Amplified People Group has acquired Higher, an executive search firm specializing in AI and engineering leadership hires, as the people services group responds to growing demand from technology companies for specialized artificial intelligence talent.
The transaction expands Amplified People Group’s portfolio of specialist people and talent businesses while adding deeper expertise in a hiring category that the company says has experienced significant demand over the past 18 months.
Higher focuses on helping technology companies recruit senior AI and engineering executives. The company has worked with Amplified and its clients for several years, giving the two organizations an existing relationship ahead of the acquisition.
As part of the transaction, Higher will be merged into JBM, Amplified’s executive search brand. JBM specializes in fractional and permanent leadership appointments across general management, operations and go-to-market roles.
Higher founder and Managing Director Kelly Gauthier and her team will join the larger executive search platform. Amplified said the combination will provide Higher’s clients with access to a broader range of executive search capabilities while maintaining the specialized service and expertise the company has developed around AI and engineering leadership.
The acquisition comes as companies across the technology sector compete for executives capable of building and managing increasingly important AI and engineering organizations. Amplified said its clients have shown particularly strong demand for leaders in these areas over the past year and a half.
Amplified People Group was founded in November 2023 to provide people-related services to technology companies ranging from early-stage businesses through organizations approaching an initial public offering.
Rather than operating all of its services under a single brand, Amplified has developed a portfolio of specialist businesses that maintain their own identities and areas of expertise.
Along with JBM and Higher, the group owns Foundation Partners, which provides embedded people, human resources and talent support, as well as Unleashed, which delivers leadership and management development programs.
Amplified said the multi-brand structure allows individual businesses to retain their specialist positioning while gaining access to the broader group’s operational infrastructure and capabilities.
The company pointed to AI business productivity software provider Fyxer as an example of how its different businesses can work together. Amplified and Higher have supported Fyxer’s people strategy, with Higher responsible for engineering hires during a period of rapid growth.
Amplified co-founder and CEO Andrew Richardson currently serves as Fyxer’s chief people officer through the company’s relationship with Foundation Partners and is also an investor in Fyxer.
The Higher acquisition builds on Amplified’s strategy of acquiring specialist people-services companies and integrating them into a broader operating platform while preserving their individual brands.
KEY QUOTES:
“We have witnessed a massive demand for AI talent over the last eighteen months, with our clients clamouring for AI and Engineering leaders. We have worked with Higher and its Founder Kelly Gauthier for a number of years, and no one comes close to their understanding of search in this sector. Their service and expertise are unrivalled, and we are incredibly excited to be bringing this business under the Amplified umbrella.
This deal builds on the successful acquisition of other companies into the Amplified portfolio. We are firm believers in maintaining distinct brands because it empowers each one to deliver a bespoke service from a team of experts.”
Andrew Richardson, Co-Founder and CEO of Amplified People Group
“For over a decade, Higher has helped the world’s most innovative companies hire the very best AI and Engineering leaders. We’re beyond excited to join Amplified and have the platform to scale our impact with both existing and new customers around the globe.”
Kelly Gauthier, Founder and Managing Director of Higher
“Our team is our strongest asset, and I will forever be proud of the work we are doing with Foundation Partners, JBM and Higher to put our people strategy in place. This deal makes sense — it is the perfect symbiosis of the skills they both bring. If our experience is anything to go by, it will be mutually beneficial for both parties, and great for their clients”
Richard Hollingsworth, Founder and CEO of Fyxer
