THE BRIEF

Our client, a leading financial services conglomerate, was building an ambitious AI-first product engine — with plans to ship market-facing AI products, launch an IoT Experience Centre in partnership with a major retail chain, and begin investing in AI startups requiring specialist compliance and portfolio talent. The mandate was given exclusively to H&B alongside one other firm, requiring us to source across four distinct, highly technical verticals simultaneously — all with minimal available talent in India.

KEY WINS & ACHIEVEMENTS

Senior AI Leader Placed

Successfully closed the second-in-command role directly under the Head of AI & Technology. This was the linchpin hire — the entire AI product organisation flows from this leader. Placement completed within the first 10 days of the mandate.

PhD Cybersecurity

The client required a doctorate-level cybersecurity specialist. In India, PhD-qualified professionals typically command and are graded at GB 09. H&B sourced and closed a profile at GB 06 — delivering PhD-level expertise at two grades below market standard. This represents significant commercial value and reflects the depth of our talent network.

Payments IoT Specialist

IoT as a domain is niche. Payments IoT is a discipline within a niche. We successfully placed a specialist with exclusive expertise in payment-infrastructure IoT — directly servicing the client's joint venture for their IoT Experience Centre.

WHAT THIS DEMONSTRATES

This was not a standard technology hire. Our client was building a product engine from scratch — every role required domain depth that simply does not exist at scale in the Indian market. The cybersecurity closure alone, at a PhD level placed two grades below market standard, reflects the kind of outcome only possible through deep network access and a relentless approach to search.