Phenom acquires Plum to add psychometric assessments to AI hiring platform
Phenom People Inc. acquired Plum.io Inc., a psychometric assessment company, to integrate behavioral science into its AI-driven recruiting stack. The deal, announced April 28, combines Plum's talent evaluation technology with Phenom's automation and skills mapping capabilities.
Plum measures traits that traditional hiring overlooks: empathy, judgment, adaptability, and resilience. The company's assessments map candidate behavior against more than 40,000 real-world job profiles to predict on-the-job performance. Plum claims its approach is four times more accurate than resume screening alone and undergoes independent audits to check for bias across demographic groups.
Founded in 2012, Plum applies industrial-organizational psychology to hiring decisions. Its customers use the platform for recruiting, internal mobility, succession planning, leadership development, and manager coaching.
Why this matters for HR teams
As AI commoditizes general intelligence, hiring decisions increasingly hinge on assessing soft skills and behavioral fit. Phenom's CEO Mahe Bayireddi said: "AI is making general intelligence a commodity and human skills have never mattered more; yet hiring still relies on gut feelings to assess them."
The combined platform lets enterprises scale behavioral assessments across any role without the operational friction that historically kept psychometric science out of large-scale hiring. Phenom argues this addresses the problem of "synthetic talent" - candidates who test well on skills but lack the interpersonal qualities needed for actual job performance.
Plum raised $12.1 million from investors including Pearson Ventures, JFF Ventures, and Strada Education Network. The acquisition amount was not disclosed.
This is Phenom's third acquisition this year, following purchases of Included Inc. in January and Be Applied Ltd. in February.
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