We all recruited at Palantir before its IPO, an experience that shaped how we think about talent, teams, and what exceptional hiring looks like. Today, we bring that shared foundation to every client we work with.
May Babraitis
Founder & CEO
May founded Talent Vine with a clear conviction: recruiting deserves the same rigor and ambition as the companies it helps build. She set out to build a firm grounded in integrity and genuine care for clients and candidates alike. With 10+ years of experience, she has led global recruiting efforts at Palantir and served as the founding recruiter at three startups. She loves understanding a business and seeing what the right hire makes possible, bringing strategic judgment, relentless curiosity, and a deeply personal commitment to getting the work right.
Ariana Verdu
Principal, Search & Client Strategy
Ariana began her career as a teacher, shaping the warm, deeply human approach she brings to recruiting today. She went on to spend years at Palantir leading a recruiting team and building deep expertise in creating talent density. Ariana combines exceptional client partnership with a sharp operational lens, from search strategy and reporting to systems implementation and the infrastructure behind a well-run search.
Matt McKay
Founding Partner
Matt is a founding partner of Talent Vine and an exceptional headhunter with an instinct for finding people others miss. After beginning his career in sales, he moved into recruiting at Palantir, where he met Talent Vine founder May Babraitis and built experience across both technical and business hiring. He later helped scale teams at TrialSpark and WorkFusion before joining May to build Talent Vine. Matt brings relentless energy, sharp talent instincts, and a deeply personal approach to every search he leads.
Small by choice
The people you meet are the people doing the work.
We started Talent Vine in 2021 because we wanted a more honest, collaborative approach to recruiting, with greater care for the people involved.
Years later, we keep our team small and work closely with a select group of clients so we can give each search the attention it deserves.
