Laura Thomas

Laura Thomas

Talent Projects Lead (interim) - Haleon

For Laura Thomas, the journey into recruiting began through what initially appeared to be a sales role.

Like many talent leaders, she did not originally plan a career in recruiting. Instead, her path evolved naturally through opportunity, curiosity, and a growing passion for connecting people with meaningful career opportunities.

“Yes, that’s indeed a very good question and I think for most of us that journey is quite similar,” Laura shared.

Her first role in recruiting came through a boutique executive search firm specializing in financial services leadership hiring, including commercial directors and bank managers.

At the time, the role involved significant outbound engagement, candidate sourcing, and relationship-building — experiences that would later become foundational to her leadership philosophy.

“It was my first role that was very phone-based, going out and sourcing candidates,” she explained.

Before entering recruiting, Laura originally built her background in marketing. Following maternity leave, she transitioned into executive search — a move that ultimately shaped the trajectory of her entire career.

“At the end of the day, what we do in talent acquisition has a very big element of engagement, influencing, and sales,” she said.

Over the years, Laura established herself as a respected leader within executive search and talent acquisition, particularly within the healthcare and life sciences industries.

Her career eventually led her into global and regional leadership roles, where she became known for building high-performing teams, managing complex executive hiring environments, and helping organizations navigate large-scale talent transformations.

Today, Laura continues to lead within the executive search space, where relationship management, strategic advisory, and human connection remain at the center of her work.

What Shaped Her Leadership Philosophy

Throughout her career, Laura has been heavily influenced by leaders who demonstrated trust, mentorship, and the ability to empower others through opportunity.

One of the most influential leaders in her journey was Nick Stevens, chairman of a life sciences search firm who played a major role in expanding Laura’s international career.

Nick gave Laura the opportunity to relocate from the United Kingdom to Singapore to establish and lead the firm’s Asia Pacific branch.

“He really brought me into the healthcare space, which I absolutely love,” Laura explained.

That opportunity became a defining moment in her career.

Laura eventually grew the Singapore office into a successful regional operation with strong partnerships across both academia and industry.

“I became the Managing Director of the Singapore branch, so there was a lot of faith in my abilities as well,” she shared.

Another leader who had a lasting impact on Laura was Liz Fraser from GSK.

According to Laura, Liz exemplified the kind of leadership that balances high expectations with strong support and trust.

“She recognized that her team had the capabilities to do their jobs, but was always there to help bolster them,” Laura explained.

Within executive search — a space Laura describes as highly confidential, highly political, and constantly shifting — having leaders who provide support and guidance becomes especially important.

Laura credits Liz with helping her navigate complex stakeholder environments while maintaining confidence and composure during high-pressure executive hiring situations.

Laura also highlighted Lee Andrews, her current colleague at Haleon, as another highly influential leader.

Following Haleon’s spin-off from GSK, Lee played a critical role in helping build and scale global talent acquisition systems and processes across the organization.

“He built a great team right across the world,” Laura shared.

According to Laura, Lee possesses a strong ability to identify talent, develop future-focused recruiting operations, and build scalable systems capable of supporting long-term organizational growth.

Across all three leaders, Laura consistently values the same qualities: trust, support, strategic thinking, warmth, and the ability to empower others to grow.

How AI Is Reshaping Recruiting

As AI rapidly transforms the recruiting landscape, Laura believes executive search remains somewhat distinct from broader talent acquisition functions.

“In executive search specifically, we’re probably a little behind compared to broader talent acquisition when it comes to AI,” she explained.

According to Laura, executive recruiting remains deeply relationship-driven and highly personalized.

“It’s still very much white-glove,” she said.

For executive search leaders, success continues to depend heavily on personal outreach, strategic conversations, trust-building, and candidate engagement at the highest levels.

However, Laura also recognizes the growing value AI can bring to recruiting organizations.

One area she finds especially promising is internal talent visibility and mobility.

“I’ve seen AI create incredible opportunities around internal talent visibility,” she explained.

Laura believes AI can help organizations better identify employees who may be ready for new opportunities, allowing companies to build stronger internal talent pipelines and career mobility programs.

She also sees AI significantly improving operational efficiency by reducing administrative workload.

“AI just makes admin so much easier for all of us,” she shared.

At the same time, Laura believes talent leaders must approach AI adoption carefully and thoughtfully.

For her, one of the biggest risks is losing the human element that sits at the heart of recruiting.

“We do not want to get to a point where we are so automated that we lose the personal touch,” Laura explained.

She believes recruiters and HR leaders carry an important responsibility not only toward their organizations, but also toward candidates.

“In HR and talent acquisition, our clients are people at the end of the day,” she said.

Because of this, Laura emphasizes the importance of empathy, respect, and thoughtful communication throughout every stage of the recruiting process.

“Every interaction needs to be managed thoughtfully and carefully,” she added.

Laura’s Advice for Talent Leaders in 2026

As recruiting continues evolving alongside AI, Laura believes the future belongs to leaders who can successfully balance technology with authentic human connection.

While automation can dramatically improve operational efficiency, she believes executive hiring — and recruiting more broadly — will always remain fundamentally relationship-driven.

For Laura, AI should enhance recruiters rather than replace the human judgment, trust-building, and empathy that define great talent leadership.

She also encourages recruiting leaders to remain thoughtful about how technology is implemented within hiring processes, especially when engaging senior-level candidates.

According to Laura, organizations must continue prioritizing personalized candidate experiences even as automation expands.

At the same time, she sees enormous potential for AI to improve visibility into internal talent, simplify administrative processes, and help recruiting teams operate more strategically.

Laura believes the most successful talent leaders moving forward will be those who combine operational excellence with emotional intelligence, strategic advisory capabilities, and a strong commitment to people-first leadership.

That combination of global executive search expertise, thoughtful leadership, and human-centered recruiting philosophy is exactly what makes Laura Thomas a deserving member of the Talent 100.