Hanson Search’s AI Executive Search practice, part of Hanson Technology, helps organisations hire the leaders who turn artificial intelligence from ambition into advantage. We advise FTSE 100 corporates, high-growth technology businesses, financial services institutions, sovereign-backed entities and private equity portfolio companies on Chief AI Officer, Head of AI and senior machine learning appointments where the right hire defines whether an AI strategy delivers or stalls.

AI leadership is the most contested talent market in the world right now. The people who can build AI capability, govern it responsibly and connect it to commercial value are scarce, sought after and almost never on the open market. Hiring them takes a search built on genuine technology networks, not a job advert.

Senior AI Roles We Recruit

Our AI Executive Search practice covers the senior end of the AI and machine learning market. We place Chief AI Officers, Heads of AI, Heads of Machine Learning, Heads of Data Science, Heads of AI Engineering and VPs of AI Product.

We also lead AI recruitment for the leadership roles shaping responsible adoption: Heads of AI Governance, Heads of AI Ethics and Safety, AI transformation leaders and the commercial leaders who turn AI capability into revenue.

The brief is rarely just technical. Our clients want a leader who can build the technology, govern it well, and explain its value to a board that is still learning the language.

Why AI Executive Search Is Different

AI hiring does not behave like other technology recruitment. Three things set it apart.

The talent is genuinely scarce. The number of people who have built and scaled real AI systems is small, and the largest technology companies are paying record sums to keep them. Standing out as an employer takes more than a competitive package.

The best candidates are passive. They are building, not job-hunting, and they will only move for the right problem, the right team and the right level of ambition. Reaching them depends on networks and credibility, not advertising.

The role keeps evolving. The Chief AI Officer barely existed a few years ago, and the remit still varies wildly between organisations. Getting the hire right starts with defining the role honestly before the search even begins.

The strongest candidates combine deep technical credibility with commercial judgement, an instinct for responsible and safe deployment, and the presence to lead at board level.

How We Approach AI Executive Search

Every AI Executive Search is led personally by a senior consultant, from first briefing to final offer. We do not pass mandates down a chain or rely on databases that go stale within months in a market moving this fast.

The strongest AI leader for your business is rarely the obvious one. They might be deep inside a research lab, leading a function at a hyperscaler, advising from a consultancy or building inside a fast-scaling start-up. So we map widely across research, industry and high-growth technology, and assess every candidate on technical credibility, commercial judgement, responsible-AI instinct and board-level presence.

Diverse and inclusive shortlists are prioritised on every mandate. As a B Corp, responsible search is built into how we work.

Speak to Our AI Executive Search Team

If you are hiring a Chief AI Officer, Head of AI or senior machine learning leader, we would welcome a confidential conversation. We advise organisations across the UK, Europe, the US and the Middle East, from FTSE 100 corporates and high-growth technology businesses to financial institutions, sovereign-backed entities and private equity portfolio companies.

Get in touch