Retained AI executive search usually costs 25% to 33% of the hire’s first-year cash compensation. That’s the going rate. Almost every established firm quotes somewhere inside it, so comparing percentages won’t tell you much, and the better question is what a firm will do in the months it spends on your search.
The question comes up more often now. IBM’s 2026 CEO Study found that 76% of organizations now have a Chief AI Officer, up from 26% the year before. That’s a lot of first-time searches. A company hiring for the seat for the first time usually gets a stack of proposals, and they all mention AI and read almost the same.
How Do AI Executive Search Firms Price Their Services?
Five models cover most of the market. Some firms combine two.
[Table 1]
Retained Search
C-suite, VP and board searches are mostly bought this way. One firm gets the search, exclusively. It bills in stages, often a third at kickoff, a third at the shortlist and the rest when the offer is accepted, and the total lands between 25% and 33% of first-year cash compensation (base plus target bonus).
Check the expense clause. Candidate travel, assessments and background checks are sometimes extra, and guarantees vary in length and in what counts as a hire that didn’t work out.
Contingency Search
Contingency recruiters get paid when someone is hired. Not before. The usual fee is 18% to 25% of first-year base salary, and since nobody has exclusivity, two or three agencies may chase the same role at once, each trying to get résumés in front of you first.
Speed wins in that setup. So the candidates you see are mostly the ones already looking, which is fine for volume hiring and a problem for a confidential Chief AI Officer search.
Hybrid and Container Models
A hybrid or container deal splits the difference. You pay a smaller retainer upfront and the balance at placement, which puts some risk on both sides. It’s common for VP and director roles that come with a deadline and a decent pool of candidates.
Research, Subscription and AI Platform Pricing
Some firms sell research on its own. That might be a market map or a list of names, billed hourly or per profile. AI recruiting platforms charge a subscription or a fee per slate.
Both can cost less per hire. Once the list arrives, though, everything else is on your team, and everything else is where the time goes.
What Does a Retained Search Fee Cover?
Months of work. A good firm starts by agreeing on the role with the CEO or board, then maps the market well past direct competitors. Most of the time goes into quiet outreach to people who aren’t job hunting and wouldn’t answer an ad. Interviews and references come later. So does the offer, and a firm worth its fee stays involved until it’s signed.
Four answers are worth getting in writing before the engagement letter is signed:
- How many candidates will be on the shortlist, and by what date?
- Which expenses sit outside the fee?
- How long does the guarantee last, and what does it cover?
- Which companies can’t the firm recruit from because they’re existing clients?
People forget the last one. It matters. A firm with a long client list can be barred from approaching the exact executives you were hoping to meet.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Head of AI or VP of Engineering Through Search?
Take a public company with 3,000 employees that wants a Head of AI. Christian & Timbers’ 2026 Corporate AI Compensation Study puts base pay for that role at $300,000 to $525,000 at companies of that size, with bonus on top.
Assume first-year cash of $500,000. At 25% to 33%, the retained fee is $125,000 to $165,000, or roughly $42,000 to $55,000 per installment if it’s billed in thirds.
Contingency math is simpler. A VP of Engineering on a $240,000 base costs $43,200 to $60,000 at 18% to 25%. If nobody is hired, it costs nothing.
Real quotes move around with scope and with how scarce the candidates are. Still, the fee is small next to the cost of a wrong hire. Gallup puts the cost of replacing a leader or manager at around 200% of their salary.
How Can You Tell Whether a Search Firm’s AI Is Real?
The quickest test is a walkthrough of a past search.
Every firm says it uses AI now, and the label stretches a long way. At one end is semantic search across patents, research papers and code repositories. At the other is a faster LinkedIn filter. A firm with real tooling can show you a candidate it surfaced that others missed, maybe a researcher whose patents told a different story than their title, or an engineer whose open-source work proved the depth the job needed. Vague answers usually mean the AI lives in the pitch deck.
Tooling has a ceiling, too. It maps a market fast. What it can’t do is tell you how someone will handle a tough board meeting, and for that you still need interviews and conversations with people who’ve worked alongside them.
How Should Companies Compare AI Search Firms?
Seniority settles most of it. A Chief AI Officer or a board seat points to retained search, while a director role can often be handled through hybrid or contingency.
Then there’s technical fluency. If the consultants can’t talk through ML infrastructure or model evaluation, how will they tell a strong candidate from one who simply interviews well?
Deliverables and guarantee terms come next. They protect the money. For a role that crosses borders, it’s also worth asking how far the firm’s network reaches and how it handles relocation.
How Does Christian & Timbers Price AI Executive Search?
Christian & Timbers works on a retained basis. Fees typically fall between 25% and 33%, and the scope is agreed for each search. Its AI practice recruits Chief AI Officers, Heads of AI, VPs of AI, AI Directors and VPs of AI Transformation, and it also places CTOs, CPTOs and VPs of Engineering.
Searches start with OnPoint Scorecarding. Before a single candidate is contacted, the firm and the client write down what success in the role should look like, and finalists are later measured against that scorecard. The firm brings more than 40 years in executive search and over 5,000 C-suite searches to the work, for clients that include Amazon, Apple, Oracle and McAfee.
Questions Boards Ask About AI Search Firm Pricing
What Is the Difference Between Retained, Contingency and Hybrid Search Pricing?
Retained search is exclusive and paid in stages, usually 25% to 33% of first-year cash compensation. Contingency is paid only when someone is hired. It typically runs 18% to 25% of first-year base salary. Hybrid sits in between, with a smaller retainer upfront and a success fee at placement.
How Much Does an AI Executive Search Cost?
For a retained search, typically 25% to 33% of first-year cash compensation. A Head of AI earning $500,000 in first-year cash would mean a fee of roughly $125,000 to $165,000.
Do AI-Powered Search Firms Charge Less?
Sometimes, per hire. AI platforms and research services can come in cheaper, but the hiring company picks up more of the outreach and assessment work. Retained firms that use AI tools generally keep standard retained fees.
What Should a Retained Search Fee Include?
Defining the role, mapping the market, confidential outreach to passive candidates, assessment and referencing, plus support through the offer. Expenses and guarantees differ by firm. Get both in writing.
Why Does Pricing Transparency Matter When Choosing an AI Search Firm?
Clear terms show what the fee buys, from shortlist timing to expenses and replacement guarantees. They also make proposals from different firms far easier to compare.
Contacting Christian & Timbers
Christian & Timbers is a retained executive search firm for AI and technology leadership. Much of its work is with passive candidates, the kind who rarely answer job postings. Companies planning a Chief AI Officer, Head of AI or VP of Engineering search can reach the firm at hello@christian-timbers.com.
