How AI is Changing the Work of Executive Search Consultancies — and What CCOs Can Gain From It

Executive search is a people business. Despite this fact — or maybe precisely because of it — technology plays an important role in our day-to-day work. Executive search firms, like PRCC, have to deal with several thousand candidates every year, generating a lot of highly sensitive data. Artificial intelligence can help to utilise the data in the best possible way for the benefit of candidates and companies.

Data to improve the communication department

Data is the basis of market intelligence. When top communicators take on a new job or are confronted with a transformation in their existing role, they increasingly put their department to the test: Can I fulfill my mandate and the CEO’s expectations with my personnel setup? Do I have a powerful department in terms of structures, processes and role profiles?How does my team compare to those  of other companies? Do skillsets and mindsets match the existing or needed roles? What can be adjusted, and how? 

Executive search consultancies that offer appropriate advice in this area can make a relevant contribution to the company’s success. Not least through the use of AI — it can help to make the best possible use of the data gained in internal and external conversations, by

• documenting interviews, 
• identifying and aggregating relevant aspects (pattern recognition),
• preparing information so that it is comparable (standardization),
• comparing this data with other data and drawing conclusions from it (benchmarking and interpretation),
• and preparing this information for certain questions of different target groups (CCO, employees, CEO, HR, works council).

This enables executive search consultancies to generate insights that would have been much more time-consuming or even impossible to obtain without AI. CCOs, HR decision-makers and candidates benefit from individually-tailored solutions based on a broad database, and not just on the personal assessment of a consultant (which in our view is worth its weight in gold, but becomes even more valuable with a corresponding factual foundation).

Matching the challenges of implementation and use

As search consultants, we face similar challenges as CCOs when it comes to new technologies: we need to embed them strategically and implement them operationally so that they can work more efficiently without damaging the credibility. This is a challenge given the mix of liability issues, privacy regulations, ethical considerations, rapid technological change, acceptance concerns, cost efficiency and so on. 

We meet these challenges by remaining true to our high standards and prioritising the following truths consistently: Data protection is more important than efficiency, the wishes of clients and candidates take centre stage, and the flesh-and-blood human being is always the authority when it comes to compliance with quality standards. Within these guidelines, it is important to test and, if necessary, implement new technologies together with clients and candidates. This is the only way to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction and thus the relevance of your own business.