Consilio News
Notes from the practice of design hiring. Bi-weekly essays from Jeremy Loughnot.
What this is
Every other Friday I send one short essay. Each issue puts down what’s connecting the work I’m doing right now: placing leaders, coaching executives, and building AI agents into how an executive search firm actually runs.
The editorial spine is simple. AI is the answer. Clarity is the question.
Coaching gives you the clarity to know what to change. AI gives you the tool to make the change structural. Together they’re more powerful than either one alone. Every issue extends that through-line.
Who I am
I’m Jeremy Loughnot. I founded The Consilio, an executive search and coaching firm that places design, product, and engineering leaders into VC-backed startups.
Background. I started as a designer. Then I learned to hire them. I led design recruiting at Meta for eleven years. In my peak years I scaled annual hires by 219%, shifted the level mix to majority senior, and grew diverse hires from 37% to 52%. I know what to look for. I also know what to screen for.
Philosophy. Recruitment is not keyword matching. It’s figuring out if two people will work well together. If the candidate will still want the role in three years. If the hire will outperform what their resume promised. If they’ll still be there in eighteen months.
Method. I’m ICF-certified, which is unusual for a search firm. The candidates I work with arrive ready: clear on their story, their craft, and the role they actually want. Founders read for fit, not just resume. The work is helping both sides show up to the conversation that determines the hire.
Tools. I build AI agents for my own workflow, for Consilio’s pipeline, and for the candidate prep process. Tools make the practice faster. The judgment stays human.
That last point is why I write. Tools change every few months. Judgment doesn’t. These essays are about what’s worth keeping when the tools shift.
What to expect
About a six-minute read. No filler. If I don’t have something to say in a given two weeks, I won’t send.
If you’re hiring a senior leader, considering a move yourself, or coaching someone through either, you’re in the right inbox.
How to reach me
Hit reply on any issue. I read every reply, and I respond to the ones that warrant a personal note.
For a quick read on whether a leadership role is actually ready to hire for, message me:
