Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence executive search is a retained headhunting service for leadership roles, and it is a separate discipline from the AI recruitment software some employers use to screen applications. We pair specialist knowledge of the technology market with an extensive network of proven leaders, and we assess more than credentials and experience. We look for individuals with the technical authority, commercial judgement and governance discipline to make a lasting impact.

Senior AI leadership is still a young field, and its titles have not settled yet. One title might cover a researcher who runs a model team, an executive in charge of an organisation-wide adoption programme, or a governance lead who reports to the board. Our AI headhunters begin every assignment by establishing which of these the organisation needs.

AI leadership roles we appoint

Stone Executive appoints across AI leadership, from the executive who owns an organisation’s AI strategy through to the functional heads who create, oversee and bring it to market. AI appointments are usually made at director and executive committee level, where one appointment can decide how much return an organisation gets from its AI investment.

• Chief AI officers and chief data and AI officers setting organisation-wide strategy
• Heads of AI building and leading a first AI team
• Heads of machine learning, applied science and AI product
• Responsible AI and AI governance leads, where oversight answers to the board
• Chief executives and commercial leaders at AI-native companies
• Non-executive directors who bring AI expertise into the boardroom

Machine learning executive search draws on a different candidate population from general technology leadership. The strongest candidates have usually moved models from testing into live operation. They can also tell a board, in plain language, what the systems they built do and where their limits are.

AI-native and AI-adopting organisations

Our AI practice distinguishes between two types of organisation. AI-native companies build artificial intelligence into the products they sell, while AI-adopting organisations use it to change how an established business operates, and each requires a different leader, from the background of the candidate to the reporting line of the role.

Across the firm, most of our board searches are for SMEs turning over £15m to £50m and for larger companies of £50m to £200m. For an organisation of that size, a first head of AI or chief AI officer raises questions that a large group will already have settled: where the role reports, how much of it is strategy and how much is hands-on delivery, and whether the budget supports a seat on the executive committee. When a private-equity-backed business makes the appointment, it is usually linked to the value-creation plan. The brief therefore depends on which AI use cases can show a return during the hold period, and on whether the candidate has delivered at that pace before.

For AI-native businesses, whether they are scale-ups building their own models or software companies selling AI within their product, the brief centres on technical credibility and the ability to scale a team through rapid growth. These searches draw on the same network as our AI software and SaaS leadership work and our wider technology and digital leadership practice.

Chief AI officer, head of AI, chief data officer or CTO: choosing the right appointment

The right AI appointment depends on how central artificial intelligence is to the strategy and on which executive already owns data and technology. A chief AI officer owns AI strategy at executive level, a head of AI leads delivery, a chief data officer owns the data itself, and a chief technology officer owns the wider technology platform.

Chief AI officer

The chief AI officer is an executive committee role, accountable for where the organisation uses artificial intelligence, what it invests and how the risks are governed. This fits organisations that put AI at the centre of their strategy, or where the board is looking for one executive to be accountable for it.

Head of AI

A head of AI leads the team that builds and runs AI systems, usually reporting to a CTO, a chief data officer or a chief operating officer. In many mid-market organisations, it is the right first appointment, as it builds delivery capability before an executive post is set up.

Chief data officer and chief data and AI officer

The chief data officer is accountable for the organisation’s data, its quality and its governance. Every AI programme relies on that base. If the two agendas are tightly linked, some organisations merge them into a chief data and AI officer. That role fits a leader with a track record in data platforms and applied AI.

Chief technology officer

At smaller organisations, and across many AI-native businesses, AI falls under the CTO’s remit, and the CTO appointment is where that capability is secured. Those searches run through our chief technology officer appointments practice. Where AI sits with the chief information officer or a chief digital officer, we run the search alongside our chief information and chief digital officer practice.

What separates a credible AI leader

A credible AI leader brings together technical depth, the commercial judgement to pick use cases that pay back, and the governance discipline that boards and regulators expect. We assess each of these carefully through structured interviews and referencing, looking for clear evidence of what a candidate has delivered.

We look for leaders who have moved AI systems from pilot into live operation, who can set out the cost and the failure modes of what they built, and who have worked with legal, risk and compliance colleagues on how models are governed. In regulated sectors such as financial services, where automated decisions affect customers directly, that governance record often weighs as much in the assessment as technical ability.

Our AI search process

Our AI search process is a retained, research-led sequence with four stages. A partner leads it from brief to appointment. A typical search runs four to eight weeks from briefing to offer acceptance, depending on the organisation’s availability.

Weeks 1 to 2: Brief and market map. We sit down with the chief executive, board or investor who owns the appointment. Together we define the role, who it reports to, and the AI agenda it takes on. After that, we map candidates from AI-native businesses, technology companies and adjacent sectors.

Weeks 2 to 4: Discreet approach. The strongest AI leaders are already in post and approached often. We make every approach personally, with a clear account of the opportunity, the budget and the executive sponsorship behind it.

Weeks 4 to 6: Assessment and shortlist. We put forward a considered shortlist of candidates, each with a written profile covering technical track record, commercial and governance judgement, motivation and our own assessment.

Weeks 6 to 8: Offer and appointment. We handle final interviews, the offer and acceptance, and stay in touch through the notice period and the first months in the role.

Track record in AI and technology appointments

Stone Executive has been a retained headhunting practice for twenty years and has completed more than 1,000 senior appointments across its sectors. The firm is recognised in the Financial Times’ UK’s Leading Recruiters 2024, operates from six UK offices and is boutique by design. Every search is partner-led from brief to appointment.

Our current work includes a live chief technology officer search in fintech for an FCA-regulated consumer credit provider, where the brief covers the use of AI, alternative data and automation in underwriting and decisioning. In a regulated organisation, AI leadership often falls under the wider technology remit. Our AI executive search follows the same research-led discipline as all of our wider executive search work.

FAQs

To discuss a chief AI officer, head of AI or senior technology appointment, please contact our team on 0333 800 1560.