John Weisel Joins ZRG as Global Leader of Executive Search Firm’s Professional and Technology Services Practice

New York — November 24, 2020 — Executive search firm ZRG announced that it had appointed John Weisel as Global Leader of its Professional and Technology Services Practice. The hire brought a veteran of two of the world’s largest consulting organizations into a practice that recruits executives for fast-growing technology fields, including artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics.

ZRG, which describes itself as the fastest-growing firm in executive search, said Weisel would focus on management consulting, business services and technology services across every industry it serves. The appointment was part of a wider effort to expand the firm’s reach in technology-driven sectors where competition for senior leaders had become intense.

Decades in global consulting leadership

Weisel joined ZRG after serving in senior executive roles at Ernst & Young. There he was Americas Leader of Advisory Services for the firm’s Connected Growth Platform, and he also held the post of Global Banking and Capital Markets Sector Leader.

Before EY, he spent 14 years as a senior partner at Accenture, from 1993 to 2007. During that time he held global client and practice leadership roles in banking and capital markets. He led Accenture’s global banking, supply chain and strategy practices, and he developed the firm’s business process outsourcing strategy for financial services. Over his career, Weisel built integrated management consulting businesses focused on financial services across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

A practice built around emerging technology

The practice Weisel took over spans a range of technology-heavy sectors where companies often need leaders who understand both business strategy and fast-moving technical change. According to ZRG, its coverage includes:

• Agricultural technology (AgTech)
• Artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics
• Financial technology and blockchain
• Cybersecurity
• Educational technology (EdTech)
• Health technology and life sciences
• Internet of Things and smart home technology

Weisel said he aimed to build a meaningful presence for ZRG in major global business centers. He named cities including Hong Kong, Singapore, Mexico City, London, Paris, Dubai and São Paulo. Explaining how he planned to get there, he said, “I believe we can do this through integration and collaboration of our resources.” He also intended to grow ZRG’s talent acquisition and development work, along with its business and technology consulting services, around the world.

Data-driven search as a draw

ZRG chief executive Larry Hartmann said Weisel’s background in managing professional services firms, together with his global network, would help the company speed up its growth. Hartmann added that the timing suited the talent opportunities emerging in a sector that was changing quickly.

Weisel, for his part, said he was attracted by ZRG’s efforts to modernize traditional executive search. He pointed to its process accelerators, its use of advanced analytics and its global footprint, as well as the firm’s growth, financial backing and capacity to invest. Founded in 1999, ZRG uses a data-driven approach to executive and professional search. Its proprietary Zi platform includes a Z Score, a culture-fit score, compensation tools and interview insights, which the firm says have sped up its hiring process by more than 30 percent.

Alongside executive search, ZRG offers embedded recruiting, consulting solutions, and interim placements with project consulting. That broader set of services matched the growth plan Weisel described, which combined senior-level recruiting with advisory work for clients that were reshaping their organizations around technology.

Why it matters

Executive appointments at search firms are a small but useful indicator of where demand for leadership talent is heading. By grouping AI, machine learning and data analytics with fintech, cybersecurity and health technology in one practice, and placing a seasoned consulting leader in charge of it, ZRG reflected a market in which technology expertise had become a requirement for senior roles across nearly every industry.

The move also showed how recruiting itself was changing. Search firms were increasingly marketing analytics and scoring tools as part of their service, applying data-driven methods to the work of finding executives. As companies raced to hire leaders who could guide AI adoption and digital transformation in late 2020, firms like ZRG were positioning themselves to supply that talent on a global scale.