By James Brocket
Calibre One is celebrating its 25th Anniversary. When we started out, at the very height of the DotCom Boom in 2000, we were a small, determined team with a firm belief that great leadership could change the trajectory of young companies. We focused almost exclusively on technology start-ups — helping founders and early-stage investors find the leaders who could take a spark of an idea and turn it into something real, something scalable. At the time, that felt like a niche. Executive search was still dominated by the old established firms – now known as the SHREKs – with their focus on big corporations and boardrooms in London and New York.
What we didn’t fully appreciate then was how much the world of work — and the very fabric of the business landscape — was about to change.
Twenty-five years on, the global economy looks almost unrecognisable. Technology has moved from being a niche sector to being the backbone of every industry. The definition of leadership has evolved. And executive search, once seen as a conservative, somewhat closed-door profession, has become an essential lever in the private equity, venture capital, and corporate worlds alike.
The Rise of Growth and Private Equity
As the start-up world matured, so too did we. We followed the companies we worked with as they scaled, secured funding, went public, or were acquired. Along the way, we built long-term relationships with Private Equity investors, many of whom realised that finding and backing great leaders was as important as backing the right businesses. Today, private equity-backed companies account for a significant share of the global economy — and with that growth has come an explosion in demand for leadership talent that can deliver results under pressure, at pace.
The American Chapter
One of the most pivotal moments in our journey was opening our doors in the United States. First in Silicon Valley — the beating heart of the technology innovation — and then in New York, where commerce and capital meet. Today, we’re proud to have several offices across the US, working with clients from coast-to-coast. It was never part of some grand plan; it happened organically, through the work, through the relationships, and through hiring the right people with a commitment to quality.
The Search Industry’s Coming of Age
Executive search is no longer just about quietly headhunting senior leaders behind the scenes. It has become a vital, strategic industry. The war for talent is real and relentless, and the right leadership — whether in a start-up, a fast-growing PE-backed business, or a global listed company — is far and away the biggest factor in determining the success of an organisation.
The industry itself has grown up, too. It is more transparent, more specialised, and more global than it was when we started. Search firms are now advisors, sounding boards, partners in value creation — not just service providers. And with that has come responsibility: to move faster, to embrace diversity and inclusion, to operate with integrity, and to deliver business outcomes, not just candidates.
The Tech That Didn’t Kill Us
Over the years, we’ve seen plenty of predictions that technology would make executive search obsolete. When LinkedIn arrived on the scene, many people confidently said it would decimate the search industry. And to some extent, it did change parts of the landscape — particularly in the mid-market, where access to candidates became easier and faster.
But for senior leadership roles — for the real game-changing hires — LinkedIn didn’t replace search; if anything, it reinforced the value of what we do. Because finding names is only a fraction of the job. Understanding people, assessing leadership potential, navigating complex stakeholder dynamics, making the right match and then helping to negotiate a deal — that’s where the real value lies. And no database can replicate that.
Today, the same conversation is happening about AI. We hear that artificial intelligence will do what LinkedIn didn’t quite manage. But the outcome will be similar. AI is helping to make certain parts of the process faster and more efficient and it may even surface candidates who would otherwise be overlooked. However, the human judgement, discretion, and experience that sit at the heart of executive search can’t be automated. If anything, AI will give us more time to focus on the parts of our work that truly matter.
A Different World of Work
The world of work has also transformed. When we started, remote work was a novelty, leadership was hierarchical, and careers were linear. Today, flexibility, agility, and purpose-driven leadership matter more than ever. Talent is global. Careers zigzag. The best leaders are those who can inspire, adapt, and build cultures that thrive in ambiguity.
We’ve had a front-row seat to that shift — and, in some small way, we’ve helped shape it.
Looking Ahead
We are not the same firm we were in 2000. The sector is not the same. The business world is not the same. And that’s something we’re proud of. Not because of the size we’ve grown to, but because of the quality of the work we’ve done along the way, the relationships we’ve built, and the impact we’ve quietly had on some of the most exciting companies and talented leaders of the last quarter century.
As we look ahead to the next 25 years, one thing remains the same: great leadership will always matter. And it will always be worth searching for.