Christian & Timbers serves boards, CEOs, and investors who need Chief AI Officers that turn research, data, and infrastructure into measurable enterprise value. As Chief AI Officer Headhunters, we focus on CAIO Recruitment for companies that treat AI as a core system, not a side project. Our work covers hyperscale cloud, data infrastructure, cybersecurity, fintech, health technology, industrial platforms, and high-growth software.
Clients come to Christian & Timbers when a Chief AI Officer search must deliver leadership that understands models and markets at the same time. Each engagement aligns architecture, governance, and commercial strategy around a single AI leader.
Modern CAIO roles sit at the intersection of science, product, and risk. A Chief AI Officer guides model strategy, data platforms, and AI safety practices while shaping the story for boards, regulators, and customers.
Design model and data roadmaps that support long term product strategy
Work with CTOs, CPOs, and CROs on pricing, packaging, and usage models
Build research, engineering, and applied teams across multiple locations
Implement AI governance, red teaming, and evaluation frameworks
A strong AI strategy depends on more than a single CAIO hire. Our data and AI executive search work includes:
Chief AI Officers for global enterprises and AI native companies
Heads of AI, heads of ML, and heads of data science for growth stages
VP AI headhunters support for companies that require execution oriented leaders
SVP AI recruiting firm support for scaled organizations with complex portfolios
VP AI executive search firms style engagements for platform, product, and applied AI leads
In each case, Christian & Timbers focuses on leaders who translate model capability into product features, revenue impact, and defensible differentiation. This includes AI safety specialists, evaluation leaders, and experts in RLHF, red teaming, and policy alignment, especially in sectors under close regulatory attention.
Every Chief AI Officer search follows a clear, research-led process.
Discovery and mandate definition
We start with working sessions that involve the CEO, board members, investors, and key functional leaders. Together we define:
Strategic role of AI in the business over the next three to five years
Model and data architecture today and the desired target state
Org design, budget authority, and relationships with product, engineering, and security
Governance structure, risk appetite, and external expectations from regulators and customers
Assessment and shortlisting
Candidates are assessed on several dimensions:
Depth in model architectures, training pipelines, and evaluation frameworks
Ability to design organizations that bring together research, engineering, and product
Experience with AI governance, security, and compliance in complex environments
Track record of attracting and retaining high performing AI and data talent
Boards evaluating Chief AI Officer Headhunters look for partners with both scientific depth and commercial judgment. Christian & Timbers brings several advantages.
Technical and scientific fluency
Our team spends time with chief scientists, AI researchers, security architects, and platform engineers. This context supports structured conversations about architectures, training stacks, evaluation methods, and deployment strategies during Chief AI Officer search processes.
Commercial and product orientation
CAIO Recruitment at Christian & Timbers centers on tangible business outcomes. We explore how candidates influence ARR, margin, customer satisfaction, and time to value. Many of our placements report directly to the CEO and shape the full product roadmap.
Risk, governance, and security
AI leaders now manage model abuse risks, safety controls, and alignment with regulation. Our data and AI executive search work includes profiles that handle high stakes environments such as financial services, healthcare, critical infrastructure, and national security-related applications.
Global perspective
-Christian & Timbers operates across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The CAIO headhunters team understands how AI regulation, data residency, and talent pools differ by region and adjusts search strategies accordingly.
We’ve partnered with Christian & Timbers for many years, and their team is exceptionally professional, responsive, and energetic. Thanks to their efforts, we secured an outstanding CEO and Operating Partner who have strengthened our leadership and positioned a portfolio company for long-term success.
Partner and Chief Operating Officer
Christian & Timbers is an outstanding search firm to work with in AI and cyber security. Their data-driven and bespoke approach has been pivotal in recruiting GTM leaders and board members for our portfolio companies like SecurityScorecard. The GTM President, CMO, SVP Sales, CPO and SVP Engineering have helped drive growth by 2X.
Partner
I’ve trusted Jeff and Christian & Timbers for over two decades because they always deliver. Their hands-on, relentless process brings us top leaders who know how to scale, drive performance, and deliver the best outcomes. They drove a very disciplined process recruiting a CRO and CMO for one of Bessemer’s portcos that helped us achieve a critical exit.
Operating Partner
Jeff’s broad experience and unique insights are always helpful, and he facilitated a great board role match for my interests and goals.
CEO
Jeff and the team at Christian & Timbers were professional, communicative, and extremely responsive. They ensured the entire process was focused on what our company needed and did not push candidates they believed wouldn’t fit our culture and growth. I would work with them again without hesitation.
Vice President, Operations
Christian & Timbers’ science-based methodology and rigorous process helped us find 3 top-tier GTM leaders that know our business and drive revenue. Their approach has been crucial to our company’s growth and leadership.
CEO
Christian & Timbers did an awesome job on a tough CFO search for us. We were interviewing the best local candidates with PE and SaaS experience in less than 2 weeks and met a short timeline.
CEO
The team at Christian & Timbers drove a very tight process and completed our CISO search in less than 70 days. We needed someone in Boston with a very specific skill set. C&T executes exactly as they commit.
CEO
Organizations that search for caio headhunters, Chief AI Officer Headhunters, CAIO Recruitment, Chief AI Officer search, data and AI executive search, and SVP AI recruiting firm seek a partner that understands both frontier research and enterprise scale transformation. They also look for VP AI headhunters and VP AI executive search firms that can build teams around the CAIO.
Christian & Timbers delivers that combination. Our work helps companies appoint AI leaders who set clear direction, manage risk, and unlock durable growth.