Talent Intelligence: The Founder’s Secret Weapon in 2025
Written By
Ben Lang

Ben is our Head of Recruitment for Gibson Watts and has 14 years’ experience in the industry. Ben spent 11 years in a large corporate consultancy, specialising in talent acquisition for SME’s in the UK, working at mid-to-senior level contingency, MSP and RPO recruitment. During this time, Ben was involved in setting up and agreeing frameworks for long term recruitment services with several blue chip organisations and similarly within his core SME market.
When you’re building a company, every decision feels high-stakes. But few are more critical, or more defining, than who you hire.
In the early stages, many founders approach hiring with a mix of instinct, urgency, and hope. They know it’s crucial, but often lack the time, tools, or data to do it strategically. That’s not a failing—it’s a symptom of a system that hasn’t evolved fast enough to keep pace with how startups actually operate.
But in 2025, the landscape has changed. Talent markets are more dynamic. Funding is harder to secure. Timelines are tighter. And the margin for hiring error has all but vanished.
That’s where Talent Intelligence comes in.
At Gibson Watts, we work with startups and scale-ups every day. We see the pain points: the scramble to fill roles, the lack of clarity on salaries, the uncertainty around talent location and availability. That’s why we built a talent intelligence platform around a simple idea:
Hiring without data is just guessing.
And guessing is too expensive.
What is Talent Intelligence, really?
Talent Intelligence is the use of live market data to inform, sharpen, and accelerate your people decisions. It’s not just a dashboard or a spreadsheet—it’s a way of making hiring strategic.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
- Know where the talent is—really
Think your next VP needs to be in London or the Bay Area? Maybe. But we’ve helped clients identify richer, less competitive talent pools in cities like Berlin, Lisbon, and Manchester—where top-tier candidates are more available, and more affordable.
With real-time location data and heatmaps, founders can stop hiring based on assumptions and start hiring based on facts.
- Understand what it costs—not just to hire, but to retain
Compensation isn’t static. Market rates shift constantly, and what was competitive six months ago might now be outdated.
We provide detailed salary benchmarking—across roles, locations, and seniority—so our clients can build offers that attract top talent and keep them. This isn’t just about hiring power—it’s about retention, engagement, and long-term success.
- Predict how fast you can hire
Time-to-hire impacts everything from product sprints to investor confidence. But too often, timelines are built on optimism, not evidence.
Our demand vs. supply data gives founders realistic expectations. We help them understand how long it really takes to hire a Head of Engineering in Amsterdam, or a VP of Marketing in Paris—so they can plan accordingly, and stay ahead of the curve.
How does this actually help?
A few real examples from our clients:
- Berlin vs. London: One client was set on London for their engineering hub. After reviewing talent availability, salary benchmarks, and hiring timelines, they pivoted to Berlin—cutting projected salary costs by 30% and reducing time-to-hire by six weeks.
- Board confidence: A Series A founder used our intel to back up revised hiring plans in a board meeting—justifying a 20% increase in talent budget with hard data. The result? Sign-off in one meeting.
- Faster shortlists: We helped another client reduce a VP search from 12 weeks to 7 by pre-qualifying candidates using targeted market maps and competitor analysis. No fluff. Just focus.
Why it matters more than ever
In a market where investors are cautious and burn rate matters, every hire has to be a strategic one.
Founders can no longer afford to waste cycles chasing the wrong profiles, overpaying for talent, or misjudging how long hiring will take. And they definitely can’t afford to lose top candidates to better-informed competitors.
Talent Intelligence doesn’t just help you hire faster—it helps you hire smarter.
It sharpens your value proposition. It makes your hiring plan investable. It keeps you agile when the market shifts.
In short: it turns talent into a growth strategy.
Looking ahead
If you’re hiring in 2025, Talent Intelligence isn’t a luxury—it’s your edge.
And whether you’re planning your first 10 hires or scaling to 100, you don’t have to do it blind.
Let’s talk about how we can bring clarity to your next people decision—and help you build the team your company deserves.
Speak to the team
Gibson Watts is a leadership recruitment and executive search company that is shaping a sustainable future for businesses and the planet.
(+44) 20 3880 0894