Industries / Technology and AI

Technology and AI Executive Search

Tech companies are cutting in some places and fighting for talent in others, and AI has changed what a strong leader looks like in almost every function. Here's what makes each leadership search hard right now, what to look for, and what to watch out for.

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Across our careers, we've recruited for roles like these.

A data center corridor lined with server racks
CTO · AI · PRODUCT · SECURITY · REVENUE

Our placements include organizations like

The White House · NASA · Google · Boeing · Lockheed Martin · Big 4 firms · Fortune 100 companies · DoD programs · Oil and gas · Startups

The market right now

Cutting in some places. Fighting for talent in others.

86,000

Tech jobs across the economy grew by 86,000 in August 2026, even as tech companies themselves cut 14,700. More than 320,000 of about 600,000 active tech job postings asked for AI skills.

CompTIA, September 2026

6%

44% of organizations say AI is scaling across the business, but only 6% qualify as AI high performers.

McKinsey, August 2026

85%

85% of CEOs say every functional leader must now be a technology expert.

IBM, May 2026

54%

New graduates made up only 7% of Big Tech hires (SignalFire, May 2025), and AI drew 54% of venture investment in early 2026.

Carta, May 2026

HIRING IN TECH AND AI?

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Tell us the role. We'll share what we'd look out for, whether or not you start a search with us.

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Leadership roles we recruit

The leaders tech and AI companies need most.

Every role links to our guide: why it's hard to hire right now, what to look for and what to watch out for.

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In demand now

  • Head of Forward Deployed Engineering
  • VP of Solutions Engineering
  • Head of AI Governance
  • Head of AI Security
  • AI Product Lead
  • Head of AI Platform and FinOps
  • Head of Developer Relations

How every search starts

We define what great looks like before we contact anyone.

Every search starts with an intake that goes deeper than the job description. Here's how a search brief reads for a CTO in technology and ai, built from our role guide below.

Start a Search See a candidate website
Search brief · private

Search brief

CTO

Technology and AI

Must-haves

  • Evidence of how AI changed their team's delivery, with reliability numbers, not just speed.
  • A record of building teams.
  • Credibility as a hands-on player-coach.

Screen out

  • "AI made us faster" with no reliability data.
  • Leaders who were only effective with a large platform organization around them.

Where we'll look

Companies like yoursCompanies one funding stage aheadAI-native startupsBig Tech teams building what you buildEnterprise software companiesLeaders who aren't looking
Pay dataThe BLS median for computer and information systems managers is $175,140 (May 2025).

Sample search brief, for illustration

Role guides

What to look for in every tech and AI leadership hire.

CEO and President

Why it's hard right now

Many external tech CEO searches follow an unplanned transition, so there is rarely a clean template for the role.

What to look for

  • Experience at your stage and revenue range.
  • Has led a company through a product or platform shift.
  • Strong with boards and investors.
  • Grows efficiently with a lean team.

Watch out for

  • A large-company executive stepping into an early-stage company without a plan for the change.
  • An AI story with no product or revenue result behind it.
  • A pattern of stints under three years.
Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP
CTO, VP of Engineering and Engineering Managers

Why it's hard right now

Engineering leaders are being asked to deliver more with AI and smaller teams. 73% now rank managing AI agents as their top skill priority, and 54% of CTOs say they feel emotionally drained every week. (LeadDev, June 2026)

What to look for

  • Evidence of how AI changed their team's delivery, with reliability numbers, not just speed.
  • Google's DORA research found AI hurts delivery stability unless testing and version control are strong (Google DORA, September 2025).
  • A record of building teams, and credibility as a hands-on player-coach.

Watch out for

  • "AI made us faster" with no reliability data.
  • Leaders who were only effective with a large platform organization around them.

Pay dataThe BLS median for computer and information systems managers is $175,140 (May 2025).

Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP
Chief AI Officer, Head of AI and Head of Machine Learning

Why it's hard right now

The title means very different things at different companies. Estimates of how many large organizations have a Chief AI Officer range from 38.5% (Data & AI Leadership Exchange, December 2025) to 76% (IBM, May 2026). Frontier AI labs have also pushed pay expectations to extremes.

What to look for

  • AI in production with measurable business impact.
  • MIT research found only about 5% of custom enterprise AI tools reach production (MIT NANDA, August 2025).
  • Also look for evaluation discipline, data readiness and governance, and sound build-versus-buy judgment.

Watch out for

  • A portfolio of pilots and demos.
  • A research profile for an applied role, or the reverse.
  • A relabeled title with no real scope.

Pay dataAt startups, median AI and machine learning engineer salary rose 9.1% and median initial equity grants rose 31% from January 2024 to February 2026. (Carta, May 2026)

Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP
VP and Director of Product

Why it's hard right now

There are more than 7,300 open product manager roles, the most since 2022, and demand for AI product managers is climbing fastest. (Lenny's Newsletter with TrueUp data, March 2026)

What to look for

  • AI features shipped with measured adoption.
  • Comfort with evaluations and unpredictable model outputs.
  • Pricing and packaging experience.
  • Awareness of inference costs.

Watch out for

  • Roadmap owners who manage process but not outcomes.
  • "AI product" experience that was only a thin wrapper around a model.
Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP
Chief Data Officer and Head of Data

Why it's hard right now

70% of chief data and analytics officers now own AI strategy (Gartner, May 2025), and 93.2% of large enterprises say culture, not technology, is the main barrier to AI adoption. (Data & AI Leadership Exchange, December 2025)

What to look for

  • AI-ready data (quality, lineage and governance) tied to AI that actually shipped.
  • The ability to measure business value.
  • Influence with executives.

Watch out for

  • Governance-only profiles.
  • Platform builders who can't point to business results.
Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP
CISO and Head of Security

Why it's hard right now

59% of organizations report critical or significant security skills gaps, and AI is now the most-needed security skill. (ISC2, December 2025)

What to look for

  • AI and agent security, board-level communication, cloud security depth, and leadership through real incidents.

Watch out for

  • Checklist-compliance leaders without engineering credibility.
  • Tool buyers.
Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP
VP of Infrastructure, Platform and DevOps

Why it's hard right now

90% of organizations have adopted at least one internal platform, and platform quality now decides how much value AI delivers. (Google DORA, September 2025)

What to look for

  • Runs the platform like a product with developer-experience metrics.
  • Reliability targets and discipline.
  • Owns cloud and compute costs.
  • GPU and inference infrastructure for AI companies.

Watch out for

  • Tool-first thinking.
  • No cost accountability.
  • Experience only at hyperscale.
Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP
Chief Revenue Officer, VP of Sales, CMO and VP of Customer Success

Why it's hard right now

Growth now has to be efficient, and marketing leaders face new AI expectations. Gartner predicts that by 2027, weak AI literacy will be one of the top three reasons CMOs are replaced. (Gartner, February 2026)

What to look for

  • Efficient-growth metrics such as net revenue retention and CAC payback.
  • Experience selling usage-priced or AI products.
  • Customer Success leaders who own expansion revenue.

Watch out for

  • Results that depended on 2021-era budgets.
  • Quota claims you can't verify.
  • Marketing leaders who hand AI off to their teams.
Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP
Founding, Staff and Principal Engineers

Why it's hard right now

AI and machine learning is now one of the best-paid tracks in engineering, and early-stage teams are small, so every senior hire carries more weight.

What to look for

  • Systems built from zero to one, end to end.
  • Good judgment using AI coding agents.
  • Product sense.
  • Strong written design leadership.

Watch out for

  • Inflated titles.
  • Specialists who need a lot of support around them.
  • Candidates who can't separate their own work from what AI tools produced.
Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP

How TAP runs this search

Where we find tech and AI leaders.

We start with an intake that goes deeper than the job description, then map who is doing this job today at companies like yours, including leaders who aren't looking. Every candidate is interviewed in depth before you meet them, and you get a private website on each finalist: interview video, a rating on each of your requirements, compensation, timing and why we recommend them. Our goal is your hire from the first two candidates we present.

See how every search runs What's on a candidate website
Your roleCTOAdjacent sectorsCompanies like yours
  • AI-native startups
  • Big Tech teams
  • Enterprise software
  • Cloud and infrastructure
  • Fintech and health tech
  • Companies one stage ahead

Leaders who aren't looking

  1. 01

    Intake

    Deeper than the job description.

  2. 02

    Map

    Who is doing this job today at companies like yours.

  3. 03

    Interview

    Every candidate, in depth, before you meet them.

  4. 04

    Candidate website

    Video, ratings on your requirements, pay and timing.

  5. 05

    Hire

    Our goal: your hire from the first two candidates we present.

A data center corridor lined with server racks

Talk with TAP

Hiring for one of these roles, or want a second opinion on how to recruit for it?

Across our careers, we've recruited for roles like these. Tell us what you're hiring for and we'll share what we'd look out for, whether or not you start a search with us.

Start a Search Talk With TAP
Jonathan Tureau

Jonathan Tureau

Founder & Principal Recruiter

Founder-led, on every search. 17 years in recruiting, and a third-generation recruiter.

FAQ

Questions about tech and AI leadership searches.

Still have a question? Talk With TAP

How long does a technology leadership search take?

Most of our searches take 4 to 10 weeks, depending on the role and the market. Senior AI searches can take longer when the pool is small.

Can TAP recruit AI leaders when big AI labs are paying record packages?

Yes. Most companies don't need a frontier researcher. They need a leader who has put AI into production and tied it to business results. That's the profile we focus on, and it's a much wider pool.

What does TAP charge for a technology leadership search?

25% of the new leader's first-year compensation. On most packages, an engagement fee paid at the start is credited toward it, and the placement fee is invoiced on your new leader's start date. See the full fee guide.

Industries

Other industries we recruit for.

All Industries and Roles
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Energy, Oil and Gas

Operations, engineering, HSE, projects, commercial and power leaders.

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Manufacturing and Industrial

Plant managers, operations, quality, supply chain and EHS leaders.

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Aerospace, Defense and Government

Program, engineering, contracts, capture and cleared leaders.

A scientist working with a sample in a laboratory

Healthcare and Life Sciences

CEOs, CMOs, CNOs, revenue cycle, regulatory and IT leaders.

A resort pool and open-air lobby lit at dusk

Hospitality, Travel and Luxury

General managers, guest experience, revenue, brand and luxury retail leaders.

A high-rise under construction beside a city promenade at dusk

Construction, Infrastructure and Real Estate

Construction directors, superintendents, heavy civil and highway operators, development and estimating leaders.

Sources 14 citedLast reviewed September 2026
  1. CompTIA, tech jobs analysis, September 2026
  2. McKinsey, The State of AI, August 2026
  3. IBM CEO Study, May 2026
  4. Carta, startup compensation report, May 2026
  5. SignalFire, State of Talent Report, May 2025
  6. LeadDev, Engineering Leadership Report 2026, June 2026
  7. Google DORA, 2025 report, September 2025
  8. Data & AI Leadership Exchange, 2026 AI & Data Leadership Executive Benchmark Survey, December 2025
  9. MIT NANDA research via Virtualization Review, August 2025
  10. Lenny's Newsletter, state of the product job market, March 2026
  11. Gartner, chief data and analytics officer survey, May 2025
  12. ISC2, 2025 Cybersecurity Workforce Study, December 2025
  13. Gartner, CMO survey, February 2026
  14. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, computer and information systems managers