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Permanent chief AI officer · hiring brief

Hire a Chief AI Officer

Hire a Chief AI Officer: appoint a permanent leader accountable for how the company uses AI: the strategy, the governance, the data and the risk, reporting to the board.

Brief us on this role →See chief AI officer roles

Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 23 October 2026 · 4 sources linked below

  • 3–5on every shortlist
  • 5stages of vetting
  • IR35set out on every brief
Hire a Chief AI Officer: a technology leader sketching a system architecture on a whiteboard (illustration)

In the press

The brief

Hire a Chief AI Officer: what must the role own?

Name the outcomes AI must deliver and the uses the officer prioritises.

  • 01AI strategyName the outcomes AI must deliver and the uses the officer prioritises.
  • 02GovernanceSet the policy, the approval route and the board reporting.
  • 03Data and riskSay how the officer works with the data protection officer and the CTO.
  • 04The teamSay who the officer hires and which teams they lead.

Role reference: ICO: guidance on AI and data protection. The ICO sets out the accountability, transparency and lawfulness duties that apply when AI uses personal data; the chief AI officer’s brief must name who owns them.

On the board · last 90 days

Which chief AI officer roles are on the board?

Permanent chief AI officer roles first, then the seat in any engagement and the wider function when the board runs short.

Roles

See every role on the board →

Every fractional role in the UK is on the fractional jobs board.

The working pattern

What changes when the chief AI officer is permanent?

A permanent chief AI officer is the right shape when AI decisions fill every week and touch every function. If they do not yet, a fractional chief AI officer can set the policy first and write the permanent brief.

The illustrative brief: a company making AI part of its product. AI is moving from internal tools into the product customers pay for, and the board wants one accountable owner.

The appointment owns: The chief AI officer owns the AI roadmap, the governance and the board reporting.

Another owner retains: The CTO keeps the platform; the data protection officer keeps the statutory duties.

The case is illustrative; it does not describe a Fractional Quest placement.

From brief to start

How do you hire a Chief AI Officer, step by step?

The first three steps are ours; the last four are what has to be true before the first day. We don’t promise a shortlist by a date.

  1. Day 0
    01
    The 15-minute call
    What the chief AI officer must own, the working pattern, the start date and the budget.
    You and us
  2. Week 1
    02
    Scope agreed in writing
    The outcome the seat exists for, the days, and how the engagement will run for IR35.
    Us
  3. Weeks 1–3
    03
    Search, references, shortlist
    We approach people who aren’t looking, verify tenure, take references ourselves and return three to five.
    Us
  4. Week 4
    04
    Mandate
    Record the strategy, the authority and the reporting line.
    You
  5. Before day one · 2
    05
    Inventory
    Give the officer the list of AI uses and the data they touch.
    You
  6. Before day one · 3
    06
    Team
    Agree the first hires and the budget.
    You
  7. Before day one · 4
    07
    Review
    Set the first board review of the AI roadmap.
    You

Assessment

How should you assess chief AI officer candidates?

Put the same work and evidence in front of each candidate before comparing answers.

  1. Strategy to delivery
    Ask for an AI strategy the candidate took from board paper to product.
  2. Governance
    Ask how the candidate would apply the government’s AI Playbook principles to your products.
  3. Data protection
    Ask how the candidate meets the ICO’s guidance on AI and data protection.
  4. Leadership
    Ask how the candidate built and led an AI team.

Acas recommends a consistent, fair selection process: choosing who to interview.

Vetting

What happens before anyone reaches your shortlist?

Five stages before a candidate reaches a shortlist of three to five.

  1. Pedigree screen
    Tenure
    We verify prior tenure in the seat, at the scale and stage you need. No consultant presenting as an executive.
  2. Mandate fit
    Fit
    Fit to your stage, sector and the problem the seat exists to solve, not a CV keyword.
  3. Reference deep-dive
    Verify
    We take references ourselves, from recent clients and boards: what they delivered, not what they titled it.
  4. Shortlist
    Shortlist
    Three to five candidates, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
  5. Kick-off
    Start
    Scope, first-month outcomes and the contract agreed before day one.

The full process is on how we vet.

The right pattern

Does this hiring pattern fit the work?

Test the amount of the week, the expected end and the continuity needed before writing the contract.

Questions

Hire a Chief AI Officer: questions, answered

Hire a Chief AI Officer begins with ai strategy: Name the outcomes AI must deliver and the uses the officer prioritises. Then a stated working pattern and the evidence you will ask every candidate to show.

Read next

Related hiring and role pages

Sources

Where does every reference on this page come from?

  • ico.org.uk
  • HMRC
  • legislation.gov.uk
  1. 1
    ICO: guidance on AI and data protection ico.org.uk
  2. 2
    Understanding off-payroll working (IR35) HMRC
    Status depends on how the engagement runs; medium and large clients make the determination.
  3. 3
    Check employment status for tax (CEST) HMRC
    HMRC’s own status check for each engagement.
  4. 4
    Employment Agencies Act 1973 legislation.gov.uk
    The law a recruitment agency works under; no fee to a work-seeker.

For hiring managers

Bring the brief. We bring the shortlist.

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  1. A shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position
  2. Fractional, interim, part-time, temporary or permanent — and non-executive directors
  3. Every candidate through our five-stage vetting
  4. Your briefs and their candidates, in one room