CAIO: Not the Next Title—The New Foundation

CAIO! This is not a misspelled Italian greeting; it’s the signpost signaling the rise of the Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer.

We’ve seen a surge in organizations (financial sponsors and their portcos) racing to appoint their first CAIO and we’ve helped them develop the requirements and recruit the best talent for this new C-Suite appointment. But what’s next?

According to a recent AWS study surveying over 3,700 C-suite executives globally, 60% of large enterprises have already appointed a Chief AI Officer (CAIO), and another 26% plan to do so by 2026 pointing to nearly 9 out of 10 organizations will have CAIO-level leadership in place within two years. But appointing a CAIO is not “mission accomplished”!

AI cannot be a project, initiative or lost in a silo. AI must be foundational, a first principle for every function and every C-suite leader.

We engage with AI-First companies to drive alignment across all exec hiring and functions:

· CEOs pressure testing strategy, GTM models, partnerships and product roadmaps, laser focused on improving the velocity of innovation and profitable revenue growth.
· Product leaders launching GenAI-native applications and platform enhancements.
· Finance leaders building more nimble and efficient teams and business processes.
· HR reshaping workforce models, training and onboarding programs with AI.
· Commercial leaders leveraging AI to drive pipeline hygiene and discipline with deeper, more integrated customer insights.

Hiring for AI fluency across the entire executive team isn’t just forward-thinking — it’s foundational.

Who are you trusting to tell your AI story?