AI-Enabled Business Development for Executive Search: AESC Workshop Series (Americas/EMEA)

A Part of the AESC Executive Search Advantage Series | Complimentary to All AESC Members

Executive search firms are operating in a market where immediate commercial impact matters – but where unfocused activity, generic outreach, and surface-level AI usage quickly erodes credibility. Accelerating growth today requires firms to elevate the quality of business development conversations, sharpen who and how they prioritize clients, and intentionally expand value within existing accounts.

Join AESC and Retrained for this three-part series, a part of the AESC Executive Search Advantage Workshop Series, designed to reflect how firms are actually operating now: starting with AI-enabled Business Development to drive immediate relevance and momentum, then strengthening that activity through deeper client segmentation and empathy mapping, and finally scaling impact through disciplined, AI-enabled account development.

What We’ll Explore

• Use AI to enrich advisory conversations by generating leadership, sector, and organizational insights that deepen context and open value-led dialogue.
• Prioritize Business Development activity using AI-supported relationship mapping, emerging-need detection, and targeted re-engagement strategies.
• Elevate outreach and meeting preparation through AI-generated intelligence packs, personalized talking points, and structured follow-up grounded in insight rather than activity.
• Build a disciplined, partner-level BD rhythm by integrating AI into weekly research, signal tracking, and preparation workflows – while upholding confidentiality, ethics, and professional standards expected of AESC member firms.

Who Should Participate

While this workshop is open to all AESC Members on a complimentary basis, this program is designed for consultants, emerging business developers, partners, and client-facing team members who want to use AI to enhance judgement, sharpen focus, and support more strategic, partner-level conversations surrounding business development.

Speakers

Louise Archer, Founder & CEO, Retrained Search

Louise has worked on the frontline of recruitment for twenty years. Having been a contingent recruiter before transitioning to retained, Louise understands the struggles that recruiters face operating on a contingent basis. Louise has trained over 1000 members globally, from large recruitment firms to independent recruiters, to successfully win and deliver their business on a retained basis. They’ve secured over £30 million in retained fees in the last two years. Most have zero experience of retained search.

Sarah Chester-Nelson, Director & AI Marketing Strategist, Retrained Search

Sarah was previously a recruiter whose success with social media and targeted email led her into digital marketing. In the past 18 months, she’s worked with recruitment business leaders and senior search consultants to develop digital marketing strategies that generate retained business. Her clients have achieved results including hitting annual revenue targets within Q1, securing six-figure fees, and building consistent inbound lead flow.

Sarah’s approach is built on the “shortlist philosophy” – quality over quantity. She helps recruiters build high-trust, relationship-based BD systems that consistently convert to retained work, utilizing AI to streamline processes while maintaining authentic human connection.