Ben Keighley

Co-Founder

London, England, United Kingdom16 yrs 6 mos experience
Most Likely To SwitchAI Enabled

Key Highlights

  • Co-Founder of an AI talent attraction platform.
  • Named one of Europe's Fastest Growing Companies (FT1000).
  • EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 Finalist.
Stackforce AI infers this person is a Recruitment Technology expert with a strong focus on AI-driven talent acquisition.

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Skills

Core Skills

Artificial Intelligence (ai)Global Talent Acquisition

Other Skills

Social RecruitingProduct DevelopmentRecruitment MarketingField SalesWebSalesCustomer RelationsNew Business DevelopmentNegotiationCold CallingMarket ResearchResearchSocial MediaRecruitingConsulting

About

I’m the Co-Founder of Gaia - an AI talent attraction platform trusted by enterprise employers like AWS, Airbus, Yum! Brands, Sky, Babcock, Nestlé, DPD, Lidl, Sage, Finastra, Hitachi, Chipotle, NHS, Amazon and Governments to solve TA challenges where traditional tools fall short. We sit at the intersection of AI, recruitment marketing, employer branding, and programmatic media, helping enterprises attract talent that fits. We solve TA challenges globally and were recently named one of Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies (FT1000). If you’re a TA leader or enterprise buyer exploring more effective TA strategies, I’d love to connect.

Experience

16 yrs 6 mos
Total Experience
2 yrs 8 mos
Average Tenure
3 yrs 9 mos
Current Experience

Recruitment marketing awards

2 roles

2025 Judge

Jul 2025Oct 2025 · 3 mos · Greater London, England, United Kingdom

2024 Judge

Jul 2024Oct 2024 · 3 mos · Greater London, England, United Kingdom

Great british entrepreneur awards & community

Scale-Up Entrepreneur 2024 Finalist

Jun 2024Nov 2024 · 5 mos

Recruitment marketing awards

2023 Judge

Jun 2023Oct 2023 · 4 mos · Greater London, England, United Kingdom

Renude.co

Investor

Aug 2022Present · 3 yrs 9 mos · Greater London, England, United Kingdom

  • AI skin advisor.

Heights

Investor

Jun 2022Present · 3 yrs 11 mos · Greater London, England, United Kingdom

  • Smarter supplements for your body and mind.

Great british entrepreneur awards & community

2 roles

Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Finalist

Jul 2021Nov 2021 · 4 mos

Great British Entrepreneur Awards Finalist

Jul 2020Sep 2020 · 2 mos

Funnel famous

Board Member

Jun 2020Feb 2022 · 1 yr 8 mos · Greater London, England, United Kingdom

  • Digital ad agency Routes 4 Media acquired Funnel Famous, a specialist web design and development studio based out of the US, in June 2020.

Routes 4 media

2 roles

Advisor to various Startup/Scaleups

Jan 2018Feb 2022 · 4 yrs 1 mo · London Area, United Kingdom

  • Advised many early-stage businesses on their GTM, product and marketing strategies.

Founder & MD

Sep 2012Feb 2022 · 9 yrs 5 mos · London Area, United Kingdom

  • Managed monthly ad spend of $3-$5M, scaled the agency to 30 specialists worldwide, running and scaling digital advertising [primarily social ads] for fast growth [DTC, saas, travel] businesses and enterprises [such as Cannon, NYT, Adobe, Microsoft]. Acquired x2 agencies [x1 UK and x1 US] and built x2 complementary saas solutions. It's fair to say that I've done my 10,000+ hours in social advertising. Exited early 2022 to go all in on Gaia.

Gaia

Co-Founder & Director

Aug 2017Present · 8 yrs 9 mos · London Area, United Kingdom

  • Gaia helps the world’s leading employers attract talent that fits through AI-powered targeting, smart employer branding, and high-conversion candidate experiences.
  • 🌍 Customers include the likes of: AWS, Airbus, Yum! Brands, Sky, Babcock, Nestlé, DPD, Lidl, Sage, Finastra, Hitachi, Chipotle, NHS, Amazon and Governments.
  • 💥 Results delivered:
  • 2.6x higher quality candidates for Mitie (FTSE 250) while exceeding DE&I targets across frontline justice roles
  • 476 hires for Babcock (FTSE 100), smashing an 87-hire target by 500%+ and hitting their 2026 goal two years early
  • 76% drop in cost-per-hire for Amey, one of the UK’s leading infrastructure and public services providers, improving efficiency across hard-to-fill roles
  • Amplified Novuna’s EVP (part of Mitsubishi HC Capital UK, the UK arm of a Tokyo Stock Exchange–listed group), positioning them as an employer of choice among early careers and digital talent in an extremely competitive market
  • 📈 Recent Growth highlights:
  • FT1000 fastest-growing European company 2025
  • EY Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist 2025
  • Book a demo or see what’s new at www.iamgaia.com
Artificial Intelligence (AI)Global Talent AcquisitionSocial RecruitingProduct DevelopmentRecruitment Marketing

North devon hospice

Recruitment Consultant - Contract

Jun 2012Aug 2012 · 2 mos · South West

  • A short contract position whilst in the process of moving across the country. Set the record for most sales in 1 week.

Ecommerce business

Director & Co-Founder

May 2012May 2014 · 2 yrs · London Area, United Kingdom

  • My 2nd business, co-founded with my best mate Curtis and launched with his £500 student loan. We were a couple of 20-year-olds who went on to launch an e-commerce business called YourStudentShoes.com and learnt an awful lot about business, marketing, product, recruitment and sales. The business went on to have a team of 20+ student reps up and down the country and sporting celebrity endorsements. A few highlights below...
  • Nominated for ‘Online Business of the Year‘ in regional awards in the South West.
  • Featured in Guardian, Huffington Post, NDJ, University Times + regional and local press.
  • High praise and support from politicians.

Creel & co

HeadHunter - Specialist Recruitment Consultant - Contract

Jan 2012Jun 2012 · 5 mos · London Area, United Kingdom

  • My first introduction to the world of recruitment. Specialising in headhunting top-performing graduates and moving them between recruitment agencies.

Everest home improvements

Franchise Owner

Mar 2011Mar 2012 · 1 yr · South West

  • At the age of 19, I ran my own Everest Franchise. I was told at the time that I was the youngest to do this. 90% of his job was generating new business by cold calling [door to door] customers with a view to selling them a range of home improvement products. A pure commission-only business. I must have had thousands of nos and doors closed in my face. This proved to be one of those more formative experiences. I went on to hit ambitious sales targets, but it took many nos.

Pressplay ltd

Sales Representative

Jan 2010Mar 2011 · 1 yr 2 mos

  • First 'proper' job after education. Top salesperson in the company for new lifestyle subscription products.

Dad's pizza takeaway

Creator of Pizza Boxes

Jan 1995Jan 1996 · 1 yr

  • First very unofficial job - aged 5/6 - earned 2p for every pizza box I put together! Despite a big family and a full-time job, Dad would spend the early hours making dough, would then go to his day job, then run the pizza takeaway all evening. This was when I was first exposed to an incredible work ethic.

Education

Saïd Business School, University of Oxford

Artificial Intelligence

Jan 2023Jan 2024

Petroc Official

A Levels & Extra Diplomas

Jan 2008Jan 2010

South Molton College

GCSE

Jan 2003Jan 2008

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