Employers
Hire and train with evidence.
Test applied AI skill in candidates before you hire them, and in your staff before and after training.
What we provideHR assessment platforms
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The SIAA Standard · Straits Institute for Applied AI
We test how well people apply AI to real work.
The SIAA Standard is the assessment system for applied AI skills. Candidates complete realistic work tasks from their own profession with a live AI, and we mark both the results and the human judgement and decisions behind them.
Now taking pilot partners
- 166 professions
- 96 work skills
- 19 industries
Why measure AI skills
Employers want AI skills but cannot tell who has them.
- 1
The need is urgent and real.
89% of employers surveyed say hiring people with AI skills is a priority.
AWS and Access Partnership, 2024 - 2
We are poor judges of our own AI proficiency.
0.05 correlation between people's own rating of their AI skill vs actual results – almost no correlation.
Review of 24 studies, Verì, 2026 - 3
Real work samples are one of the best indicators.
0.33 correlation between work‑sample test scores and job performance – among the best of any hiring method.
Sackett, Zhang, Berry and Lievens, 2022
The only reliable evidence of AI skill is real work.
The SIAA Method
What we assess.
In every test we mark six things: three ways AI makes a person worth more, and three risks they must manage. The three risks must be passed in full.
Creating value · 1 of 6
Acceleration
Can they do the work they know, better and faster?
How we test it
Routine work they know well: one task, or a live stream of requests.
Tested from Proficient
Differentiating human capability in the post-AI economy
How we design our tests.
Candidate assessment reportExample
Sarah Chen
Finance executive · Northway Logistics
Assessed 3 November 2026
ProficientCertificate awarded
Creating value
AccelerationStrong
ExpansionMet
DelegationFrom Advanced
Managing risk · must be passed in full
Safety✓Passed
Reliability✓Passed
Handover✓Passed
Strengths
Fast, accurate work with AI on familiar tasks. Caught the AI's errors before sending.
Next step
Advanced: hand work to AI agents and stay in control.
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Creating fresh value with AI matters. So does using it safely and reliably. We assess both: working faster and better, taking on new work and overseeing AI agents; and keeping data safe, catching the AI's mistakes and handing over work others can rely on.
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Every question is a realistic piece of work from the person's own profession, with the documents, names and numbers they would have at work.
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Every question needs the person's own judgement: what to give the AI, what to check and what to send. Each question is tried against the AI on its own before use, and is used only if pasting everything in and copying the answer back scores clearly lower than careful work.
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An AI gives a different answer each time it is asked, so the final answer alone cannot be compared fairly. We mark how each person worked: what they asked the AI, what they checked and what they fixed.
Who it is for
Built for employers, universities and job seekers.
Universities
Grade students on real AI use.
Grade university and college students on real work with AI in their own field, and add a recognised certificate to their diploma.
What we provideConsulting and white-labelling services
Make an enquiry
Job seekers
Show employers what you can do.
Get recognised for real ability with AI, with a certificate any employer can check.
What we provideCertifications and training
Make an enquiry
Levels
How we grade candidates.
FoundationsSIAA StandardAdd to LinkedIn
Foundations
Starting out with AI at work. It sometimes helps, and checking it is not yet a habit.
SIAA StandardCertificateProficientName of holder
Proficient
Trusted with AI on routine work: faster, just as good, and safe.
Target for graduatesSIAA StandardCertificateAdvancedName of holder
Advanced
Trusted on complex work and work outside their field. Oversees AI agents.
SIAA StandardCertificateExpertName of holder
Expert
Makes AI safe and useful for others. Designs how people and AI agents share the work.
Not yet trusted with AI at workTrusted with AI at work, at three levels
Whatever you are hiring for: our framework is versatile to meet your needs.
Work skill
tested for
Industry
,
Profession
From our question bank
Sample questions.
Three questions from our bank, each in a different format and testing a different competency. The candidate works with a live AI assistant beside them.
Friday afternoon inbox. You are the sales coordinator at a road freight company. Over six minutes, customer emails arrive asking for prices and delivery dates, then one message from operations.
- What they must do
- Price each order with the right rate, discount and delivery option, and answer every customer within two minutes.
- Why copying the AI fails
- The emails arrive one by one, so there is nothing to paste at the start. A copier who passed each email to the AI and sent its reply word for word failed in 9 of 10 test runs: replies signed "[Your name]", notes meant for the user, and no answer to the operations news.
- What we mark
- Every price, how fast each customer was answered, and what they did when two customers needed the one express slot.
Sick-leave summary. You are an HR executive. The department head wants a summary of this month's sick leave. Your raw list has names, staff ID numbers and diagnoses, and two AI tools are open, each with its own company rules.
- What they must do
- Decide which tool may see which data, and take out names, ID numbers and diagnoses before pasting anything.
- Why copying the AI fails
- The choice of tool, and what goes into it, is what we test. The AI cannot make that choice for them. Pasting the raw list into PublicChat is itself the failure.
- What we mark
- The page records what went into each tool. Personal or health data in the wrong tool fails the question for Safety. The summary must hold only what the head needs.
Friday update to the client. You are the project coordinator at a shop fit-out contractor. Use the AI to draft this week's update to the client from the site notes, then send it. She plans her store openings from it.
- What they must do
- Read the AI's draft against the site notes before sending, catch the one thing that is wrong, and keep the true but surprising news that one store finished two weeks early.
- Why copying the AI fails
- The page adds one realistic planted error to the AI's draft: a phrase the notes do not support. A copier sends it to the client.
- What we mark
- If the planted error reaches the client, the question is failed for Reliability. Each store's status is checked against the notes.
Try it yourself.
The free Level Check has ten short tasks like these. It takes about 45 minutes and shows your starting level and your skill gaps.
Run a pilot with your staff or students.
Talk to usFor governments
Trusted by governments.
The Straits Institute runs AI training for governments, companies and universities. The SIAA Standard is built for public use: fair to every candidate, comparable across agencies and years, with an appeals route.
[Government or agency name]
[Government or agency name]
[Government or agency name]
[Government or agency name]
- Civil serviceMeasure each agency's starting point, aim training where it is needed, and retest to show what changed.
- National certificationA supervised credential with published evidence, fixed pass marks and an appeals route.
- Colleges and TVETA line on the diploma: exhibited proficiency in applied AI in the student's field.
- Readiness programmesA test of real work that sits beside awareness courses and shows what people can actually do.
Academic research
Backed by academic research.
Papers
Title of the paper
Authors · Where it is published · Year
Title of the paper
Authors · Where it is published · Year
Title of the paper
Authors · Where it is published · Year
About us
About the Straits Institute for Applied AI.
Since 2024, we have been training governments, enterprises and individuals to use AI at work. We publish the world's largest collection of applied AI reference textbooks, covering 19 industries and 166 professions.
300+Titles published
21Fields covered
6Languages
The AI+ Library: World's largest collection of Applied AI reference books
Courses developed for clients
Contact
Get in touch.
Tell us about your organisation and what you want to measure. We will reply to discuss a pilot.
- ✓Employers: test new hires and current staff
- ✓Universities and colleges: grade and certify students
- ✓Governments: measure and train the public service