Sercxi
Partner-led · Europe, the Gulf & APAC
Specialist &
executive search.
Led by the partner you brief.
For technology-driven businesses making an appointment that matters to delivery, growth or operational performance. From specialist and management roles to executive appointments, we start with what the person must achieve—not simply the job title.
Confidential · 30 minutes · No obligation. Good work starts with a conversation you can be candid in.
- In role after 1 year
- 8 in 10
- 8 in 10 (80%) in role after 1 year. Historical firm-reported retention.
- To shortlist
- 21 days
- Days from the agreed start of the search to delivery of the shortlist.
- Median to offer
- 35 days
- Median days from the agreed start of the search to an offer.
- Completed engaged mandates
- 250+
- Completed engaged mandates since 2000.
Historical firm-reported figures, not independently audited or delivery guarantees. Cohort sizes, observation periods and supporting records remain to be verified.
Sercxi Research
The Displacement Index.
Sixty quarterly editions across seven sectors and three corridors. Dated findings, sources and limitations — published openly, without a gate.
Explore the index →Nine out of nine.
For the first time in the Index's history, APAC, EMEA and the GCC all read 9/9 on data centre leadership. Three different triggers, one convergent outcome: capacity is being commissioned faster than leadership can be recruited.
Receive the quarterly edition. One page. No pitch.
I need to hire
Specialist to executive appointments. Explore role coverage, engaged search and the process from brief to appointment.
Explore search services →I need to understand the talent market
Research, corridor perspectives and the Displacement Index, with sources and limits alongside the findings.
Explore market research →I need to get an important appointment right
Clarify role outcomes, test search readiness and understand the assessment before committing to a search.
Assess appointment readiness →01Appointment context
The requirement behind the role.
Partner-led since 2000
A job title is only the starting point. These source examples describe what an appointment needed to solve; they are not verified case studies or evidence of completed outcomes.
Enterprise AI
Digital Advisory Director
Advisory practice needed a buyer-side translator, not another technologist.
FinTech & Payments
Sales Director, Digital Banking
Revenue growth required a seller who understood compliance-gated procurement cycles, not just pipeline volume.
Data Centre & AI Infra
Head of Delivery
Delivery leadership vacuum during managed services expansion, execution risk, not headcount gap.
Enterprise AI
Director, GenAI Architecture
Client-facing AI strategy credibility required. Not an internal build engineer.
Organisations are not identified. Supporting records and publication permissions remain unverified; individual timings and business outcomes are not claimed.
Track record →02Sequence
How a search runs.
- 01
Agree what the role must deliver
- Understand the challenge.
- Define what the role must achieve.
- Agree the criteria and evidence.
Search detail +−
A scoping conversation with the mandate partner about what the organisation needs to solve, before anyone talks about a CV.
The outcomes the appointment must deliver, the stakeholders around it and the constraints it will operate within.
Which experience, judgement and motivation matter, and what evidence will show it. The brief is tested before the search begins.
IMPACT framework - 02
Find and assess candidates
- Search and approach.
- Assess beyond the CV.
Search detail +−
Targeted mapping of the relevant market and a direct, discreet approach to the people who fit. No approach is made without the partner's approval.
What each candidate has actually delivered, how they decide and why they would move, rather than how well they interview.
Candidate assessment - 03
Support the hiring decision
- Present a shortlist we stand behind.
- Support the appointment.
Search detail +−
A considered shortlist with written briefings, so you decide on evidence. The same partner remains accountable throughout.
Interviews, offer and counter-offer handled by the partner, with any follow-up agreed at the start of the mandate.
21 days from the agreed search start to shortlist. 35-day median from the agreed search start to offer. These timings are not a delivery promise.
The search practice →
You speak with a partner
Good work starts with a conversation you can be candid in.
We take the appointment seriously, not ourselves. Expect thoughtful questions, a direct answer and room to challenge each other. Trust makes it easier to discuss what a brief—or a CV—does not say.
Managing Partner · Sales & Delivery · All Regions
The appointment behind the plan
What does this person need to change?
A growing business may need someone to take responsibility that still sits with the founder, strengthen delivery or bring a different level of technical judgement. Start with the work, the decisions and the conditions in which the person must succeed.
For the CEO
Who can carry the next stage of the business—not just hold the title?
For the COO
Which appointment will give delivery and operations the ownership they need?
For the CHRO
What must be agreed so the brief, assessment and hiring decision share the same basis?
Practice and reach
Technical depth. Cross-border judgement.
Technical, commercial and operational appointments in data centres, AI, cloud, financial technology and business transformation. Choose the discipline that fits the challenge.
Specialist & Executive Search
A critical specialist, manager or leader to strengthen delivery, commercial performance or operations.
AI Capability Assessment
Clarify the capability gap and the role you need before committing to a search.
Executive Hiring Lab
Senior search capability transferred to your internal team.
Forward Deployed Search
An embedded operator carrying the mandate from within, by arrangement.
If the role falls outside our expertise, we will say so and help you consider the right next step.
Sercxi · Intelligence
Research & Field Notes.
Research and perspectives for specialist, management and executive appointment decisions across Europe, the Gulf and APAC.
- ResearchThe newspaper — intelligence briefs & essays →
- The Sercxi LexiconA reference for search and assessment terms →
Research for the people who decide.
Leadership · 26 October 2026
The HR Question That Arrives Too Late: Why Growing Technology Companies Need to Think About People Before HR ↗
Why growing technology companies should define the people-management capability they need before hiring their first HR leader.
AI & Recruiting · 23 October 2026
The Intelligence Layer: Why Sercxi Is Building for a World That Machines Must Understand ↗
The future of executive search belongs to firms that understand both the human market and the machine-readable world in which decisions are increasingly made.
Leadership · 22 October 2026
The Execution Gap: Why Good Strategies Fail Between the Boardroom and the Front Line ↗
An Sercxi perspective on organisational design, critical hiring and the people who turn business ambition into measurable progress.
03Before you brief us
Common questions.
Why engaged search?
A defined mandate, focused search and one accountable partner. We agree the scope and terms in writing before work begins. The same partner remains accountable through assessment, interviews and offer.
What if the first shortlist does not land?
The search continues to completion under the agreed engagement. Calibration is treated as part of the mandate, not as a new one. Terms are set in writing in the engagement letter before work begins.
How is confidentiality handled?
Candidate data is processed under applicable data protection regulation. Client identity is never disclosed to a candidate without explicit authorisation, and sensitive mandates run under NDA.
How are candidates assessed before shortlist?
Against the outcomes and evidence agreed in the brief. IMPACT provides six diagnostic dimensions and a separate Durability Under Pressure question. APEX assesses what candidates have delivered, how they decide and why they would move. Shortlists include written briefings.
Which markets and appointments do you cover?
Specialist, management and executive appointments for technology-driven organisations across Europe, the Gulf and APAC, with partner-led desks in Amsterdam, Dubai and Singapore. If a role falls outside our expertise, we will say so.
What happens after placement?
Follow-up is agreed in the mandate terms. Our published retention figure describes continued employment after one year; the supporting cohort and calculation records remain to be verified.
When are commercial terms discussed?
In the mandate scope meeting, once diagnostic alignment confirms the search is viable. Terms are agreed in writing before activation and are not published on the site.
Mandate brief
What must the person you are looking for achieve?
An important appointment coming up? Looking for someone in an operational or management role who turns strategy into execution? Then we discuss what the role must deliver. No lengthy pitch. No obligation to start a search.
What to expect in 30 minutes
- You explain your challenge.
- We think with you about what the role must deliver.
- Then you decide whether a next step makes sense.
A confidential conversation with Harald Agterhuis, Managing Partner.
When Sercxi fits
We work best with clients who value a carefully defined mandate, a focused search and one accountable partner. We listen closely, challenge assumptions constructively and say plainly when a brief falls outside our experience. The conversation should be useful whether or not a search follows.
When the appointment matters, the search matters.