Boston, Sept. 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Payscale, the leading provider of compensation intelligence solutions, today announced the launch of Ascent, an AI-first benchmarking platform within the Payscale Intelligence Cloud, designed to power defensible compensation decisions at the speed of modern business.
Ascent brings together best-in-class market data, Payscale’s Smart workflows, and contextual intelligence into one platform. From a first offer letter to a complex global strategy, every workflow runs on the freshest market data available, so compensation decisions move with the market.
The pace of workforce change has outstripped traditional compensation systems. Job roles evolve in months, not years. AI is creating and eliminating positions faster than organizations can adjust. Payscale's 2026 Compensation Best Practices Report, based on a survey of more than 3,400 HR and compensation leaders, found fewer than two in three organizations are updating roles for AI skills — and one in three is replacing or reconsidering entire roles because of it.
Meanwhile, benchmarking remains stuck in the past. Most organizations depend on specialist-owned processes and annual snapshots. By the time data reaches decision-makers, the market has moved on. Managers make critical pay decisions without current, contextual intelligence. The risk? Pay decisions that fall out of step with the market, making it harder to attract, retain, and reward the skills the business needs.
“Too many organizations are still clinging to legacy job architectures and finding themselves out of sync with market reality," said Lexi Clarke, Payscale Chief Business Operations and HR Officer. "Ascent is built to fix this. It brings your compensation intelligence, workflows, and market data into one platform, so every salary decision is grounded in timely validated market data, and every compensation professional has the context they need to act strategically."
Powered by Peer, a contributory network of more than 4,500 organizations and 10.2 million incumbents, Ascent is built on compensation intelligence. It combines purpose-built AI-first workflows with near real-time market data, so compensation professionals can make faster, smarter, more defensible decisions.
Key features in Ascent provide organizations with:
Pay decisions you can move on today, and defend tomorrow.
Smart Price pairs skills-premium data with hiring demand signals from Explore, so pricing a role means understanding not just its market value, but the skills and demand signals shaping that value. Every number is grounded in Payscale’s Peer data ecosystem, giving pay decisions a foundation you can stand behind.
Less busywork. More strategy.
Smart Reporting turns compensation questions into leadership-ready insights. Ask in plain language and get a report back — no templates to build, no files to stitch together. It gives compensation professionals a faster starting point for analysis, so they can review the findings, apply their expertise, and confidently bring the right insights to managers, finance leaders, and executives.
Compensation intelligence, unlocked for everyone who needs it.
Compass shows organizations how their compensation and workforce strategy compares with their peers or a defined market. By bringing that external perspective into one clear view, leaders can see where they are aligned with the market, where they are falling behind, and where they have an opportunity to differentiate. It gives managers, HR, finance, and executives a shared evidence base for making more informed, strategic decisions about their workforce.
Learn more about Payscale Ascent at: www.payscale.com/products/software/ascent
See Ascent and other Payscale Intelligence Cloud tools in action at Compference®, September 15-17. Register for the event at: www.payscale.com/compference
About Payscale
Payscale is the pioneer of compensation intelligence, helping organizations make smarter pay decisions that drive business performance. For more than 20 years, Payscale has combined trusted market data with AI-powered technology to deliver actionable insights that turn pay from a cost into a catalyst for growth. The Payscale Intelligence Cloud portfolio of solutions — Ascent, JobNav, and Paycycle — empower top companies and businesses like Cintas, Leidos, Chipotle, Ohio State University, and TJX Companies.
Create confidence in your compensation. Payscale.
To learn more, visit https://www.payscale.com/.
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