Top Executive Search Firms for Diversity Hiring in Technology Leadership (2026)

The pressure is off. Now watch who keeps doing the work.

Spencer Stuart's 2025 US Board Index found that the share of new S&P 500 directors who are women or from under-represented groups fell to 46%, down from 59% in 2024 and 68% in 2023.^[4] Women took 38% of new board seats, down from 42% a year earlier.^[4] When a priority stops being audited, you find out quickly whether a search firm built it into its method or kept it in the pitch deck.

For CTO, Chief AI Officer and VP Engineering searches where a genuinely diverse slate matters, these are the nine executive search firms we would put in front of a founder or board in 2026: Olofsson & Company, Riviera Partners, Scion Technology, DSG Global, Heidrick & Struggles, Egon Zehnder, Korn Ferry, Stanton Chase and Christian & Timbers. We are first on that list, so check our working. Our case is simple. Our AI platform maps the whole market within 48 hours,^[2] so the long list starts wider than any one consultant's address book, and diversity is designed into the first step of the search rather than patched in at the shortlist.

What makes a search firm good at diversity hiring

Three things separate the firms that deliver diverse technology slates from the firms that talk about them.

1. How the long list is built. Sourcing that leans on existing referral networks systematically under-represents candidates from under-represented groups. Research-led mapping of the full candidate market produces more diverse pools.^[5] If a firm sells you on who it knows, it is selling you the people your last search already found.

2. Where bias gets taken out. Bias collects in three places: where you source, how you screen CVs and how you interview. Expanded sourcing channels, blind CV review and structured interviews are the levers that move it.^[12] Ask each firm which of the three it controls, and how.

3. Whether the evidence is published. A placement mix, a documented slate or a public pledge can be checked. A values page cannot. Read every figure below for what it is. Most are self-reported, and two come from a roundup written by another search firm. A firm that publishes no numbers is not necessarily worse at this. It is harder to hold to account.

The nine firms at a glance

The nine, firm by firm

1. Olofsson & Company

That is us. Read this entry with healthy scepticism and test it in the pitch meeting.

We search for CEOs, CTOs, CIOs, Chief AI Officers, VPs of Engineering and Heads of Data Science, with a 20-day average time-to-shortlist and a 97% placement success rate on leadership search.^[1] The diversity work starts before anyone picks up the phone. Our AI platform scans millions of profiles and builds a full market map within 48 hours,^[2] so the long list reflects who exists in the market, rather than who a partner happens to know. Specialist recruiters with 15 or more years of experience then cut it to the 5 to 10 candidates worth meeting.^[2]

The second half is evaluation. A diverse long list is wasted if the interview loop rewards resemblance to the current team. We run shortlists through a culture-add lens, which asks whether a leader strengthens the team's mix of skills, perspective and operating style rather than matching the existing pattern.^[3] It forces interviewers to say what a candidate adds. Singapore is our headquarters; the mandates are global.

Best fit: high-growth and scaling technology companies hiring a CTO, CAIO or engineering leader on a deadline, who want a diverse slate and the overseas pool covered in the same pass.

2. Riviera Partners

Riviera has placed nothing but technical executive leadership since 2001: product management, software engineering, IT, AI/ML and data, security and design.^[6] It also publishes its diversity numbers. More than 40% of its placements are women or professionals of colour, it says it places 20% more women than the industry's current make-up, and women account for over 25% of its product management placements.^[6] It is candid about the starting point too, noting that only 15% of technology executives are women.^[6]

Best fit: venture and private-equity-backed technology companies hiring engineering, product or data leadership.

3. Scion Technology

Scion has run technology, engineering and IT executive search since 2006, with a US-based team covering CTO, CIO, CISO and VP of Engineering roles across SaaS, fintech, life sciences and healthcare.^[7] According to Alpha Apex Group's roundup, over 42% of Scion's placements have come from individuals from diverse backgrounds, and more than three in five identified as non-male.^[7] The same roundup reports a 98%+ success rate backed by a service guarantee.^[7] Weigh the source. Alpha Apex is itself a search firm writing about its peers.

Best fit: US technology leadership searches where you want slate composition data on the table from day one.

4. DSG Global (Diversified Search Group)

DSG's origin story is the brief. In 1974, Judith von Seldeneck saw a gender gap in executive leadership and invested in a small firm dedicated to finding jobs for women.^[11] That firm became Diversified Search Group, now DSG Global, which describes itself as the largest woman-founded executive search firm in the world.^[11] It has since added specialist firms, including Alta Associates and the Executive Women's Forum in 2022.^[11] DSG covers many sectors, so ask who on the team actually runs technology mandates.

Best fit: boards and enterprises where gender representation in the senior team is the central brief.

5. Heidrick & Struggles

In November 2018, Heidrick pledged that each year at least half of the initial board candidates it presents to clients globally would be diverse, a commitment developed with Stanford's Rock Center for Corporate Governance.^[9] At the time, it said 52% of its North American board placements in the previous year had been diverse.^[9] The pledge covers boards, and it is several years old. Ask what the equivalent looks like on its technology officer searches today.

Best fit: board appointments, including non-executive directors with technology or AI depth.

6. Egon Zehnder

Egon Zehnder has tracked board diversity around the world for 20 years through its Global Board Diversity Tracker.^[10] Its December 2024 edition found that women's share of board seats globally rose from 13.6% in 2012 to 29.3% in 2024, and that companies with at least one woman on the board rose from 84.9% in 2018 to 96%.^[10] A firm that measures the problem this closely at the top of the house knows where the gaps sit.

Best fit: board-facing technology and AI appointments, and CEO succession.

7. Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry's executive search process puts candidates through a blind screen to reduce unconscious bias.^[8] It pairs that with Success Profiles, which set out the skill set and mindset a role needs before candidates are compared.^[8] Defining the bar before you meet the people is a cheap and effective defence against affinity bias.

Best fit: large organisations running several senior hires at once, where a consistent assessment process matters more than speed.

8. Stanton Chase

Stanton Chase runs a partner-led process for CTO, CIO and CISO roles. It opens with a diagnostic of the client's strategy and leadership gaps, then sources active and passive candidates through mapped talent pools.^[7] Its most specific proof point, per Alpha Apex Group, is a fintech managing director search in India for a role overseeing more than 500 employees, where it built a finalist slate that was 50% gender-diverse.^[7] One case study shows the firm can do it. Ask for three more to see whether it does it routinely.

Best fit: cross-border technology leadership hires, especially roles that span several markets.

9. Christian & Timbers

Christian & Timbers sets out a clear process standard: define inclusive sourcing channels before the search begins, assess candidates against defined competencies with structured rubrics rather than subjective fit, and put diverse interviewers on the panel.^[5] It says it applies these practices across its engagements, with sourcing designed to cover the full market rather than its most accessible segment.^[5]

Best fit: US technology executive searches where you want the process spelled out before the contract is signed.

How to brief a search firm for a diverse slate

Most diversity searches are won or lost in the brief, long before the shortlist. Four rules.

Set the channels before launch. Agree where the firm will look, and how wide, before the search starts.^[5] Channels picked under deadline pressure shrink back to the familiar.

Stay on the right side of the law. In the US, Title VII cuts both ways. Widening sourcing channels, removing bias from job descriptions and standardising interviews are lawful. Setting a hiring quota by race or sex is not.^[12] Rules differ in the UK, the EU and across Asia, so take local advice before a cross-border search. And be wary of any firm that offers you a quota.

Budget the time. Mordor Intelligence lists diversity-metric compliance among the factors lengthening executive search cycles.^[13] A wider map takes longer to work through by hand. This is where fast mapping earns its keep: a 48-hour market map buys back much of the time a wider search costs.^[2] Do not cut the map when the board's date gets close.

Fix the interview loop. Use a structured rubric and a mixed panel.^[5] If interviewers cannot say what a candidate adds, they fall back on how familiar the candidate feels. We go deeper on vetting in Reducing the Risk of a Bad AI Leadership Hire.

Five questions to ask every firm on your shortlist

1. How do you build the long list, and what share of it comes from your existing network?
2. What did your last five technology leadership slates look like, and who was placed?
3. Where in your process do you take bias out: sourcing, CV screening or interviews?
4. What rubric will the interview panel score against, and can we see it before we sign?
5. How will you keep the search lawful in every market the role covers?

Any firm that answers all five with specifics deserves a second meeting. Any firm that answers with the size of its network is selling you the problem.

The bottom line

A diverse slate is decided at the very first step of a search, by who makes it onto the map. Pick the firm with the widest map, then make it show you the numbers.

Sources

1. olofsson.ai: Olofsson & Company executive search roles, 20-day average time-to-shortlist and 97% placement success rate.
2. olofsson.ai: Olofsson & Company AI platform scanning millions of profiles, the 48-hour full market map, and specialist recruiters with 15+ years of experience.
3. olofsson.ai: How executive search widens talent mapping beyond inbound applicants, reaches passive candidates and applies a culture-add lens.
4. corpgov.law.harvard.edu: Spencer Stuart's 2025 U.S. Board Index on new S&P 500 director appointments and board diversity.
5. christianandtimbers.com: Christian & Timbers on referral-led versus research-led sourcing and best practices for inclusive executive search.
6. rivierapartners.com: Riviera Partners' technical leadership focus since 2001 and its published placement diversity figures.
7. alphaapexgroup.com: Alpha Apex Group roundup covering Scion Technology's placement diversity and Stanton Chase's gender-diverse finalist slate.
8. kornferry.com: Korn Ferry's executive search process, including blind screening and Success Profiles.
9. heidrick.mediaroom.com: Heidrick & Struggles' 2018 board diversity pledge, developed with Stanford's Rock Center for Corporate Governance.
10. egonzehnder.com: Egon Zehnder's 2024 Global Board Diversity Tracker findings.
11. dsgco.com: DSG Global's founding story, woman-founded status and acquisitions.
12. dover.com: Dover's guide to lawful inclusive hiring under Title VII and the three levers where bias accumulates.
13. mordorintelligence.com: Mordor Intelligence executive search market analysis, including diversity-metric compliance as a restraint on search cycle time.