Every search firm now has a database. Few have a point of view. The difference shows up in the third meeting with a chair, when the question is no longer who exists but who will take the work, on what terms, and at what cost to the culture.
We use data the way a good counsel uses precedent: to narrow the field, not to decide the case. References are taken early, not as theatre at the end. Candidates are told the truth about the brief, including the parts the client would rather we soften.
A modern shortlist is short. If it needs a dozen names, the brief is unfinished.