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Chief AI Officer search.

Companies with an AI mandate from the board and no one who owns it. Enterprise and mid-size more than startups, where the seat is usually a Head of AI under the CTO.

CAIOReports to
CEO
The seat

What breaks when it is empty.

The newest seat on the chart and the one most often defined wrong. Half the market means research, half means enablement.

Reports toCEO
ShortlistWeeks 4 to 6
Comp bandStated in writing on day zero
VerifiedEvery finalist Syfter Certified
FeeIn thirds. Final third at day 90
Your lineOur advice

CEO for enablement mandates. CTO or CPO when the seat is really Head of AI with a bigger title.

How longTypical

Shortlist in 4 to 6 weeks. Comp bands still moving; ours stated in writing on day zero.

Why us for this seat

We ask one question before opening the search: research or enablement. The answer changes the title, the reporting line, the comp band, and the entire pool.

The chart

What one hire does to the org.

A Chief AI Officer hire opens the Head of AI seat under it and pulls the data platform and Chief Data Officer conversation forward, because the AI mandate stands on the data foundation.

Seats this hire opens or changes
Head of AIHead of Applied MLChief Data OfficerVP Data
See it drawn on the chart
Why us for the AI seats

The founder running your search runs an AI company.

Steven Perlman founded and runs AiRR, a platform that measures how brands appear inside AI search. It is not a side interest and it is not a slide. It means the person scoping your Chief AI Officer search spends his week inside the same model behavior, the same vendor landscape, and the same enablement questions your hire will own on day one.

What it changesThe first call
Research or enablementSettled before the search opens
Build or buyAffects the pool more than the title
Who owns model riskThis seat or the CISO. Not both
Title inflationHead of AI with a bigger title is a different search

Most firms take your title and go look for it. We argue about the title first, because on this seat the title is usually the problem.

The engagement

Where retained meets contingent.

A third when the search opens, a third when your CAIO signs, a third once they have been in the seat for ninety days.

01
ChooseScope
Retained search
Retained, interim or fractional. You tell us the seat, the reporting line, and the mandate. We tell you what the market will and will not give you for it.
02
SignFirst third
The search opens
Both founders on the kickoff. Reporting line, comp band, and the three ways this hire could fail, in writing.
03
Weeks 1 to 6What you get
Market map, then the shortlist
Every finalist Syfter Certified, one-pager and stamp attached. Weekly, from the people running it.
04
OfferSecond third
Your executive signs
Not when we present a shortlist. When the person you chose says yes.
05
Day 90Final third
In the seat, working
The executive is in place and the team under them is better for it. That is where we want to be paid.
Syfter Certified

Verified before the seat is offered.

Five points, run on every executive we present, before you see the file. The stamp goes on the one-pager and travels with the candidate.

The protocol
  1. 01

    Human Verified Presence

    A live video conversation with a US-based Syfter recruiter. No recorded responses, no proxies. A real person, confirmed before the file reaches you.

  2. 02

    Geo-Location Verification

    The candidate is physically where they say they are. Location fraud creates tax and employment compliance risk for the hiring company. This point removes it.

  3. 03

    AI Interview Prevention

    Camera on, no virtual backgrounds. The recruiter sees the actual environment and a person speaking for themselves. No coaching tools, no interview bots, no scripted playback.

  4. 04

    Multi-Channel Identity Validation

    LinkedIn, resume, and everything said in the interview, cross-referenced in real time. The primary defense against fabricated profiles and bait-and-switch submissions.

  5. 05

    Syfter Trust Guarantee

    Every candidate signs the Trust Guarantee before submission. Every submission carries a timestamped Certificate of Completion and the Syfter Certified stamp.

Other seats

The rest of the chart.

CTOCIOCISOCHROCPOAll seats
Start here

Tell us about the CAIO seat.

The reporting line, the mandate, and the date it needs to be filled. A written point of view from Steven within 48 hours.

Point to the seatConfidential inquiry