AEA Growth Interview: Changing Markets & New Tech Shakeup Executive Recruiting

Jun 27, 2024

Authored By Eric Walczykowski

Technology eventually disrupts every industry and today this is happening in executive search. Cutting-edge technology is streamlining the recruitment process, enhancing candidate matches, and predicting executive success. I recently had the opportunity to catch up with Ravi Sarin, Co-Founder of AEA Growth and a member of our board, to reflect on Bespoke’s performance thus far in 2024 along with technology trends that continue to reshape the recruitment landscape. You can see the full interview with Ravi in our Tailored Talent vodcast series, here: https://www.bespokepartners.com/tailored-talent-private-equity-talent-trends-interview-archives/ Below is a summarized Q&A of my conversation with Ravi.

Eric: What were some of the attributes that attracted you to executive search as an investor?

Ravi: AEA Growth is focused on investing in professional services companies. We’ve looked across different end markets and professional services and have had an interest in the executive search industry for many years. It’s a large industry that’s growing, as is the need for executive talent in shaping the growth of businesses. We are thinking about the opportunity cost of not having the right person in the right seat, and the value that executive search provides to an investment thesis. Even as the industry has grown, matured and scaled, they have not really taken advantage of scale benefits. What’s exciting for us as investors is to think through other models that can drive us to a better client experience, and more value for the recruiters themselves. We’ve had success working with Bespoke by investing in technology that can support better service delivery and the workflow for recruiters. What is exciting as investors, is to be able to help improve the industry for clients and recruiters.

Eric: What does tech-enablement mean to you within the context of executive search?

Ravi: There’s a lot of different avenues for applying technology in the executive search process. Technology is not going to replace the need for experienced recruiters who can be consultative to companies that are looking for talent, and to the individuals that they’re looking to recruit. Because there is a relationship and trust component, that technology cannot displace. That said, I think technology can enhance the process across every facet. Where technology can be much more transformative is when it enhances what the recruiters are doing from a workflow standpoint. This can be pattern recognition and the signals that may be valuable to say, this is the right person for this role and why, and frankly, enhance what may be intuitive with data. With Bespoke we’ve been heavily investing in those two areas. First, identifying talent through multiple sets of data in addition to the relationships that the Bespoke recruiters have established. Second, reducing the amount of time and energy spent on what I’d call lower value add activities so that there’s more time in the day to work directly with clients.

You can see the full interview with Ravi in our Tailored Talent vodcast series, here.

Watch the Full Interview

Eric: As we think about Bespoke, we’re coming off a record Q1. We’re knocking the operational milestones out of the park in terms of tech development, customer expansion and people’s experience at Bespoke. What do you think about the future of private equity in the recruiting industry?

Ravi: It’s a large industry under-penetrated by private equity today. We’re in the early stages of private equity investment in the executive search industry, but those who have invested have seen success by supporting firms in scaling and benefiting from that scale. An important aspect is the business model design. Many established firms in executive search still operate like small firms, using a broker-agent model like real estate. The bigger opportunity for private equity is to invest in models like Bespoke’s, which emphasize a team-based approach, collaboration, and high specialization.

Many firms try to serve numerous clients across various areas, spreading recruiters too thin. Bespoke focuses on software and organizes teams by functional area, ensuring recruiters are experts in both industry and function. This specialization makes recruiters more knowledgeable and effective. Private equity could greatly support this next chapter of business model design in executive search, emphasizing the overlap of industry and functional focus to achieve better client outcomes.

Eric:

Just making a sharp point on your comment around continuing to drive the work to people who are uniquely qualified to do the work. We’ve had a lot of success in the market because we support our partners with a full team. We’ve got an analyst, an industry analyst and a search coordinator in addition to technology, which again allows people to do their highest and best work. I’ve truly enjoyed partnering with you along with the team at AEA, because you really get the market, you get the industry, and you’ve just been a great thought partner as we look to disrupt the industry. I’m grateful for our collaboration and partnership.

Ravi:

We’ve been excited to partner with you and the Bespoke team. We are excited about what’s in store for not only the rest of this year, but the years to come.

Want to learn more about Bespoke’s industry leading search services for executive search?

Contact our team to find out how we can help navigate your next executive hire.

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Bespoke Partners Named in Top 10 of the “Top 49 Retained Executive Search” 2-Years Running by C-Suite CV Secure.

top 49 search firms 2 years in a row - bespoke partners

About AEA Growth

AEA partners with companies to accelerate growth. Their thesis-driven, proactive sourcing strategy seeks to identify growth investment opportunities, offering a solution-oriented flexible capital approach aimed at meeting stakeholder objectives. Learn more at: www.aeagrowth.com

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About Bespoke Partners

Bespoke Partners can help companies seize emerging opportunities by staying ahead in the software and SaaS leadership market.

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Author:
Eric Walczykowski
Chief Executive Officer

Eric is passionate about building high-performing teams that value doing their best, working together, overcoming adversity and learning.

As a proven growth executive, Eric has served as CEO, President, Board Member, Investor and Advisor for technology companies that achieved over $4.5B in successful exits.

Eric brings to Bespoke Partners significant professional services experience from Deloitte and Andersen, as well as the high-growth client executive perspective for private equity-backed technology companies.

Eric earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BS in Business from Fresno State University.

Outside of work, Eric enjoys spending time with family, coaching baseball, travel, attending live events and sipping good wine.

Featuring:
Ravi Sarin
Co-Head & Founding Partner
AEA Growth

About Ravi

Ravi Sarin co-leads the overall strategy and direction at AEA Growth and is a member of the AEA Growth Investment Committee. He brings a wealth of experience from his previous roles, including Founder and Managing Partner of ROCA Partners and Principal in the Private Equity Group at Ares Management, where he led investments in various sectors such as healthcare services, retail, and gaming. Ravi also has a background as a private equity investor at Bain Capital and as well holding a MBA from Harvard Business School.

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