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While some businesses rush to adopt the latest technology without considering its fit within their business model, McDermott + Bull is focusing on leveraging technology to empower its people.
“I don’t want to use a technology just because it’s there and it’s new,” says Bianca Rodas, vice president of marketing and events at McDermott + Bull, an international executive search firm. “We want to use technology to solve problems and make us faster and better. Technology should be there to help optimize the human.”
When McDermott + Bull decided to integrate AI into its business model, its CEO called upon Rodas to establish an AI task force and committee. Members from every division of the firm get together to discuss areas of opportunity for AI. The committee’s goal is to identify activities considered administratively heavy or task-oriented.
“We’re looking for things that take too much time out of your day, where you wish you could spend more time doing something more valuable,” Rodas says. “We’re figuring out those problem areas and then finding solutions, hopefully using technology and AI to support and drive efficiency.”
McDermott + Bull’s primary service is identifying executive candidates for their clients’ leadership needs. To make this process more efficient, the firm is testing new research tools designed to speed up that process and satisfy some business development needs.
“Technology should be there to help optimize the human.”
Bianca Rodas
The firm has also recently developed a tool to reduce administrative burden on their executive recruiters. Typically, a candidate profile document, which the firm submits to clients to present top candidates, takes a recruiter forty-five minutes to an hour to complete. “Now, by clicking one button, the document is complete in forty seconds,” Rodas says. The new tool frees up recruiters to focus on more important tasks.
Soon, McDermott + Bull’s business development team will employ tools that generate to-do lists within the CRM system. When a managing director logs into the system at the start of each workday, the to-do list populates into the system. Previously, managing directors had to go through their notes to figure out who they have to contact next, when they last reached out, or the last thing they said. Now, the system will automatically provide that information. “AI is such a small name for such a robust ecosystem of capabilities,” Rodas says.
Supporting McDermott + Bull’s AI initiatives is just part of Rodas’s role. She notes that her job title doesn’t fully reflect her responsibilities, since much of what she does falls outside marketing and events.
Rodas’s position has three major prongs. On the marketing side, she oversees McDermott + Bull’s brand, both externally and internally, guaranteeing that all marketing materials are consistent in voice and appearance. On the operations side, Rodas works closely with McDermott + Bull’s COO, supporting her to ensure efficiency in processes and procedures. Under that umbrella, Rodas also supports the day-to-day operations of McDermott + Bull’s sister company, Activate 180, a company that specializes in performance coaching.
“I get energy from solving problems. That’s how my brain is wired. When I see a need, I instinctively jump in and fill in where needed.”
Bianca Rodas
Lastly, as a member of the executive leadership team, Rodas contributes to the business’s strategic goals and initiatives. She looks at the overall business operations for McDermott + Bull to make sure the company is operating efficiently, profitably, and with a strategy for continued growth.
Since joining McDermott + Bull in 2019 as director of marketing and events, Rodas has advanced rapidly because of her track record of advising on critical decisions, enhancing operational efficiencies, building highly engaged teams, and executing initiatives that propel organizational growth.
“I get energy from solving problems,” Rodas says. “That’s how my brain is wired. When I see a need, I instinctively jump in and fill in where needed.”
A self-described servant leader, Rodas leads three direct reports on the marketing team, who handle marketing and events for both McDermott + Bull and Activate 180. On the Activate 180 side she co-leads with the co-founder. Despite working in a hybrid environment since the pandemic, she stays connected with her team members by talking to them multiple times a day.
“Making sure that I have time with my team is important to me,” Rodas says. “My dream is to develop everyone on my team so they can achieve their goals and I can continue supporting the strategy and growth of the firm.”
