CTO recruitment for UK businesses.

Hiring a CTO is the most consequential technology decision a business makes. We find chief technology officers who have built engineering teams, shipped systems people depend on, and can lead the AI work that is now on almost every board's agenda — not just talk about it.

Talk to us about a CTO search How the search works
At a glance
  • Permanent CTOs for UK businesses.
  • Run by the founder, start to finish.
  • Screened for leadership track record and AI judgement.
  • Confidential when it needs to be.
  • 20% of first-year base salary. No retainer.

Why hire your CTO through an AI recruiter

Whatever your business does, your next CTO will be asked what you are doing about AI. Most can give a good answer in an interview. Far fewer have actually done it.

We can test the AI claims

We assess AI and ML engineers every day, so we know the difference between a leader who has put a model into production and one who has approved a chatbot pilot. That is the first thing we probe, not something you find out a year in.

They will need to hire

A CTO's first year is mostly hiring. We know what AI and engineering talent costs in the UK and where else to find it, so we can tell you whether a candidate's plan for building the team is realistic.

One person runs it

The candidates you want are employed and not answering recruiters. They will take a call from someone who understands the role. That is the founder, and the founder runs every search.

What we screen for

Evidence, not job titles. Before a candidate reaches you we want to have seen:

  • Teams built, not inherited. Who they hired, who stayed, and how the team changed while they led it.
  • Systems shipped and kept running. Architecture decisions they made and lived with, including the ones they would change.
  • AI they have actually delivered. What went into production, what it cost to run, and what they chose not to build.
  • Commercial sense. Budgets owned, build-versus-buy calls made, and technology explained to a board.
  • The right stage. A first CTO for a startup and a CTO for a 200-person engineering function are different jobs. We match the one you have.
  • Security and data judgement. How they have handled personal data, access and incidents — more pressing once AI systems touch customer data.

Hiring a CTO: how the search works

Whether you are hiring a first CTO for a startup or replacing one at an established business, the search follows the same four steps.

A proper brief

What the business needs from technology over the next three years, the team as it is, the budget, and who the CTO reports to.

An honest market read

How many people realistically fit, what they earn now, and what it will take to move them. If the brief needs changing, we say so.

Search and screening

We approach people directly, most of whom are not looking, and go through their track record in depth before you meet anyone.

Your process, your call

You run the interviews and make the decision. We handle the logistics and the offer, including notice periods and equity conversations.

Once your CTO is in, we can help them build the team: AI developers and ML engineers in the UK, or remotely from China.

Common questions

The same as any permanent UK hire through us: 20% of the CTO's first-year base salary, the guaranteed salary in their offer before bonus, equity or benefits. There is no retainer — the fee is only due if you hire someone we introduce.

No. We recruit CTOs for UK businesses generally. What we bring that a generalist does not is a recruiter who spends every day assessing AI and ML engineers, so we can tell you whether a candidate can lead the AI work most businesses now have on their roadmap, or only talk about it.

It can be. Many CTO searches replace someone still in post, or happen before the board has told the team. We can run the search without naming you until a candidate is far enough along to need to know.

Yes. A first CTO is a different hire from a CTO for an established engineering function — the job is more building and less managing — and we brief and screen for the one you actually need.

We will give you a realistic timeline on the first call. Most strong CTO candidates are employed and on notice periods of three months or more, so plan the start date around that rather than around the search.

The founder, from the first call to the signed offer. There is no account manager and no hand-off to a junior researcher, which matters more for a CTO than for any other hire: the candidates you want will only talk to someone who understands the role.

Full details on our UK hiring fees.

Looking for a CTO?

Tell us about the business and the role, and we'll come back to you within one working day.

Start a CTO search