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 up to 100 leaders in each category of talent acquisition. Honorees are nominated by peers or found by committees that look for excellent work wherever it happens, then chosen for the depth of their craft and their impact on hiring. 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 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.
Hiring for Potential
The experience of being hired for potential rather than perfect 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 leaders 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.
