Case study · Our own product · tests for HR and education · 2025–2026

AI writes the test and grades the answers. Every score shows how it was graded and can be contested

Zen Tests is our own product for HR and education. An author describes a topic, dictates it or uploads a file. Zen Tests drafts a test, quiz or form with questions, answer options and a scoring scale. AI grades the answers and writes feedback for each candidate. A score that decides a job or a certificate has to hold up, so every answer records how it was graded: against the answer key, by AI with its explanation, or by a person. The candidate can contest a score, and the test’s author reviews it. AI credits are deducted before the work runs, and the spend is recorded per test and per user

3ways of gradingBy the answer key, by AI or by a person
30 daysto undo an account deletionThen a nightly job erases the data
3languages
9 moof development, one team
Before

Checking tests by hand is slow. Pasting answers into an AI chat leaves no record

When a score affects someone’s job or certificate, it has to show how it was reached. The candidate has to be able to dispute it

Zen Tests is for people who write tests and check them: HR teams assessing candidates, teachers and training providers testing students, coaches. Without it, the author writes the questions, the answer options and the scoring scale by hand. Then the author reads every answer and writes the conclusions.

The quick fix is to paste the answers into an AI chat. It saves time. It cannot answer the questions that come next. Where did the candidate’s answers go? Which model gave this score, and why? What do we show a candidate who disputes it? Who agreed to which version of the privacy policy? A data-protection officer asks these questions. When a score decides a job or a certificate, the candidate may ask them too.

We built Zen Tests so each of those questions has an answer stored with the result. The consent log, the record of how each answer was graded and the dispute process were built in the first months, before the features that rely on them.

What it does
  • The author describes a topic, dictates it or uploads a file. AI drafts the questions, answer options and scoring scale. The author edits and publishes
  • The candidate opens a link or an email invitation and answers by keyboard or by voice
  • Choice answers are checked against the key. AI grades text answers and writes feedback for each candidate
  • Results export to PDF and Excel. The product runs in three languages
What we built

What the author does, what the candidate gets, and what is recorded

For the author

The author describes the topic, the audience and the number of questions. Instead of describing, the author can upload a PDF, Word or Excel file, or dictate. Four AI assistants work in order: a brief, then the questions and answer options, then the scoring scale, then publishing. The author can edit each step by hand or ask the AI to redo it. Near-duplicate questions are removed automatically. The conversation is saved on the test, so the author can stop and come back later. Each step of generation is recorded, so when a test comes out wrong we can see which step failed.

For the candidate

The candidate opens a link or an email invitation. Answers by keyboard or by voice, with a timer if the test has one. After submitting, the candidate gets a score, a grade, a breakdown by section, written feedback, a PDF and an email. The candidate can ask follow-up questions about the result, and can contest it.

How each answer is graded

Choice answers are checked against the answer key. Text answers are graded by AI when the author turns it on, and by a person otherwise. A person can always grade by hand. Every answer records which of the three it was, and the AI’s explanation when AI graded it. The test is saved with each submission as it stood that day, so a later edit does not change an old result.

Answers are checked before grading

A small separate model screens every text answer before the AI grades it. An answer that tries to steer the grader instead of answering is marked incorrect, with the reason. A model does this rather than a list of banned phrases, so the check works in all three languages and catches a rephrased instruction.

Disputes and personal data

A candidate who disagrees contests the score. The test’s author reviews it, keeps or changes the score, and the outcome is recorded and emailed to the candidate. Each consent is written to a log with the policy version and the time. Rows are only ever added: a withdrawal adds a row and erases nothing. Users export their data or delete their account themselves, with 30 days to undo. When a question touches health or other sensitive personal data, the author sees a warning while writing it. The warning does not block.

What the AI costs

Every AI action costs credits. Credits are deducted before the work runs. The spend is recorded per test and per user. Cyrillic text takes about twice as many AI tokens per character, so it costs twice the credits per character.

Results

What the product does today. We do not publish usage figures

  • Every automated score shows how it was graded, the AI’s explanation and the test as it stood. The candidate can contest it, and the author’s decision is recorded
  • Consent can be proven from the log. People export or delete their own data themselves
  • AI spend is deducted before the work runs and recorded per test and per user
  • Three languages throughout, including the answer screening and every email the system sends

Tell us where the work is retyped, waits or breaks

A 30-minute call about one process in your business. We will say where automation fits and where it does not

Zen Software builds software that takes manual work off small and mid-size businesses. We map how the work runs, automate the steps that follow clear rules, and add AI only where something has to be understood, weighed and chosen

© Zen Software LLC2 Buck Ln, Suite 8, Marlboro, NJ 07746, USAsales@zen.software