The Best Man for the Job: Ryan Adams, Founder, Professional.me Professional.me is on course to revolutionize the recruitment industry.

If Ryan Adams didn't have a job, it probably wouldn't take long for him to find one. Not just because he is an accomplished founder, investor, and senior technology executive with over 20 years of experience driving leading innovations. But his latest venture, Professional.me is on track to revolutionize the global recruitment market. You want to hire someone good, and find that perfect candidate in just seconds – you better call Adams.

"Imagine a world where hiring was as effortless as ordering a ride or getting dinner delivered—where finding the right job, or the right candidate, took seconds, not weeks. Every other industry has figured this out. Recruitment hasn't," he says, adding: "Why? Because those seamless experiences we take for granted—your car showing up in minutes, your groceries arriving on time—aren't just magic. They stand on the shoulders of standardized ecosystems: mobile networks, digital payments, GPS, and mapping technology. Without them, none of it would work."

Source: Professional.me

Enter Professional.me, delivering a Google Maps-like experience to talent acquisition. After two and a half years of R&D and analysing hundreds of millions of data points, Adams and his team have built a breakthrough platform that eliminates inefficiencies, streamlines hiring, and delivers faster, more precise matches than ever before.

Though founded in the U.S., Professional.me is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, with a global team of nearly 20 experts from 13 countries, speaking 14 languages. With a 55% female workforce, it is also as diverse and inclusive as the hiring ecosystem it is building.

Source: Professional.me

Since the public launch in October 2024, the company has partnered with leading employers across banking, technology, real estate, retail, hospitality, and construction throughout the UK, EU, and MENA regions.

It also helps that investors love what Adams is doing: Backed by Raha Beach Ventures, it secured a US$1.5 million pre-seed round in 2024.

Adams adds, "We have nearly closed out another US$4 million seed round shortly thereafter. What we are creating, in terms of result, is simple: At just one click away—you define any role needed immediately, unlike others who merely refine existing job postings based solely off outdated criteria alone without considering nuanced requirements specific organizations may need when recruiting talent effectively moving forward."

The Professional.me team. Source: Professional.me

And he isn't short on ambition either: "Our goal is to disrupt a US$268 billion industry dominated by middlemen making connections between employers and candidates alike. We do this by offering direct services, providing better matches tailored precisely according to needs expressed rather than relying solely upon superficial metrics."

He adds, "What we have built is a standardized, AI-powered hiring language that cuts through the noise, bringing clarity, structure, and intelligence to an industry stuck in the past. We've reimagined how employers define roles, how professionals showcase value, and how both sides connect. Real-time insights. Bias-free scoring. Precision matching. This isn't an upgrade. This is a new beginning. And for the first time, hiring is finally as simple as pressing a button."

Equally impressive is how quickly Adams has brought big name clients on board. After a seven-month pilot with mega real estate broker REMAX, the company has signed up to be Adams' biggest client so far, with Professional.me working with the group's 140,000 staff.

Source: Professional.me

He says: "In real estate specifically, many newcomers typically enter without prior experience directly relevant to this field; thus, traditional keyword-based systems fall short. Our strength lies in understanding context from previous work experiences and transferable skills—like viewing flight attendants' abilities to deal with high-net-worth individuals or resolve conflicts under pressure—as indicators that they might be good fits for roles at REMAX."

He adds, "We can create predictive success profiles for opportunities by replacing traditional resumes with insights into each professional's unique value proposition. Since everything operates on the same platform with a shared hiring language, we can create matches that none of our competitors even come close to achieving in terms of accuracy, speed, and efficiency."

Professional.me, judging by the success of its early funding rounds and the quality of clients already on board, appears very much to be on a fast track to success. But it won't be the first time for Adams. A visionary in AI, cybersecurity, and software engineering, he specializes in defining technology strategies that drive commercial success. With two successful exits and a track record of scaling startups to achieve hundreds of millions in revenue, he knows what it takes to build and grow game-changing businesses.

Beyond his work as a hands-on technical leader, he's an active startup mentor, public speaker, and panellist. He served on Abu Dhabi's Economic Collaboration Committee - SME Workgroup and is a graduate of MIT's Chief Technology Officer program. He was also selected to present at MIT's Innovation Spotlight to an audience of global CXOs and represented the UAE as a speaker at the G20 Digital Innovation Alliance Summit in India.

Most recently, Adams led the company to a major win at the AI Everything Global Supernova pitch competition in Dubai, securing the GITEX Europe award—its first-ever entry into a pitch competition.

"This is about disruption. The recruitment industry is massive, but nobody has really cracked it so far," he says.

It's clear that if anyone can, it will be Adams.