David Farmer

David Farmer is co-founder and chief executive of Harnham, a recruitment firm that hires only for data, analytics and, increasingly, AI roles at companies in Britain, the United States and Europe. It is registered in Wimbledon, in southwest London, England, and has hubs in New York City, San Francisco, California, and Phoenix, Arizona, as well as Berlin, Germany.

Starting Harnham With Simon Clarke

Farmer and Simon Clarke started Harnham in September 2006. "We had an idea that we wanted to build a business to support the data industry," Farmer wrote in a 2025 LinkedIn post. Harnham's US team page says the two set out to be the go-to specialist recruitment partner for data work, placing people in both permanent and contract roles.

Taking Over as CEO in 2020

Farmer was chief operating officer before Harnham made him chief executive at the start of 2020, with Clarke moving to executive chairman. The firm then had 160 people across four offices. "Having been with the business since the start, I am well aware of Harnham's potential, particularly as the Data & Analytics market continues to thrive," Farmer said in the announcement.

Launching Rockborne

In 2021 Harnham launched Rockborne, a sister business that hires STEM graduates, trains them and places them with clients as junior data consultants. The launch post described an intensive 16-week program and pointed to research from Harnham's salary guide: half of data leaders said their junior staff struggled to explain their work to non-technical colleagues.

In 2022 BGF, a British growth investor, made a minority investment to help Harnham expand further in the United States and Europe. Clearwater, which advised Harnham on the deal, said the firm had more than 150 sales consultants and had more than doubled in size since 2018.

Marking a Placement Milestone in 2025

By mid-2025 Harnham and Rockborne had together placed their 15,000th candidate. "From early SAS roles to the rise of Data Science, Machine Learning and AI, our placement history mirrors the evolution of an entire industry," Farmer wrote. Harnham now presents itself as a recruiter for the talent behind data and AI work, and says it has kept that narrow focus as hiring shifted toward AI skills.