Press Release
New York, NY, May 6, 2026 – The Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC) has named Findem the recipient of the 2026 AESC Vanguard Award, honoring organizations that challenge conventions, push boundaries, and leverage their influence to drive meaningful change through leadership.
“The AESC Vanguard Award recognizes transformational leadership and its impact on culture and business success,” said James Edmund Datri, President and CEO of AESC. “Findem is pushing the boundaries of what is possible in executive talent and leadership decision-making. By challenging outdated conventions and applying technology in ways that reveal deeper insight into people, skills, and potential, Findem is helping shape a more dynamic and forward-looking future for leadership.”
Tina Shah Paikeday accepts the AESC Vanguard Award on behalf of Findem
Findem, an AESC Global Partner, has challenged one of the most deeply held assumptions in talent acquisition: that the traditional ways organizations identify, assess, and engage leadership talent are sufficient for the future of work. By building an AI platform that maps the full arc of a person’s career, Findem is helping organizations move beyond fragmented hiring processes and surface the kind of human potential that traditional tools often miss.
The AESC Vanguard Award recognizes trailblazing individuals and organizations that operate at the forefront of leadership and innovation. Findem’s work reflects that spirit, advancing a more intelligent, connected, and outcomes-driven approach to talent strategy at a time when organizations face unprecedented complexity in leadership, workforce transformation, and skills evolution.
Findem’s platform is designed to address a long-standing challenge in hiring and leadership talent: context is too often lost across disconnected steps, systems, and decisions. Where many tools optimize for process, Findem has focused on outcomes—using AI and talent data to help organizations better understand experience, capability, readiness, and potential.
The market has taken notice. Findem announced $51 million in new funding in October 2025, bringing its total funding to $105 million, with a Series C led by SLW and growth financing from J.P. Morgan. The company also reported 3X year-over-year growth, top-10% placement on the Inc. 5000, and recognition by Fortune and Fast Company as one of America’s most innovative companies.
Findem has also continued to expand its vision for the future of hiring. In 2026, the company announced its acquisitions of Getro and Glider AI, bringing together Findem’s talent discovery capabilities with Getro’s job boards, talent networks, and automated warm introductions and Glider’s skills validation, autonomous AI interviews, and identity verification to create an end-to-end AI platform for talent. The move signals a bold next frontier: not only helping organizations find leaders and high-potential talent, but confirming readiness through verified, actionable intelligence.
“We’re incredibly proud to receive the AESC Vanguard Award. This recognition reflects a broader shift happening in the market: organizations are moving beyond static resumes and fragmented tools toward a more complete, data-driven understanding of talent. Our commitment at Findem is to turn signals into outcomes—helping companies make better, faster, and more confident decisions about people,” said Hari Kolam, CEO & Co-founder, Findem.
At its core, Findem’s work aligns with the purpose of the AESC Vanguard Award: recognizing those who are not simply participating in change, but accelerating it. By bringing deeper intelligence to talent identification and assessment, Findem is helping organizations see beyond titles and resumes to understand the broader story of a leader’s career, capabilities, and potential impact.
In 2026, Findem earned a place on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list for the second time, further underscoring its momentum and influence in reshaping the talent technology landscape.
“AI has the potential to transform how organizations identify and develop leadership talent—but only if it is built on the right foundation. That means high-quality data, thoughtful design, and a commitment to expanding visibility into human potential and removing the biases that prevent people from being seen fully. We’re proud to be part of shaping a future where technology enables more informed, inclusive, and confident talent decisions,” said Tina Shah Paikeday, Responsible AI Senior Advisor, Findem.
As organizations navigate rapid technological change, shifting workforce expectations, and growing demand for more inclusive and predictive leadership decisions, Findem represents the kind of boundary-pushing innovation the AESC Vanguard Award was created to honor. Its work challenges the profession to think more expansively about how leadership potential is discovered, assessed, and developed—and how technology can support better, more informed decisions about people.
Through its growth, product innovation, and commitment to transforming how organizations understand talent, Findem is helping redefine what is possible at the intersection of leadership, data, and human potential.
About the AESC Vanguard Award
Established in 2025, the AESC Vanguard Award honors trailblazing individuals and organizations that challenge conventions, push boundaries, and leverage their influence to drive change through leadership.
About AESC
AESC Member firms place and advise the world’s board directors and C-suite leaders. Founded in 1959, AESC represents the global gold standard in executive search and leadership consulting, bringing together over 16,000 professionals in more than 80 countries. AESC Members are rigorously vetted to meet the highest standards in the profession, with only the top tier accepted into Membership.
To serve and promote its Members, AESC holds exclusive multi-day events and summits across the globe; provides in-person and online educational seminars and courses; operates the BlueSteps platform connecting candidates with AESC Member firms; publishes extensive industry research, as well as Executive Talent magazine; and provides access to exclusive Insight Exchanges and partnerships to assist Members with virtually every part of their business operations.
