Headhunting software, finally conversational

Candidate database, AI matching, shortlist scoring and personalized outreach: run the full headhunting cycle in a single chat.

Why traditional headhunting doesn't scale

Headhunters still work with LinkedIn Recruiter, Excel and generic CRMs. Every search is artisanal, shortlists never reused, know-how trapped in people's heads.

LinkedIn searches repeated thousands of times with no memory
CVs in local folders, never parsed or indexed
Copy-pasted outreach, low response rate
No structured pipeline per client or search
Client reporting handcrafted in PowerPoint

AI-native headhunting: from search to closing

hice.ai turns every CV into structured data and lets you query the database in natural language. Shortlists are built in seconds, not days.

«Find me CFOs with PE experience in food companies 100M+» → scored shortlist
«Generate personalized email for Mark based on his profile» → draft ready to send
«Update client Bain on the COO search» → report generated in chat
«Whom did I already contact in the last 12 months for similar roles?» → deduped list

Try it in chat

Examples you can ask:

Static demo of hice's AI chat.

What you get

Automatic CV parsing

Every CV becomes a structured profile: roles, sectors, skills, comp.

AI matching on briefs

Write the client brief, AI proposes the most relevant profiles from your database.

Shortlist scoring

Each candidate gets a score per search: objective and explainable.

Personalized outreach

AI drafts emails tailored per candidate, preserving your tone.

Per-client pipeline

Search status always updated: long list, short list, interview, offer.

EU data & GDPR

For sensitive executive data: EU hosting, encryption at-rest and in-transit, granular permissions and audit trail.

The searches that pay for themselves, and the ones that do not

An executive search firm rarely fails on sourcing. It fails on portfolio composition: too many mandates open at once, several of them with a client who is not really committed, and a couple that have been running for five months without anyone deciding to close them.

Making that visible is worth more than any additional sourcing channel. A weekly view of open mandates with their age, the stage they are stuck at and the fee at risk turns an intuition into a decision, and usually the decision is to drop two searches to finish three.

Open mandates by age and current stage
Fee at risk on searches past the agreed deadline
Client responsiveness recorded as a mandate attribute
Explicit decision to pause or return a stalled search

Keeping the network alive between mandates

The asset of a headhunting firm is a network of executives who take the call, and that network decays through silence. A candidate contacted only when there is something to sell learns to read the pattern, and the response rate drops precisely with the profiles worth most.

The maintenance is unglamorous and cheap: recording the outcome of every conversation, when the person expects to move, what would make them listen, and scheduling the next contact at the moment they themselves suggested. Six touches a year without a vacancy attached is what makes the seventh one work.

Next contact date set at the end of each conversation
Notes on motivation and timing, not only on the CV
Contact history visible to whoever picks up the relationship
Segments for proactive outreach without an open mandate

What the client sees, and how often

Most friction in an executive search comes from silence during the weeks when there is nothing conclusive to report. The client interprets silence as inactivity, and the fourth week without news is when the mandate starts being questioned internally.

A short scheduled update — market mapped, profiles approached, responses received, calibration questions — costs fifteen minutes and changes the tone of the relationship. It also forces the consultant to look at their own progress on a fixed rhythm, which is where most stalled searches get caught.

Fixed weekly update, even without a shortlist
Market map shared as evidence of coverage
Calibration questions asked early, not at shortlist
Agreed criteria changes recorded in writing

Executive search boutique, 12 partners

Before: each partner had their own Excel of candidates and searches. Average search: 6 weeks. With hice.ai the database is unified, shared, queryable in chat. First shortlist in 48 hours. 6 weeks → 3 weeks: double the searches per year with the same team.

hice.ai vs LinkedIn Recruiter + Excel

Feature	hice.ai	Traditional stack
Proprietary database	Yes, AI-indexed	Scattered in Excel/PDF
Brief matching	Automatic	Manual filters
Outreach	AI personalized	Copy-paste templates
Candidate reuse	Total	Almost none
Client reporting	Generated in chat	Manual PowerPoint
Avg shortlist time	Hours	Days

FAQ

What is headhunting software?+

A platform to manage executive or specialist searches: candidate database, per-client pipeline, outreach, reporting. hice.ai adds AI as the interface.

Does it replace LinkedIn Recruiter?+

It integrates. LinkedIn stays useful for external prospecting; hice.ai manages your proprietary database, shortlists and client relationship.

Single-search or volume only?+

Both. Boutiques with 5-10 open searches and firms with 100+ searches per year.

Can I import PDF and Word CVs?+

Yes. Automatic parsing in all major languages, structured data extracted and indexed.

Privacy for executive profiles?+

GDPR-compliant. Highly sensitive data hosted in the EU, encrypted, with granular permissions and logged access.

Can I share shortlists with clients?+

Yes. Secure links or PDF reports generated in chat with one command.

Does it integrate with my CRM?+

Open APIs. Standard connectors to HubSpot, Salesforce and major CRMs.