Heidrick & Struggles International

Name

Heidrick & Struggles International

Legal name

Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc.

Website

https://heidrick.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1953

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Executive Search and Leadership Advisory

NAICS

Executive Search Services (561312), Management Consulting Services (54161), Human Resources Consulting Services (541612)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Confidential/Replacement & Succession Search (BPACAAAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Interim Executive & Fractional Leadership Placement (BPACAAAJ), Financial Services Leadership Search (Banking/Insurance/PE/Asset Mgmt) (BPACAAAF), Functional Leadership Search (HR/Finance/Legal/Marketing/Sales/Ops) (BPACAAAB), Performance Management & Productivity Consulting (BPAHAGAL)

Keywords

• Executive search services
• Leadership consulting
• Board advisory services
• Succession planning
• Talent advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Executive Search Services: Retained executive search services placing senior executives and board members across all major industries and functional areas. The firm places CEOs, CFOs, board directors, and other C-suite executives. Revenue recognized over the course of search engagements.
2. Leadership Consulting: Advisory services including CEO succession planning, board effectiveness, executive assessment, leadership development, coaching, team acceleration, M&A talent planning, digital leadership, and inclusive leadership. Provided through Heidrick Consulting practice.
3. On-Demand Talent: Interim executives, on-demand project leaders, consultants, and experts delivered through wholly owned subsidiaries including Business Talent Group (acquired 2021) and Atreus (acquired 2023). Provides flexible talent solutions for temporary leadership needs.
4. Organization & Culture: Culture shaping and organizational transformation services including Performance Culture (combining existing culture-shaping capabilities with businessfourzero's purpose-driven transformation expertise), Organization Acceleration, and Organizational Simplicity.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Heidrick & Struggles provides retained executive search services placing CEOs, board directors, and C-suite executives across all major industries and functional areas. The firm also delivers leadership consulting services including succession planning, board effectiveness, executive assessment, coaching, team acceleration, and organizational culture transformation. Through wholly owned subsidiaries Business Talent Group and Atreus, the firm provides on-demand interim executives and project talent solutions.

Product overview

Heidrick & Struggles operates as a global leadership advisory firm offering a unified portfolio of executive search, leadership consulting, on-demand talent, corporate transformation, and organization & culture services. The offering is organized into five interconnected service lines: Executive Search (retained placements across C-suite, board, and functional roles), Leadership (assessment, development, coaching, and succession advisory), On-Demand Talent (interim executives and project talent via BTG and Atreus), Corporate Transformation (carve-outs, cost optimization, restructuring), and Organization & Culture (including the Performance Culture module and expertise from the acquired business4zero). Key product launches include Heidrick Immersive (AI-enhanced leadership assessment, March 2026) and Performance Culture (purpose-driven transformation framework, June 2026). The firm also operates Heidrick Digital, a client-facing subscription platform, and Heidrick Navigator, an AI-powered internal platform supporting service delivery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Heidrick Immersive: AI-enhanced leadership assessment platform that uses simulations of strategic inflection points to observe how leaders think, decide, and operate under pressure, providing real-time behavioral analysis.
• Performance Culture
• The Leadership Company

Products and services

• Executive Search Retained executive search services placing senior executives and board members across functional areas including AI & Technology Officers, CEO & Board of Directors, Financial Officers, Human Resources Officers, Legal/Risk/Compliance, Marketing/Strategy/Communications, Government & Corporate Affairs, and Supply Chain & Operations Officers. Revenue is recognized over the course of search engagements, and fees are typically structured as a percentage of the placed executive's total first-year compensation.
• Leadership Advisory Leadership consulting services including Agile Leader Potential assessment, Board Effectiveness consulting, CEO Succession Planning, Chief Executive Acceleration, Coaching, Digital Leadership, Inclusive Leadership, Executive Assessment, Leadership Development, M&A Talent Planning, and Team Acceleration. Provided through the Heidrick Consulting practice for enterprise and mid-market clients.
• Corporate Transformation Advisory services for major organizational change including Carve-Outs (separating business units), Cost Advantage (margin improvement initiatives), and Distress Response & Restructuring (financial restructuring support).
• On-Demand Talent Flexible talent solutions comprising interim executives and on-demand project leaders, consultants, and experts. Formed through acquisitions of Business Talent Group (2021) and Atreus (2023), providing flexible executive capacity for organizations facing temporary leadership needs, transitions, or project-based requirements.
• Organization & Culture Culture and organization advisory services including Performance Culture (aligning purpose, strategy, culture, and structure), Organization Acceleration, and Organizational Simplicity offerings. Built on the foundation of Senn-Delaney Leadership Consulting Group and enhanced by business4zero's purpose-driven transformation expertise.
• Heidrick Immersive AI-enhanced leadership assessment platform that uses simulations of strategic inflection points to observe how leaders think, decide, and operate under pressure, providing real-time behavioral analysis and feedback on decision-making, adaptability, resilience, and team dynamics. Translates observable leadership behavior into board-level strategic insights in minutes rather than days.
• Performance Culture A consulting solution that combines Heidrick & Struggles' Culture Shaping capabilities with businessfourzero's purpose-driven transformation expertise. Designed to align organizational purpose, strategy, culture, and structure to drive sustainable growth amid AI transformation and market uncertainty. Targets CEO and senior leadership teams.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 200 searches annually for insurance sector senior executives alone
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and regional.

• Boston Consulting Group (BCG)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 January 2026Joint report with BCG and INSEAD's Corporate Governance Centre on emerging market boards governance. The study examined how supervisory boards in emerging markets respond to geopolitical volatility, economic disruption, technological change, climate risks, and shifting societal expectations, based on interviews with over 100 senior directors.
• INSEAD Corporate Governance CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 January 2026Joint research partnership with BCG and INSEAD's Corporate Governance Centre to study board governance in emerging markets. The study provided a framework for boards to assess their readiness for high-uncertainty environments.
• businessfourzerocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 March 2023Acquired in April 2023, businessfourzero is a London-based consultancy specializing in purpose-driven change management. The acquisition enhanced Heidrick & Struggles' capabilities in leadership advisory, organizational culture, and transformation solutions. The firm's expertise was integrated into the new Performance Culture service offering launched in 2026.
• AtreuscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2023Acquired in early 2023, Atreus is a German provider of executive interim management. The acquisition expanded Heidrick & Struggles' on-demand talent offerings into Continental Europe and enhanced its leadership position in the interim executive market. Together with Business Talent Group (acquired in 2021), Atreus constitutes the firm's On-Demand Talent segment.
• RosExpertregionalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 December 2021Acquired in Q1 2022, RosExpert is a Russian executive search and leadership consulting firm. The acquisition aimed to expand Heidrick & Struggles' leadership consulting services in Russia and strengthen its global presence.
• WE PartnersregionalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 December 2021Acquired in Q1 2022, WE Partners operated in Ukraine and Kazakhstan. The acquisition was intended to make Heidrick & Struggles the leading executive search and leadership advisory firm in each country.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• Robert Half International: Large publicly traded staffing and consulting firm with Project Resources division serving executive-level interim and consulting talent needs. Overlaps with Heidrick's on-demand talent offering while operating at vastly larger scale.
• Korn Ferry: The largest and most diversified executive search and talent advisory firm, offering retained search, RPO, and consulting services. Closest direct competitor across all of Heidrick's service lines and the most relevant benchmark for PE-backed expansion ambitions.

Regional players

• Hays plc: UK-based global recruitment and workforce solutions firm with significant presence in executive search across EMEA and APAC. Comparable vertical expertise in financial services and life sciences, with particular strength in the UK and European markets where Heidrick also competes.

Direct peers

• Egon Zehnder: Privately held retained executive search and leadership advisory firm with comparable global reach and industry-vertical structure. One of Heidrick's most direct competitors in board and CEO search engagements.
• Russell Reynolds Associates: Top-tier retained executive search firm with similar global office network and industry practice structure. Direct head-to-head competitor for board, CEO, and senior executive placements.
• Spencer Stuart: Closely-held peer and one of the 'big five' retained executive search firms with comparable global footprint and board-level practice. Directly competes for C-suite and board of director mandates across Heidrick's core verticals.
• Odgers Berndtson: International retained executive search firm with comparable industry practice depth. Competes directly for senior executive and board mandates, particularly in financial services and consumer markets.
• DHR Global: Privately held retained executive search firm with comparable industry practice structure and global expansion. Increasingly competitive in mid-market and PE-backed company CEO searches where Heidrick has historic strength.

Emerging players

• Resources Connection (RGP): On-demand consulting and interim talent provider that directly competes with Heidrick's BTG and Atreus on-demand talent segment. Has been aggressively expanding into executive interim placement and consulting, posing competitive risk to Heidrick's diversification strategy.

Others

• Heidrick & Struggles' Heidrick Navigator / AI assessment competitors (e.g., Korn Ferry's KF Insight): Adjacent technology-enabled assessment platforms offered by larger competitors. Korn Ferry's assessment and succession tools represent the most relevant comparable to Heidrick Immersive and Navigator, signaling that AI-enabled assessment is becoming table stakes rather than differentiation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HSIItweets
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/HeidrickStruggles
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/heidrick-&-struggles

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A15 records

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Heidrick & Struggles International