proven Visionary Architects, leveraging the innovation of Progressive Trailblazers, tapping into the agility of Dynamic Pathfinders, or exploring the disruptive potential of Pioneers.
UNDERSTANDING THE RADIAL RINGS
Innovators
Innovators introduce forward-thinking, differentiated solutions that enhance HR processes, workforce intelligence, and the overall employee experience. Positioned at the forefront of emerging challenges, they deliver creative, practical advancements that accelerate continuous improvement.
Catalysts
Catalysts are technologies that fundamentally reshape HR, driving organisational transformation, future readiness, and strategic business outcomes. These solutions set new benchmarks for innovation, agility, and impact, positioning HR as a driver of enterprise-wide change.
Accelerators
Accelerators boost the efficiency, speed, and effectiveness of HR operations. These technologies enable scalable growth, streamline processes, and enhance decision-making, elevating performance even if they are not yet considered transformative.
Enablers
Enablers form the essential foundation of the HR technology ecosystem. These solutions provide stability, core operational support, and reliable service delivery, underpinning the effectiveness of more advanced tools and ensuring consistent organisational performance.
The radial rings within the Articul8 Hex-Model™ reflect the layered structure of an effective HR technology ecosystem. From foundational Enablers to transformative Catalysts, each layer represents a different type of value — supporting operational stability, enhancing performance, or driving innovation. True workforce transformation is achieved by leveraging the right mix of technologies across these layers, aligned to organisational goals and maturity.
UNDERSTANDING THE POTENTIAL AXIS
Potential reflects a solution’s overall scope, sophistication, and ability to meet the evolving needs of complex organisations. Within the Articul8 Hex-Model™, Potential is assessed across four levels, providing positioning along the Potential axis, which runs diagonally from the top-left to bottom-right of the model. This placement indicates how well-equipped a solution is to support advanced HR strategies and enterprise requirements.
UNDERSTANDING THE PERFORMANCE AXIS
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Lower-performance solutions typically have limited market traction or lower levels of customer success. These solutions may face challenges in terms of enterprise adoption, competitive win rates, or customer advocacy. Lower Performance can result from inconsistent execution, limited market visibility, or weaker alignment to enterprise needs.
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Mid Performance solutions demonstrate reliable, consistent market presence and customer delivery. They achieve competitive shortlist placement and positive customer outcomes, but have yet to reach the scale, consistency, or advocacy levels of higher-performing solutions. These solutions appeal to organisations seeking stability with room to mature.
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Higher Performance solutions are recognised for strong market presence, enterprise adoption, and high levels of customer success. They frequently win competitive tenders, are shortlisted by enterprise buyers, and deliver measurable value to customers. Their performance reflects both capability execution and customer advocacy.
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Market-Leading Performance reflects the highest levels of market success, enterprise traction, and customer impact. These solutions consistently dominate shortlists, secure large-scale enterprise wins, and are recognised for exceptional delivery, customer satisfaction, and proven business outcomes — often setting benchmarks for the wider market.
Performance within the Articul8 Hex-Model™ represents a solution’s ability to translate capability into tangible market success and customer impact. Placement along the Performance axis reflects more than short-term wins — it captures a combination of sustained enterprise adoption, competitive positioning, and proven delivery for customers. While higher-performing solutions often dominate shortlists and market share, it’s important to recognise that lower-performing solutions may still meet specific organisational needs — particularly for targeted use cases, niche requirements, or evolving technology categories. The Hex-Model is designed to help organisations interpret these performance signals in context, aligning solution choices with strategic goals, market readiness, and risk appetite.
Performance reflects how a solution is positioned based on its market traction, enterprise adoption, and demonstrated customer impact. Within the Articul8 Hex-Model™, Performance is assessed across four levels, providing positioning along the Performance axis, which runs diagonally from the top-right to the bottom-left of the model. A solution's placement along this axis reflects its ability to deliver both measurable market success and strong customer outcomes, particularly at an enterprise scale.
UNDERSTANDING THE TRAJECTORY AXIS
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Vendors with an Advancing trajectory are increasing both their market performance and solution potential. These organisations demonstrate positive momentum across innovation, capability development, customer outcomes, and enterprise adoption, signalling growth on multiple fronts.
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Elevating vendors are building market presence, customer advocacy, and enterprise traction while maintaining steady levels of innovation and solution potential. They are capitalising on adoption success and market opportunities, positioning themselves for greater influence and growth.
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Evolving vendors are enhancing their innovation, scope, or solution sophistication while maintaining stable market performance. These organisations are focused on expanding future potential and capability depth, even if their current market traction remains consistent.
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Vendors with a Stabilising trajectory are holding their current position in both market performance and solution potential. They are keeping pace with wider market dynamics, demonstrating consistency without significant acceleration or decline.
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Moderating vendors are experiencing a slowing market performance or customer advocacy while maintaining stable solution potential. While their core capabilities remain intact, they may be facing headwinds in market traction, competitive positioning, or customer outcomes.
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Vendors with a Contracting trajectory are facing declines in both market performance and solution potential. These organisations are at risk of losing ground in innovation, capability development, or enterprise adoption, requiring strategic reassessment to regain momentum.
Trajectory within the Articul8 Hex-Model™ provides a directional view of how vendor solutions are evolving relative to themselves and the broader market. It reflects both current momentum and future potential, helping organisations understand where solutions are accelerating, stabilising, or facing risk. Importantly, Trajectory is not a direct comparison between vendors, but a measure of change over time based on market signals, customer outcomes, and capability development. This insight enables organisations to make informed, future-focused technology decisions aligned to their growth, innovation, and workforce transformation goals.
SUITE V SPECIALIST SOLUTIONS
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These solutions offer fundamental capabilities designed to meet simpler organisational needs. They typically appeal to organisations with lower levels of complexity, providing essential functionality with minimal sophistication. Lower Potential solutions can deliver value quickly, often with entry-level feature sets and straightforward implementation.
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Mid Potential solutions offer broader functionality and can meet the majority of the core needs of enterprise-class customers. They offer reliable scope, ease of adoption, and appeal to organisations seeking comprehensive solutions, though some compromises on depth or specialist capability may exist compared to higher-tier offerings.
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Higher Potential solutions deliver greater depth, breadth, and sophistication across their capabilities. They are designed to address the complex requirements of large, diverse organisations and often provide advanced features, configurability, and scalability to support enterprise-wide transformation.
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Solutions at the Market-Leading Potential level represent the highest standard of sophistication, scope, and strategic alignment. These solutions consistently demonstrate the ability to handle the most complex, global requirements, setting benchmarks for innovation, capability, and future readiness within the HR technology landscape.
The Potential axis in the Articul8 Hex-Model™ runs diagonally across the framework, positioning solutions based on their scope, sophistication, and ability to meet enterprise requirements, from foundational tools to market-leading platforms.
Trajectory reflects the rate of change in a vendor’s market performance and solution potential. Unlike static assessments, Trajectory provides insight into movement, highlighting whether a solution is building momentum, maintaining stability, or at risk of losing ground.
Within the Articul8 Hex-Model™, Trajectory is represented through positioning and orientation within each zone, offering a forward-looking perspective relative to both the vendor’s previous performance and the pace of change in the wider market.
Within the Articul8 Hex-Model™, solutions are categorised as either Suites or Specialists, providing organisations with clarity on the breadth and focus of each offering.
Suites are comprehensive platforms designed to support a broad range of capabilities across a given segment. These solutions integrate both traditional functionality and next-generation innovation, aiming to cover the full spectrum of organisational needs within their domain. Their strength lies in scale, breadth, and the ability to serve as a unified, foundational system across multiple areas of HR or workforce management.
For each assessment, the full Hex-Model™ reports provide a detailed definition of the scope and role of Suites within the segment. They also include an evolving breakdown of the Specialist categories, reflecting the most relevant areas of focus and emerging opportunities for disruption. These categories are reviewed and updated regularly to ensure alignment with shifting market priorities and innovation trends.
An effective HR technology strategy often requires balancing the breadth of Suites with the targeted impact of Specialists. Suites provide the stability and integration to manage broad organisational needs, while Specialists introduce depth, innovation, and disruption within specific focus areas. The Articul8 Hex-Model™ helps organisations navigate this balance, providing clear visibility into how each solution contributes to capability development, innovation, and overall workforce transformation.
Specialists, by contrast, focus deliberately and unapologetically on a specific area of capability. Their proposition is targeted, disruptive, and designed to deliver heightened impact within a defined niche. Specialists often lead the market in their chosen area but typically complement, rather than replace, broader Suites — bringing depth, differentiation, and innovation to specific challenges within the wider ecosystem.
MARKET PRESENCE
Higher Presence solutions typically have a large number of enterprise customers, significant user adoption, and strong market visibility. Mid Presence solutions are established and scaling, but have yet to reach the breadth or depth of market saturation seen at the highest levels. Lower Presence solutions may be earlier-stage, focused on specific regions or niches, or still building enterprise traction, but can still deliver high impact within their defined space.
Market Presence is designed to help organisations understand a vendor’s scale and adoption relative to broader market dynamics — not to rank solutions directly, but to provide context when evaluating maturity, scalability, and fit.
Market Presence offers a lens into the scale and enterprise adoption of a solution, but size alone does not determine strategic fit. In some cases, niche or emerging providers with lower market presence can deliver exceptional value for specific challenges, while highly established vendors bring breadth, stability, and global scalability. The Articul8 Hex-Model™ highlights these dynamics to help organisations assess solutions in context, balancing maturity, market traction, and innovation priorities when building their workforce technology ecosystem.
Market Presence within the Articul8 Hex-Model™ reflects the scale, visibility, and enterprise footprint of a solution within the market. It considers both the size of a vendor’s customer base and their reach within corporate, enterprise-scale environments.
Presence is assessed across three broad bands — Lower, Mid, and Higher — which represent natural maturity groupings observed in the market, rather than a strict linear scale.
TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP
TCO is assessed across three broad bands — Lower, Mid, and Higher — reflecting typical investment levels observed in the market. This is not a direct ranking of cost-effectiveness, but rather a contextual view to help organisations align technology choices with available resources, complexity tolerance, and desired outcomes.
Solutions with a Higher TCO often reflect more complex platforms designed for large-scale or highly sophisticated environments. Mid-TCO solutions typically balance capability and investment, while Lower-TCO solutions often prioritise simplicity, speed of adoption, or targeted functionality with reduced operational overhead.
TCO provides critical insight beyond upfront price, offering organisations a realistic view of long-term investment requirements. While higher TCO solutions may bring greater scope, sophistication, or scalability, lower TCO solutions often appeal to organisations seeking rapid deployment or focused capabilities without the complexity. The Articul8 Hex-Model™ highlights these dynamics, supporting informed decisions that balance budget, complexity, and strategic outcomes across the workforce technology ecosystem.
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) within the Articul8 Hex-Model™ represents the full lifecycle cost of acquiring, implementing, and operating a solution, typically measured over a three-year period. TCO accounts for both external costs (such as licensing, implementation, and support) and internal costs (such as resource time, integration, and ongoing management).
VISION & STRATEGY
Every dimension within the model shapes this perspective. The Radial Rings highlight whether a solution is driving foundational support, operational efficiency, continuous innovation, or transformative change. The Potential and Performance axes reveal how broad, sophisticated, and successful the solution is in delivering measurable impact at scale. Market Presence adds context around maturity and enterprise adoption, while Total Cost of Ownership ensures organisations can balance investment with complexity and value. AI Maturity signals the depth of applied intelligence and automation shaping the solution’s future. At the same time, Suite or Specialist positioning clarifies whether the approach is broad and integrated or deliberately focused and disruptive. Finally, Trajectory reflects the rate of change, showing whether a vendor is accelerating, stabilising, or losing momentum relative to market evolution.
Vision & Strategy brings all these elements together, providing a holistic view of alignment — not as a static measure, but as an integrated understanding of where the solution is headed, how it adapts, and how it can support sustained workforce transformation.
Vision & Strategy within the Articul8 Hex-Model™ is not a standalone rating — it reflects how every dimension interconnects to signal a solution’s readiness for the future of work. Organisations evaluating Vision & Strategy gain insight not only into a vendor’s product roadmap or market positioning, but into the integrated capabilities, trajectory, and potential for long-term partnership. This empowers leaders to move beyond features or short-term metrics — making technology decisions grounded in holistic alignment to their strategic workforce priorities.
Vendor A
Position: Enabler ring, Visionary Architects zone
Type: Suite (circle)
Highlights: High Market Presence, TCO, Vision & Strategy, and AI Maturity
Gaps: Low Performance, Trajectory, and Potential
Interpretation: Vendor A is a highly visible, AI-rich niche player with strong strategic intent, but currently lacks operational maturity or proven scalability.
Vision & Strategy within the Articul8 Hex-Model™ represents the combined view of how well a solution is positioned to meet both the current and future needs of complex, evolving organisations. It reflects not just where a vendor sits today, but also how their capabilities, innovation, and trajectory align with workforce transformation and long-term enterprise priorities.
AI MATURITY
AI Maturity is evaluated across three broad bands — Lower, Mid, and Higher — providing organisations with a clear view of where each solution sits on the AI adoption curve.
Higher AI Maturity solutions demonstrate advanced, embedded AI capabilities that deliver measurable value across critical areas such as skills intelligence, predictive analytics, automation, or workforce recommendations. Mid AI Maturity solutions show tangible progress, with AI features present and evolving, but not yet fully optimised or enterprise-wide in impact. Lower AI Maturity solutions may be early in their AI journey, offering foundational or emerging capabilities, but with limited scope or sophistication.
Importantly, AI Maturity is not assessed purely on marketing claims, but on the practical, demonstrable use of AI to enhance workforce technology outcomes.
As AI continues to reshape the workforce and technology, understanding the real-world maturity of AI within a solution is crucial. High AI Maturity can drive transformation, efficiency, and insight, but emerging solutions with lower AI Maturity may still provide targeted value for specific needs. The Articul8 Hex-Model™ provides organisations with a transparent, evidence-based view of AI maturity — helping to navigate hype, assess readiness, and align technology choices to both immediate requirements and long-term workforce strategy.
WHAT DOES THE RELATIVE POSITION IN THE HEX-MODEL™ SHOW?
The Articul8 Hex-Model™ is a multi-dimensional, evidence-based framework for assessing the maturity, capability, and future-readiness of workforce technology vendors. Rather than forcing linear rankings, it maps vendors into zones of strategic orientation, influence, and technical depth—enabling nuanced insight into not just what a vendor offers, but how, where, and why they operate in the way they do.
Interpreting the Model
The model is built across 11 assessment dimensions, each scored via qualitative descriptors and quantitative weightings. Key dimensions include areas such as:
Trajectory, Performance & Potential
Vision, Strategy, and AI Maturity
Market Presence and Total Cost of Ownership
Specialist vs. Suite Positioning
Each vendor receives a score across 44 assessment points. These are weighted and aggregated to create a holistic performance profile. The vendor’s radial position (Catalyst, Innovator, Accelerator, Enabler) indicates their role in driving transformation. The axis coordinates reflect momentum (Trajectory), scalability (Potential), and effectiveness (Performance). These coordinates define their Zone:
Visionary Architects: High maturity, forward-looking, full-suite or highly innovative players.
Progressive Trailblazers: Strong momentum, differentiated features, rapidly evolving capabilities.
Dynamic Pathfinders: Agile, practical solutions demonstrating strong functional promise.
Potential Pioneers: Emerging vendors or platforms with targeted strengths and high future potential.
Scoring is visualised using subtle shaded rings, quadrant paths, and icon shapes (squares for suite vendors, circles for specialists), with diagnostic scoring overlays that provide deeper analysis of individual dimensions.
Reading the Hex-Model: Example Explained
Above is a visual example from the Articul8 Hex-Model™ map, showing six vendors mapped by their score and strategic positioning:
AI Maturity within the Articul8 Hex-Model™ reflects the depth, sophistication, and real-world application of artificial intelligence within a given solution. It assesses not only the presence of AI features but also their effectiveness in driving automation, personalisation, workforce insights, and decision support at scale.
Vendor E
Position: Innovator ring, Potential Pioneers zone (near Dynamic Pathfinders)
Type: Specialist
Highlights: Balanced mid-level scores across the board, particularly in Vision, Strategy, and Execution
Interpretation: A growing suite player with foundational strength, poised for a breakthrough if momentum and AI maturity accelerate.
Vendor C
Position: Accelerator ring, Progressive Trailblazers zone (close to Visionary Architects)
Type: Suite
Highlights: High Market Presence and TCO; Mid-range in AI Maturity, Vision & Strategy, and Execution metrics
Interpretation: A popular niche vendor expanding capabilities with increasing strategic alignment, edging closer to becoming a visionary player.
Vendor F
Position: Between Innovators and Catalysts, Dynamic Pathfinders zone
Type: Suite
Highlights: High Performance, Potential, and Trajectory with low Vision, AI Maturity, and Market Presence
Interpretation: A practical, execution-led vendor with standout delivery but currently lacks long-term vision and strategic framing.
HOW FREQUENTLY WILL HEX MODELS BE UPDATED?
Articul8 Hex-Models™ are reviewed and updated on an annual basis to reflect market evolution, vendor progress, and shifting organisational needs. Each year, Elev8 Group publishes revised visuals and accompanying analysis, capturing how solutions, customer adoption, innovation maturity, and overall market dynamics have evolved over the preceding 12 months, up to July, when research begins.
This ensures organisations have access to the most current insights to support informed, future-focused technology decisions.
ACCURACY OF INFORMATION AND WARRANTIES
The insights, analysis, and recommendations presented within the Articul8 Hex-Model™ are based on information available to Elev8 Advisory at the time of publication, sourced from parties and materials believed to be reliable. While Elev8 Advisory makes every effort to ensure the quality of its research, no warranties — express or implied — are provided regarding the completeness, accuracy, reliability, or suitability of the information for any specific purpose.
All information, assessments, and materials produced by Elev8 Advisory, including those related to Generative AI, are provided for informational purposes only and are made available “as is,” without any warranties of any kind. To the fullest extent permitted by law, all implied warranties — including, but not limited to, warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or adequacy — are expressly disclaimed.
The views expressed within the Articul8 Hex-Model™ and other Elev8 Advisory materials represent professional opinions based on research and market observation. They should not be interpreted as guarantees of future performance, nor as specific recommendations to take, or refrain from taking, any particular action or entering into any transaction.
Elev8 Advisory does not accept responsibility for errors, omissions, or changes to the information contained within its assessments, nor for decisions made based on this information. Any reliance placed on Elev8 Advisory materials is at the sole discretion and risk of the recipient.
Data, estimates, and insights may be derived from public sources, third-party contributors, participating organisations, or parties referenced within the materials. Elev8 Advisory is not an accounting firm or an accredited auditor, and it does not independently verify or audit financial data.
Organisations mentioned within Elev8 Advisory research may be clients, participants in Elev8 Group research activities, or have other forms of engagement with Elev8 Advisory. Such relationships do not influence the objectivity or structure of the Articul8 Hex-Model™ assessments.
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Vendor D
Position: Catalyst ring, Potential Pioneers zone
Type: Suite
Highlights: Strong in execution (Trajectory, Performance, Potential) and Vision, despite low Market Presence
Interpretation: A high-potential emerging vendor punching above its weight—strong foundations, but needs visibility and customer scale.
Vendor B
Position: Catalyst ring, Visionary Architects zone
Type: Specialist (square)
Highlights: High scores across all dimensions—Performance, Trajectory, Potential, Vision & Strategy, AI Maturity
Interpretation: A mature, full-suite platform playing a leading role in workforce transformation with strong business outcomes and innovation velocity.