In an industry saturated with “AI-powered” recruiting tools that mostly repackage LinkedIn data, ProvenBase is making a bold claim: it’s cracked the code on true talent discovery.
The company today announced that Shally Steckerl—often called the godfather of modern talent sourcing—has joined its advisory board. The move comes on the heels of ProvenBase’s recent surge in enterprise adoption, including multiple Fortune 100 clients across healthcare, government contracting, and scientific research sectors.
Together, the appointment and growth mark a turning point for a company that has quietly rebuilt itself from the ground up.
“Most AI recruiting platforms are just semantic search wrappers with good marketing,” said Steckerl. “ProvenBase is different. They’ve actually solved the problem of finding people outside the usual databases—the researchers, engineers, and scientists traditional tools can’t reach.”
What Makes ProvenBase’s “Deep Search” Different
ProvenBase’s newly launched Deep Search platform reimagines how companies identify specialized talent—particularly those who don’t spend time polishing LinkedIn profiles.
Instead of scraping resumes or job boards, Deep Search combs through over 50 unconventional data sources—from academic research journals and patent filings to open-source code repositories, conference proceedings, and government lab directories.
This multi-source aggregation enables the platform to surface hidden experts: a materials scientist publishing in Nature Materials, a quantum researcher presenting at niche conferences, or a biotech engineer contributing under pseudonyms on technical forums.
“We weren’t interested in building another LinkedIn scraper,” said Ravi Tandra, ProvenBase’s Founder and CEO. “Our clients need to find quantum computing researchers and biotech specialists who rarely appear in traditional databases. We built Deep Search specifically to succeed where others couldn’t.”
Contextual AI That Understands Expertise, Not Just Keywords
Under the hood, ProvenBase’s technology goes well beyond Boolean logic. The platform’s contextual AI engine understands concept-level relationships—identifying talent whose work matches a need, even when the phrasing doesn’t.
A recruiter searching for “CRISPR gene editing” expertise, for example, might get results including researchers describing “genome modification using Cas9 proteins” or “targeted DNA sequence alteration.”
That contextual awareness—powered by proprietary NLP models and entity resolution algorithms—makes it easier for recruiters to locate passive or unlisted candidates that legacy systems miss.
Enterprise Traction: Fortune 100 Validation
ProvenBase’s pitch isn’t just theoretical. Its client roster now includes Fortune 100 enterprises in healthcare and life sciences, one of which manages health services for over 28 million individuals.
A senior talent acquisition leader from Centene Corporation called the platform “a force multiplier,” adding that it “significantly expanded our talent pipeline for highly specialized clinical and technical roles.”
For large-scale hiring organizations, ProvenBase’s promise lies in speed, precision, and reach. According to company data, clients have achieved:
- 85% reduction in time spent on complex technical searches
- 3× growth in qualified candidate pipelines for specialized roles
- 60% improvement in passive candidate discovery
- 40% reduction in reliance on external agencies
Inside the Platform: Key Features That Set ProvenBase Apart
- Deep Search Engine: Contextual AI across 50+ non-traditional sources—academic, technical, and scientific.
- Advanced Cloning: Matches candidates by research focus and contribution themes, not just titles.
- Power Search: AI-assisted Boolean query builder with real-time refinement.
- Smart Search Bar: Natural language interface for instant, optimized results.
- Data Integrity: Weekly source refreshes and multi-domain entity resolution prevent duplicate or false matches.
- Seamless Integrations: Connects natively to major ATS and CRM systems.
It’s a blend of data science and domain intelligence—something recruiters have long wanted but rarely received in practical form.
Why It Matters Now
The timing couldn’t be more relevant. Talent teams are under pressure to fill increasingly specialized roles—often in AI, quantum computing, and biotech—while budgets tighten and traditional candidate pools dry up.
Steckerl, who literally wrote The Sourcing Method handbook, summed it up bluntly:
“Recruiting teams are under siege. Incremental improvements don’t cut it anymore. ProvenBase delivers the kind of transformation this industry has needed for decades.”
As AI continues to reshape work itself, ProvenBase is positioning Deep Search as the intelligence layer for how companies find the experts building that future.
The Next Phase
ProvenBase plans to double its engineering team, broaden its data partnerships with research institutions and technical communities, and continue expanding its enterprise footprint.
“Deep talent discovery is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s a competitive necessity,” Tandra said. “The organizations that can find the talent others can’t will win.”
ProvenBase Deep Search is available now for enterprise and mid-market clients, with custom deployment and onboarding options.
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