The Genie Story
Genie was born from a shared frustration: too many organisations relied on instinct over data when building teams, missing hidden potential.
Co-founder and CEO Nick Grime’s journey began in elite football, where he learned that every metric- from physical readiness to team dynamics- was analysed to drive success. After realising he wasn’t going to play in the Premier League, he turned to the Science of Sport, studying at Loughborough University, applying performance insights to business.
Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer Nicky Badenoch, inspired by her father’s belief in luck, saw how being in the right room, with the right people, at the right time was critical to driving success - but felt this should not be left to chance. She became passionate about engineering serendipity, ensuring the right people connected at the right time to unlock hidden potential.
The two met as partners in executive search, where they, along with Co-founder Bonnie Harold, saw organisations making external hires while untapped talent remained overlooked. They knew there was a better way.
Together with their Chief Technology Officer Steve Reekie, they built Genie: technology that applies the precision of elite sport to workforce transformation. With lifelong interest of probability, Steve was inspired by his grandfather, a WWII gunner who used trigonometry to calculate shell trajectories, and his father, who introduced him to the world of bookmakers and odds-making. This early fascination led him to study Economics and Game Theory at UCL. Now, he applies these insights to capturing the right data and building best-in-class AI-powered matching, helping organisations make smarter, faster talent decisions.
Chief Product Officer Matt Groves, having sat in the seat of the buyer of Genie’s technology, ensures the product is designed through an intuitive lens. Having held operational leadership roles in professional services across the UK & US, he understands the value Genie can deliver and is focused on creating a frictionless experience that drives real impact.
Guiding Genie as Chairman, Sir John Hegarty, brings unparalleled experience in building world-class creative businesses. A founding partner of Saatchi & Saatchi and later co-founder of Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), John shaped the advertising industry for over six decades. Under his leadership, BBH became a global powerhouse, eventually selling to Publicis Groupe in a £300 million deal. Knighted for his contribution to the creative industries, he believes Genie has the power to transform business success, famously saying that had BBH had technology like Genie, they could have grown twice as big, twice as fast.