Karim Akram
Deutsche Bank
“I look for potential and skills rather than specifically the experience.”
Karim Akram has been named to the Talent 100, Class of 2026, the annual award recognizing the 100 most exceptional leaders and practitioners in talent acquisition. Honorees are selected by the Talent 100 committee from thousands of nominations and candidates across the industry, chosen for the impact of their work, the depth of their craft, and their influence on the future of recruiting. This is Karim's story.
Karim Akram never planned to become a recruiter. He graduated in 2005 with a business degree and took a role at BNP Paribas working in operations finance, and within a year it was clear the fit wasn't right. What changed everything was a chance conversation with a headhunter.
Before that conversation came the gap year. After twelve months in finance, Akram did what he'd always known he needed to do and traveled the world. When he returned, the headhunter did the logical thing and pointed him back toward finance, given his background. Akram, however, was honest about his dissatisfaction, and the recruiter heard something in that candor. Rather than place him, they invited him in and offered him a temp role as a researcher.
Three months later the temp role became permanent. Akram spent just under five years on the agency side, working his way up to manage a small and successful team. His finance background, far from being left behind, became an asset in an entirely new way: he was now hiring finance professionals and bringing insider knowledge to the search. None of it had been planned. Someone had simply recognized that he had the right skill set.
Learning From Great Leaders
Two managers stand out across Akram's career, each arriving at a critical juncture. The first was his initial manager on the agency side, the one who gave him his start as a headhunter and then took him under his wing. That manager taught him how to build rapport, how to engage with clients, and how to succeed in a role built on business development.
"He gave me a lot of support, backing and encouragement to be myself but also to hone in the skills," Akram recalls. He was hungry then, and he still is, but hunger alone would not have been enough. That early support gave him the foundation he needed to be successful.
A Weekend Encounter That Changed the Trajectory
The second manager came later, at Deutsche Bank, and the relationship began in an unlikely way. Akram had made the move from agency to in-house, working on-site for a recruitment solutions provider as a temp recruiter on a very busy desk covering finance, change, and risk. This was 2013 or 2014, before remote work was an option: if you needed to catch up, you went into the office, weekends included. Akram would come in occasionally on Saturdays or Sundays to work through his desk or speak with candidates who were easier to reach outside business hours.
On one of those weekends he ran into a Deutsche Bank manager who was in the office doing system testing. The manager was surprised to see him there. The two had seen each other around the office but had never really interacted. Six months later they found themselves in a meeting together, and afterward the manager pulled Akram aside. He said he liked the way Akram had handled the meeting, then asked whether he'd ever thought about working directly for the bank in executive recruitment.
Akram was honest in return. He had spent eight years doing contingent recruitment, not permanent or executive search. He was also very interested. He interviewed formally and got the role. What made the difference was a manager who saw transferable skills while openly acknowledging what Akram didn't yet have, gave him the opportunity anyway, and then provided enormous guidance and direction as he grew into it.
Hiring for Potential
That experience fundamentally shaped how Akram thinks about talent. When he hires for his team today, he looks for potential and skills rather than focusing exclusively on experience, a philosophy born directly from someone taking a chance on him. He starts by asking what the role truly needs, then looks for the people who can grow into it.
It is a deliberate choice rather than an instinctive one, informed by the managers who saw something in him before his résumé fully reflected it.
The Talent 100 exists to celebrate the people shaping the future of how the world hires, and few embody that better than Karim. We are honored to welcome Karim Akram to the Talent 100, Class of 2026, and grateful for the experience, perspective, and craft they bring to this community. Congratulations, Karim. Welcome to the Talent 100.
About the Talent 100
The Talent 100 is an annual list spotlighting the leaders who push HR and talent acquisition forward, organized by Noon AI. Honorees are selected through peer nominations and independent selection committees. Selection is entirely merit-based, with no fees or pay-to-play requirements.
