We're Partnering with Nebula to Put 200 Million Candidates Inside Your Search Bar
TL;DR
We've integrated Nebula's 200 million candidate profiles directly into Candidate Search AI. Recruiters can now search their own ATS and the global talent market from one interface, using the same natural language search they already know. No new tools, no platform switching. Your database stays the foundation - Nebula extends its reach.
Every recruiter has felt it. You run a search, scroll through results, and realize the person you need isn't here.
Not because your ATS is bad. Your ATS holds years of candidate relationships, past applicants, referrals, and submissions. It's one of the most valuable assets your agency owns. But it only knows what it knows. And when the right person hasn't crossed your desk yet, the fallback is always the same: open LinkedIn Recruiter, fire up Lusha for contact data, cross-reference in RocketReach, copy everything into a spreadsheet, then manually push profiles into your ATS.
Why We Built Candidate Search AI (and What Made Us Go Bigger)
Candidate Search AI started as a way to make your own database useful again. Type "senior Java developer in Munich with fintech experience" instead of wrestling with Boolean strings and dropdown filters. Plain language in, ranked candidates out. It worked. Teams that adopted it cut internal sourcing time by 80%.
But every conversation with customers circled back to the same question: What happens when the candidate I need isn't in my system?
Fair point. Your ATS can't show you someone you've never encountered before. So you end up back on LinkedIn, back on the job boards, back in the same five-tab workflow that eats hours every week.
We needed to extend the search without complicating it.
Enter Nebula
Nebula maintains one of the largest continuously updated talent datasets in recruiting - over 200 million professional profiles, aggregated from public sources and refreshed continuously. But the dataset alone isn't what made this partnership obvious.
Nebula built their own recruiting-specific language models. Not a ChatGPT wrapper with a candidate database bolted on. Purpose-built AI that understands the difference between "account executive closing mid-market SaaS deals" and "sales representative" - a distinction that keyword search treats as identical.
Their team includes Jon Krohn (Oxford PhD, Chief Data Scientist, publishing on ML since 2010) and Ed Donner (previously an MD at JPMorgan leading 300 engineers, founded untapt which was acquired in 2021). The technical depth is real.
And they built something we haven't seen elsewhere: ByeBias, a patented technology that removes demographic bias from candidate search results at the source. Not a toggle you can switch off. A structural feature of how their ranking works. For agencies under pressure to demonstrate fair hiring practices, that's not a nice-to-have.
What Changes for You
Here's the before and after:
| Before (ATS only) | After (ATS + Nebula) | |
|---|---|---|
| Searchable profiles | Your database (thousands to low millions) | 200M+ global professionals |
| Data freshness | Depends on your team's hygiene | Continuously updated from public sources |
| Contact data | Whatever was entered at application time | Verified emails and phone numbers |
| Market coverage | Candidates you've already sourced | Global, across industries and geographies |
| Bias controls | None built into search | ByeBias (patented) removes demographic factors |
| Tools required | Candidate Search AI | Same tool. No change |
Nothing changes about how you search. That was non-negotiable.
You type a query in Candidate Search AI the way you always have. The system searches your ATS first, because your own candidates should always surface before external ones. When you want to go wider, you expand to Nebula's 200 million profiles. Same interface, same query.
From there, candidates are ranked by relevance using AI scoring, contact data is attached where available, and you can push profiles directly into your ATS. No copy-paste. No spreadsheet. No switching between five tabs.
The whole point is that external sourcing should feel identical to internal search. If recruiters have to learn a new workflow, they won't use it.
What This Replaces
Most staffing teams are paying for a stack of sourcing tools that overlap, contradict each other, and still require manual stitching between them:
- LinkedIn Recruiter for finding candidates
- Lusha or RocketReach for contact data
- Apollo or ZoomInfo for enrichment
- A spreadsheet for tracking outreach
- Manual copy-paste to get profiles into your ATS
That's five tools, five subscriptions, and a workflow that leaks time at every handoff between them.
With Nebula inside Candidate Search AI, you get discovery, contact data, bias-free ranking, and ATS integration in one place. Those other tools aren't bad products. But if one search bar can do what all of them do together, the math gets simple.
Teams that consolidate sourcing tools typically free up enough consultant time for one additional placement per quarter per person. At an average placement fee of EUR 8,000, that's real money - not a rounding error.
See it in action
Candidate Search AI with Nebula is available now. Book a 15-minute walkthrough and search your ATS alongside 200M+ profiles, live.
Book a DemoWhere This Goes Next
This partnership is the first step in a direction we've been building toward since we launched Candidate Search AI. Recruiters shouldn't have to choose between searching their own database and searching the market. Both should happen in the same motion, from the same place.
Over the coming months, we'll tighten the integration: smarter deduplication between your ATS candidates and external profiles, deeper analytics on where your best placements actually come from, and richer candidate insights that combine what you know (from your ATS) with what Nebula knows (from the market).
Your ATS stays the foundation. Nebula extends the reach. AI connects them.
Key Takeaways
- ✓Candidate Search AI now searches both your ATS and 200M+ external profiles in one query
- ✓Nebula's proprietary recruiting models rank candidates by actual fit, not keyword overlap
- ✓Sourcing that took 60 minutes on LinkedIn now takes about 12 minutes
- ✓No new tool to learn - same natural language interface, expanded reach
- ✓Replaces standalone subscriptions to LinkedIn Recruiter, Lusha, RocketReach, and similar tools
Related Glossary Terms
AI Screening
AI screening in recruitment is automated technology that evaluates job applications at scale by analysing CVs, assessments, or video responses to identify qualified candidates. Machine learning models score applicants against predefined criteria, removing manual CV review for high-volume roles. AI screening tools integrate with ATS platforms to reduce time-to-shortlist.
Boolean Search
Boolean search is a method of building precise candidate queries using logical operators — AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks, and parentheses — to filter search results on platforms like LinkedIn Recruiter or Google. Recruiters use Boolean strings to surface passive candidates who match specific role criteria. A typical string combines job title variants, required skills, and industry terms while excluding irrelevant seniority levels.
Candidate Persona
A candidate persona is a semi-fictional profile of the ideal candidate for a role or role family — capturing their motivations, career goals, information sources, objections, and decision-making process alongside their skills and experience. Recruitment marketing teams use personas to tailor job ad copy, careers site content, and sourcing messages to what specific candidate segments actually care about. Personas are derived from interviews with successful current employees and analysis of historical hiring data.
Job Board
A job board is an online platform where employers post open vacancies and candidates search and apply for roles. General job boards (Indeed, Reed, Seek) aggregate postings across all industries; niche boards (Dice, eFinancialCareers, CWJobs) focus on specific sectors. Job boards operate on pay-per-click, pay-per-post, or subscription models, and remain the most widely used external sourcing channel despite the growth of social recruiting.
Job Wrapping
Job wrapping is a technology that automatically distributes job postings from an ATS or careers site to multiple job boards via XML feeds or APIs, eliminating the need to manually post each vacancy individually. Wrapping tools parse ATS data, format it to each board's specification, and post at scheduled intervals. This reduces time spent on job distribution from hours to minutes for agencies managing high vacancy volumes.
Customer Stories
NES Fircroft
How NES Fircroft Modernized Candidate Submissions Across 45 Offices with Candidately
NES Fircroft replaced manual email-based candidate submissions with Candidately across 45 offices and 100+ countries. The result: a streamlined, transparent recruitment process that both consultants and clients adopted within weeks.
BenchmarkIT
How BenchmarkIT Gained Visibility into Client Resume Reviews
BenchmarkIT, a boutique IT consulting firm in Stamford CT, had no way to know if clients even opened their candidate resumes. Candidately gave them real-time tracking and faster feedback loops.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a separate Nebula account?
Will external candidates get mixed in with my ATS results?
What about bias in candidate results?
Ready to place candidates faster?
AI-powered candidate search, resume formatting, and client presentation - all on top of your existing ATS.