Companies That Use the CCAT Test
Last updated: September 2026
Roughly 7,000 employers administer the CCAT through Criteria Corp. The largest single block: Vista Equity Partners' software portfolio. It's dominant in private-equity-backed enterprise SaaS, nearly absent in FAANG-tier big tech, and spreading through mid-market fintech, healthtech, and edtech. If your invite mentions "cognitive aptitude," links to criteriacorp.com or ondemandassessment.com, or comes from an ATS like HireBridge, you're likely taking it.
Confirmed Vista Equity portfolio companies
Vista standardized the CCAT as the central cognitive screen in its hiring playbook across 50+ software companies. Based on candidate reports and hiring-manager accounts, these portfolio companies use it — and many kept it after being sold or taken public:
- Vertafore (insurance software)
- Finastra (financial software)
- PowerSchool (education software)
- TIBCO (data integration)
- Cvent — (event management software)
- Mediaocean — (advertising operations)
- Granicus — (government software)
- Drift — (conversational marketing)
- Apptio — (technology business management)
- JAMF — (Apple device management)
- Marketo — (now Adobe — some teams)
- Datto — (now Kaseya)
- LogicMonitor (cloud monitoring)
- EAB (education consulting)
- Solera — (automotive/insurance data)
- Ping Identity — (identity security)
- Greenway Health — (healthcare software)
- Wrike — (project management)
- Gainsight — (customer success)
- Pluralsight — (tech learning)
- Quick Base — (low-code platform)
- iCIMS (HR technology)
- Sonatype (developer tools)
Other confirmed CCAT employers
- Crossover — the remote-talent platform screens nearly every applicant with the CCAT, and sets one of the highest bars (an 80th-percentile report is the commonly cited floor). A proctored retake verifies scores.
- Shopify — uses Criteria assessments for some roles (first-hand invite breakdown).
- Thoma Bravo / KKR / Insight portfolios — Ellucian, Bullhorn, AvidXchange, Episerver, and others have rolled out CCAT screens in subsets of roles.
- Direct adopters — Computer Aid (CAI), Epicor, Infoblox, Khoros, HighRadius, Credera, Xactly, and a long tail of mid-market insurance, banking, and healthcare employers (Farmers, Allstate, Teladoc are commonly reported).
What score do they want?
Cutoffs are set per employer and not published, but candidate reports cluster into clear bands:
- Vista portfolio: commonly a 70th-percentile floor; 80th for product and strategy roles; 85th for executive. Enforced.
- Other PE-backed: 60th–70th percentile is most common.
- Direct mid-market employers: 50th–60th percentile.
- Crossover: ~80th percentile across roles.
In raw terms, the 70th percentile is roughly the low 30s out of 50. See the CCAT score guide for how percentiles work — and why a 32 is a strong score almost everywhere outside the Vista/Crossover tier.
How to check if your company uses the CCAT
- Read the invite. CCAT invitations reference "cognitive aptitude" and link to Criteria's platform (criteriacorp.com, ondemandassessment.com) or an ATS relay like HireBridge.
- Check the parent. If the employer is (or was) Vista Equity–owned, assume the CCAT. The full portfolio is published on Vista's site.
- Search candidate reports. Glassdoor and Reddit threads for "[company] assessment" surface the test format fast.
Frequently asked questions
Does Amazon use the CCAT?
No — Amazon runs its own interview loop. Some subsidiaries use external assessments, but not the CCAT.
Does Google use the CCAT?
No. Structured technical interviews, no commercial cognitive screen.
Do companies drop the CCAT after being sold?
Usually not for a year or more. Hiring playbooks have inertia; the test typically persists through a full hiring cycle post-exit.
Is the CCAT used outside the US?
Yes — Criteria licenses it globally, with heavy use in the UK, Australia, India, and the Philippines.
Taking the CCAT? Start with the free practice test, read what your score means, or browse our employer guides: Crossover, Shopify, Vertafore, Finastra, TIBCO, PowerSchool.