Global Leadership, GTM & AI hiring for technology scale-ups.
Specialist hiring is an access problem,
not a capacity problem.
AI and technology have made hiring more efficient. But the best people are still the hardest to reach. We give you access to them.
Three services. One connected talent strategy.
30 minutes. A partner, not an SDR. No obligation.
Trusted by world-class Technology scale-ups
- Boomi
- Bazaarvoice
- Peripass
- Artisan
- Wflow
- Powwr
- Project36
- Relex
- SpareTech
- Upp.ai
- E2open
- Fundamental
- Herohunt.ai
- HiBob
- Skeepers
- Deel
- Manhattan Associates
- Blue Ridge
How we deliver access
Three services. One connected talent strategy.
Whether you need a new leader, a team built around them or more candidates for your recruiters, our three services can work together or stand alone.
Leadership layer
Executive Search
We build the leadership team.
Confidential, retained search for Director, VP and C-suite appointments, led personally by a Saiyō partner.
Best for: The hire you cannot afford to get wrong.
Explore Executive Search →The engineTeam layer
RaaS: Embedded Headhunting
We build the specialist teams beneath your leaders.
Subscription headhunters, anywhere in the world. Embedded in your process, your brand and your ATS. No per-hire fees.
Best for: Ongoing specialist hiring across regions on a flat monthly cost.
Explore RaaS →Funnel layer
CVaaS: Headhunted Talent Delivery
We feed the funnel.
Full market analysis plus screened, headhunted candidates delivered straight into your ATS. Your team interviews.
Best for: Sprints, volume and burst capacity.
Explore CVaaS →Not sure which service fits? Talk it through with us.
Book a callThe real problem
AI tools make finding people easier. Getting their attention is still the challenge.
AI helps with screening, writing and scheduling. Your ATS keeps everything organised, and sourcing tools make it easier to identify potential candidates.
But the person you actually want still hasn't replied.
Many of the people you'd most like to hire are doing well where they are. They aren't actively looking, and another automated message is unlikely to change that.
An experienced headhunter knows their market, picks up the phone and takes the time to understand what might interest them. That conversation can give someone a reason to consider your business when they would otherwise have passed it by.
Saiyō gives you access to the people your hiring process is missing.
Beyond the applicants
A job advert reaches people considering a move. We go further, approaching people with the experience and ability you need, whether or not they're looking.
A conversation worth having
Finding someone's profile is the easy part. Getting them interested takes more. We build the relationships that turn a potential candidate into someone who wants to meet you.
A stronger benchmark
Meeting exceptional headhunted candidates changes how you judge a shortlist. You see what talent is available in the wider market and can make a better hiring decision.
Why the connection matters
Find the right leader. Help them build something great.
A great leadership hire brings ambition, direction and a clear view of what's possible. The people around them help make it happen.
Our executive search team finds the leaders who can take your business forward. Our embedded headhunters work with them to build the teams they need, anywhere in the world.
It's a natural continuation. We already understand your business, know the market and share the leader's vision for the team. That understanding grows with every hire.
Executive Search
The Director, VP or C-suite appointment that sets direction.
RaaS
Embedded headhunters build the specialist team beneath them, globally.
CVaaS
Top-of-funnel volume, running alongside, feeding both.
One relationship. One bar. One view of your market.
The people, not the platform
Senior operators. Named, and on your searches.
Access is a human capability, so we will tell you exactly which humans.
Every Director, VP and C-suite search is led personally by a Saiyō founding partner, from brief to onboarding. RaaS is delivered by embedded search specialists, each with years of technology headhunting experience behind them, supported by our in-house research and sourcing function.
Behind both sits something most providers cannot offer: a curated global network of specialist headhunters, hand-picked and personally known to us. When a brief needs deeper functional or geographic reach, we bring the right specialist into the search rather than handing it away. You get the coverage of a worldwide network, delivered to one standard, by people you know are on it.
Our highest value engagement model: RaaS
Embedded recruitment, the Saiyō way
Part of your team. Trained to headhunt.
Our embedded recruiters work alongside your people, in your systems, managing hiring from the first approach through to offer. They handle inbound applications, keep candidates engaged and work closely with your hiring managers.
What sets them apart is their headhunting expertise. They know how to map a market, pick up the phone and build relationships with people who aren't looking for a move, giving you a stronger choice of candidates.
Delivered through a monthly subscription, our embedded headhunting model helps you build teams globally, whether you're hiring around a new leader or growing an established business.
Embedded in your team. Reaching the market outside it.
Who does the work
Trained headhunters. Not more TA.
System A. The generalist engine
Most embedded models put a TA generalist in your seat. They run process, post roles and work inbound. Useful, but it is the same engine you already have.
System B. The hunt engine
We embed senior headhunters with years of technology search behind them. Their day job is market maps, named-target outreach and conversations with people who were not looking.
What the AI does
Saiyō is AI-first from the ground up. Our tooling maps a market completely, researches who exists and where they sit, and handles initial outreach at a scale a person cannot match. That is what pulls days out of time to hire.
What it does not do
Headhunting. Messaging people is not headhunting. Headhunting is a live network, cold calls, referrals, getting someone's mobile number and having the conversation that changes their mind. No tool does that. The human stays in the loop, making the judgement calls that only years in a market teach you.
What we recruit for
Leadership. GTM. AI.
We build teams in three places: the leadership that sets direction, the go-to-market engine that carries the number, and the AI hires that decide what the business can build next.
Leadership
C-suite, VP and Director appointments. The hires that set direction for everyone underneath them.
GTM
Sales, Presales, Channel, Customer Success and Marketing. The revenue engine, built hire by hire.
AI
AI leadership, machine learning and applied AI engineering, plus the technology roles around them.
Product, Engineering, Professional Services and the wider technology functions that sit alongside these teams are covered too. Ongoing hiring runs through the embedded subscription. Single, strategic Director, VP and C-suite appointments run through Executive Search.
Outcomes
The standards we work to.
Under 10 days
to a qualified shortlist
94%
offer-to-acceptance
59%
average reduction in cost per hire
5:1
interview-to-placement
45-day
delivery guarantee
100-day
free replacement
Delivery standards we hold ourselves to across the roles we own. Results vary by scope, volume and market.
Who RaaS is for
One engine. Shaped to your stage.
Startup
We build the system.
Founders building an early specialist team without adding permanent TA headcount.
Scale-up
We add firepower.
Internal teams carrying a growing roadmap across functions and regions.
Enterprise
We flex at scale.
Multi-region specialist hiring that needs one accountable team and predictable cost.
For talent acquisition leaders
The pressures in every TA review.
Hiring managers lose faith in the pipeline
We deliver a first shortlist in under 10 days. Live pipeline visibility and one point of contact per role. Managers stop chasing and start choosing.
Time-to-hire keeps slipping past 45 days
A 45-day delivery guarantee on the roles we own, with a qualified first shortlist in under 10 days.
Cost-per-hire keeps climbing
Fixed monthly subscription with credits that flex across roles. Partners average a 59% reduction in cost per hire on the roles we own.
Mis-hires drain 30% of annual salary
Scorecard-driven calibration from day one. Every search is scored against your criteria. Backed by a 100-day free replacement guarantee.
Candidates decline at the finish line
End-to-end relationship ownership. We coach through counter-offers, notice periods and buyer's remorse. The same headhunter who opened the conversation closes it. 94% offer acceptance on non-executive searches.
Agency fatigue and bidding wars
One embedded partner. No per-hire fees, no multi-agency briefs, no junior coordinators swapping in and out. Your brand, your process, your team.
Verticals
Six verticals across technology.
We are technology agnostic. These are the six markets our partners build for, and where our network runs deepest.
SaaS & B2B
Enterprise and business apps sold on subscription.
ExploreCyber & Security
Detection, identity, endpoint, cloud security, SecOps, network.
ExploreFintech
Payments, banking infra, lending, insurtech, wealth, crypto.
ExploreData & AI
Data infra, warehousing, BI, ML platforms, AI/LLM tooling.
ExploreCloud & DevTools
IaaS, PaaS, containers, observability, CI/CD, dev platforms.
ExploreConsumer & Mobile
B2C apps, marketplaces, e-commerce, social, gaming, media.
Explore"Hear how Boomi hires with Saiyō, embedded headhunters, delivered as a RaaS subscription across four continents, with a 59% average reduction in cost per hire on the roles we own."
In their words
Trusted by technology leaders who've scaled with us.
Exceeding Expectations
"Saiyō deliver an unparalleled level of service, allowing us to scale at pace, with the right people, while exceeding expectations.
Chief Sales Officer, Skeepers
Great Partner
"The team at Saiyō are a trustworthy and reliable partner for all of our hiring needs. They also operate in a truly conscientious manner, acting as an extension to our brand.
Global Talent Leader, E2open
Executive Search
"The Saiyō team are extremely talented and insightful professionals, having helped me source top-notch talent to fuel the growth of the company.
Chief Executive Officer, Powwr
World-class Executive Talent
"Through a well defined and thorough search process, the consultants at Saiyō are able to identify and secure world class executive talent. Their hyper focus on customer experience is a differentiator.
Chief Technology Officer, Blue Ridge Global
See the savings
Model your spend in 60 seconds.
Compare a typical agency contingency model, an internal TA team, and a Saiyō RaaS subscription across your annual hiring plan.
Hiring credits are used flexibly across roles and months, whenever the need lands, fair-use policy applies.
Base salary, excluding variable comp.
UK & EU contingency fees typically range 15–30% of salary.
Fully-loaded recruiter cost per hire. Default £8,000.
Your plan at a glance
24 hires for just £14,031/mo, a cost per hire of £7,016.
Saved vs agency
£281,625
Your modelled saving
63%
Vs internal team
£23,625
Across the roles we own, partners average a 59% reduction in cost per hire.
Agency
Internal team
Saiyō
All-in £14,031/mo·£7,016 per hire·includes your dedicated hiring consultant
Book a pricing callIndicative figures. Final pricing tailored to your hiring plan.
The definitive guide
Embedded headhunting, explained.
The model behind Saiyō. Why the best candidates rarely apply, what The Accessibility Gap costs a scale-up, and how embedded headhunters differ from agencies, RPO and internal TA. Read it, download it, or listen to the audio narration.
- 3,500-word field guide, no email gate.
- Branded 8-page PDF. Share it with your team.
- ~14 minute audio narration on the same page.
Ready to hire differently?
Stop waiting for candidates. Go and get them.
Book 30 minutes with a partner. We will show you which of the three models fits what you are hiring for, and what it would cost.
- RaaS shortlists in under 10 days
- 94% offer acceptance, non-executive
- 45-day delivery guarantee
- 100-day free replacement
30 minutes. A partner, not an SDR. No obligation.
20+
technology unicorns supported
100+
VC-backed scale-ups served
15 years
of founder-level headhunting experience