I Am Not a Robot: AI and Leadership Hiring - Part I
Part 1 | Mapping a Shifting Landscape
Artificial Intelligence is reshaping leadership hiring - accelerating processes, enriching relationships, and opening new possibilities for executive search. Yet, it remains a tool that demands judgment and restraint.
In this three-part series, Amrop explores how AI is transforming executive and board-level recruitment - its opportunities, risks, and what the future may hold. Could AI ever replace the headhunter?
Drawing on insights from senior Amrop partners and board members, early adopters and active contributors to the firm’s global AI governance, this first article examines how the technology is taking shape inside the executive search ecosystem.
High stakes, high potential
AI has become integral to modern business, and C-suite recruitment is no exception. But how effective is it? “A Chief Commercial Officer will bring at least 100 million,” notes Job Voorhoeve, Leader of Amrop’s Global Digital Practice. “A wrong decision will cost you 50 million.” With AI regulators classifying AI use in recruitment as high-risk, global initiatives now aim to enforce oversight, transparency, and fairness in AI adoption.
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I am Not a Robot
DownloadToes in the water
AI’s role in leadership hiring is still evolving. Across Amrop, teams are experimenting with multiple instruments, including talent sourcing tools, says Costa Tzavaras, Director of Amrop Global Programs. “Do you actually use the AI? Is it useful? Is there any push back?” Three key areas emerged:
- Sourcing & searching: Augmenting and expanding the universe of potential candidates, reducing time to obtain a longlist. Faster understanding of the scope of a particular role, company or sector, and returning results that a human can then work with.
- Overall process efficiencies: Scheduling, transcribing, translating and summarizing an interview.
- Data Quality: Ensuring accurate, up-to-date and complete data capture, during and after an executive search engagement.
AI in leadership recruitment is still early stage, says Jamal Khan, Amrop Managing Partner, Australia. “The pace of change will probably be greater in the next year than in the last two decades.” Mia Zhou, a Director at Amrop China in Shanghai, has also been productively testing. However: “I have to use my judgment and have my eyes open.”
AI governance in leadership hiring
Executive search creates considerable value. But it is complex and expensive. And AI integration demands mindful experimentation, structure and training. As Mia Zhou explains, “The CIO, CDO or CAIO must translate business understanding into digital language - leveraging AI tools in daily processes, enabling users to create prompts, for example.” They must embrace ethical considerations and habituate users, adds Job Voorhoeve, driving quality and integrity in all processes – including HR. Executive search creates considerable value. But it is complex and expensive.
Many people assume that keyword searching on Google is akin to using an AI. Not so, says Costa Tzavaras: “Learning prompt engineering is important — understanding as much as we can about the black box and its responses. We have a professional responsibility. We are rolling out AI literacy for everybody.”
One risk is over-reliance on generative AI in leadership hiring: “You think you have the answer in front of you, instead of thinking yourself and using different tools,” warns Amrop Global Board Member Mikael Norr.
Lock it up
Confidentiality is the cornerstone of executive search. Even enterprise-grade AI tools demand vigilance: security-first thinking, strict protocols, and responsible use. As AI scales, ethical and regulatory concerns will only rise. At Amrop, every AI discussion begins with data security. It is embedded in internal protocols, strict enterprise licenses. Data is ringfenced by confidentiality agreements and opt-outs. “A candidate has to understand that they have a choice,” says Costa Tzavaras. “Our upfront consent process includes AI tools.”
Board rooms must also be alert to unintended data exposure. “I've been in meetings with boards concerning highly confidential recruitments where a board member has their own AI assistant recording,” says Mikael Norr. The output is then automatically sent to all participants.
In an era where AI adoption is accelerating, safeguarding trust, integrity, and confidentiality remains non-negotiable.
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Are headhunters facing deletion?
What hiring organizations want from AI.
When hiring top executives, most companies limit AI to operational efficiency or assisted text generation. Clients don’t want headhunters to delegate their expertise to a robot, says Costa Tzavaras. Amrop never uses AI for decision-making or comparative profiling. “We retain our human-led, high value touch.” Mia Zhou agrees. “Clients want to understand the resources we put into a search, not how much AI we use.”
Like test driving a Ferrari, clients use AI to check Amrop’s work. This reinforces quality, trust and insights, says Job Voorhoeve. But it’s important for Amrop to check their findings. Mia Zhou: “verify if an AI-generated name is a real person or an ambush.” Executive board members may lack experience in executive search. Amrop Global Board Member Oana Ciornei: “It’s our responsibility as a market leader to pass on our global knowledge.” AI use also differs according to market sector and candidate level. Jamal Khan has anecdotal evidence of fully automated interviewing in the technology space. “There’s no human oversight. This is more applicable for mass market recruitment, with huge volumes of people you need to filter quickly at a lower level. But someone still needs to oversee it.” Mikael Norr agrees that this use of AI is for “more volume recruitment.”
Am I really off the record?
Top candidates are constantly bombarded by - increasingly artificial - suitors. They are restricting their visibility and unlikely to dialogue with a robot. They may even begin use AI to screen incoming opportunities, says Job Voorhoeve. “Talk to my agent to check if this is an interesting opportunity for me.”
The live interview is the ultimate executive search tool. Here, the AI is an assistant: transcribing, translating, and summarizing. But many senior candidates harbor doubts about the interview data the AI records. “Who knows if my voice or view will pop up in a prompt on the other side of the world? Even with layers of data protection and enterprise-level licensing agreements, humans still somehow mistrust an invisible system.”
Amrop interviewees are relaxed about some candidate uses of AI. “It isn’t wrong to use a generative text tool to help you get started, fix your sentence structure,” says Costa Tzavaras. Job Voorhoeve agrees. “Humble, good people don’t exaggerate. They know I’ll ask for examples of how they created a successful organization.” But a candidate may ask an AI to provide a questionnaire about a role, says Mikael Norr, input the questions back into it and use the answers in an interview. “No human being has touched the process. That’s probably useful in certain recruitments, but not in the arena we play in.”
Live interviewing: humans at work
At no hiring stage are human cognition and senses more in play than during the face-to-face interview. If AI can obediently take notes, translate and summarize an interaction, could it also conduct it? Not at this stage, it appears. AI tools can elevate a consultant's work above transactional role filling, says Oana Ciornei. “And why not ultimately shaping the leadership ecosystem?” However, “Executive search isn’t about certainty. It’s about navigating ambiguity with judgment and sense. And that's where the true value lies.”
“We’re hiring a full person, not just a set of functional experiences,” says Costa Tzavaras. “It’s also around pheromones. Not only speech, but sensing,” says Job Voorhoeve. “The verbal and non-verbal combination. You can’t smell a machine.”
Live interviewing involves incisive questioning, active listening and deep probing. “Competency based interviewing is one of the best predictors for quality of hire,” says Job Voorhoeve. “Leadership is difficult to define,” adds Mikael Norr. A competency-based interview reveals a candidate’s deep values and inclinations. Even better, with several people in the room.
Why the human touch is still critical
“Amrop's value is not in repetitive automated processes that clients could theoretically run themselves,” warns Costa Tzavaras. “The deeper value is around assessing, the brains that come to bear, a consultant comparing an assignment versus a previous experience or other candidates they’ve met.”
“It’s all around relationships,” says Job Voorhoeve. “Robots cannot figure out the global dynamics within the management team or board, between the CEO or the CFO, the CHRO or CIO. Of course, you can automate a whole building. But that's in manufacturing - standard processes. If they're non-standard, you need humans.” Moreover: “the dynamics between people are not constant.” They are also subtle, and trust is essential. Mia Zhou: “Candidates need to feel personally safe with you at a human level. It’s also important to quickly understand who they are - their inner drive, their personality.”
AI has undisputed value in generating and summarizing information for data-driven leadership hiring processes. It can help generate a long list. But this is not enough, says Mikael Norr. “When we’re looking for our previous work in the same area, manual searching and even human recall is still more effective and to-the-point.”
Preparing the terrain for the human brain
Jamal Khan: “It is critical to take the time to understand a client’s business. And AI can help you to do it deeper and faster.” For listed organizations, at least, the information is more readily accessible. Thanks to this groundwork, Amrop can cut to the strategic heart of the discussion. Not only with clients, but with candidates. Mia Zhou: “I can really have a deep conversation about the market reality, the competition level and a global perspective.”
In our next article, we examine the pitfalls and risks of AI. How can we get the best of all worlds?
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I am Not a Robot
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