01
Sets the AI strategy
Decides where AI creates real leverage versus theater, and bets the roadmap accordingly — with the judgment to know the difference.
Etienne de Bruin · Executive search for AI CTOs & technical leadership
I’ve matched CTOs to the right companies since 2015.
Most searches start with candidates. Mine starts with your organization — architecture, AI strategy, and org design, assessed by someone who’s owned all three.
Recent searches
AccessSync Chief AI & Product Officer · 2026
PropertyRadar VP of Engineering · 2026
SynkedUP Two AI engineers · 2026
Roof Maxx Chief Technology Officer · 2025
Confidential Chief Technology Officer · 2025
Realwired Chief Technology Officer · 2024
Confidential VP of Engineering · 2024
Confidential Fractional CTO · 2024
“Once we’d named the job properly, the right person for it was obvious.”
§ 01 — The AI CTO
A new kind of technical leader.
The AI shift doesn’t just add a feature — it rewrites what a technical leader is for. The AI CTO sets the AI strategy, builds products where intelligence is the core, and leads the org through a change most teams have never lived. That is the leader I search for.
02
Builds AI-native
Architects products where intelligence is the core, not a feature bolted on — and the systems, data, and evals that make them trustworthy.
03
Leads through the shift
Re-skills the team, rewires how the org ships, and keeps human judgment in the loop while everything underneath it changes.
§ 02 — The approach
How I find them
01
Curated, not scraped
Every leader comes from relationships I’ve built over years. No scraped LinkedIn lists, no resold database — I introduce people I’d stake my own name on.
02
Vetted for scale
I assess the things that actually break a company: architecture judgment, AI strategy, hiring and org design, and executive maturity under real pressure.
03
A lasting match
I interview every leader for how they work, what drives them, and the stage they thrive in. The difference between a hire and a fit.
Plenty of engineers can build the thing.
Almost none can lead a company through the AI shift.
§ 03 — Scope of the mandate
What your next leader will own
§ 04 — Roles I place
Hire the right leader for your stage
Chief Technology Officer
The technical co-founder-shaped hire for founders scaling past themselves.
AI CTO
The technical leader who sets the AI strategy and ships it in production.
VP of Engineering
Execution and org leadership for teams that need to ship reliably at scale.
Founding Engineer
The first senior builder who sets the bar for everyone who follows.
Head of Platform
Infrastructure, reliability, and the systems the rest of the company runs on.
Head of AI / ML
Applied research and production ML leadership for AI-native products.
Fractional / Interim CTO
Senior technical leadership part-time, or in the gap between hires.
“The hard part was never going to be finding candidates. It was defining what the role needed to become after me — and that’s the work Etienne did first. Once we’d named the job properly, the right person for it was obvious.”
Outgoing CTO — AccessSync
“We were growing fast and needed a CTO who had already done it — someone who could hold their own with a non-technical C-suite, in an industry still figuring out what a CTO is even for. Etienne understood that brief on the first call and moved quickly. The person he brought us fits the technology and the room.”
“Etienne spent real time understanding what kind of technical leader our business needed before he showed us a single résumé. That’s why the shortlist was short and the decision was easy. He was solving for the fit, not filling a role.”
“We needed AI capability in the building fast, without lowering the bar to get it. Etienne placed two engineers who were contributing almost immediately and who understood where we were trying to go, not just what we were building today.”
“Our technical founder sets a relentless pace, and years of legacy code were starting to push back. We needed a VP of Engineering who could deliver velocity without pretending the debt wasn’t there. Etienne brought us several candidates who had already worked through problems like ours in his assessments — by the time we interviewed, we weren’t guessing about anyone.”
§ 05 — How it works
Start the search
- 01
Take the CTO Levels assessment — it names the level, the role, and the leader your company actually needs.
- 02
Receive a short-list of vetted technical leaders.
- 03
Run your interviews and make the hire.
Permanent placement
Add a CTO or engineering leader to your team for the long run.
Fractional & interim
Senior technical leadership, part-time or between full-time hires.
Advisory & diligence
Architecture reviews, technical due diligence, and board support.
Ready when you are.
It starts with the assessment — twelve minutes, then I’ll tell you honestly whether I can help.
§ 06 — About me
One person’s judgment. Not an agency’s database.
Every search is mine, end to end.
I’ve been the CTO, I’ve hired the CTO, and I’ve reported to the CTO. I know the difference the right one makes — because I’ve felt the cost of the wrong one. It’s the same instinct behind the CTO Levels framework: name where a company actually is before arguing about who it needs. So I do one thing, deeply — place the person your company is built on.
§ 07 — For candidates
If you’re that leader, I want to know you.
Join a private network of proven technical leaders and hear only about the roles worth your time — before they’re posted anywhere. No spam, no scraping, and I won’t send your name anywhere without asking first. Joining starts with the CTO Levels assessment — ten minutes, and you get a personal development report whether you join or not.
Join the network§ 08 — Questions
Good questions
Do you place AI CTOs specifically?
It’s most of my work now. I vet for AI strategy and AI-native architecture the same way I vet for scale and org design — as core judgment, not a buzzword on a résumé.
Who actually runs the search?
I do. Every intake call, every screen, every reference. You won’t be pitched by me and then handed to a junior recruiter — that hand-off is where most searches quietly go wrong.
Where are your candidates based?
Across the US and Europe, with concentrations in the major startup hubs. Remote, hybrid, and on-site searches are all welcome.
How do you charge?
Permanent placements are a percentage of the first year’s base salary. Fractional and advisory engagements run on a monthly retainer.
Do you offer a guarantee?
Yes. Permanent placements carry a 90-day replacement guarantee — if it isn’t working, I run the search again.
Can you work alongside our internal recruiting team?
Absolutely. I partner with in-house talent teams, share my process, and hand off cleanly.
How fast is a typical search?
Most founders see a short-list within two weeks and a signed offer within six to eight.
What stages do you work with?
Pre-seed through growth. I match the leader to where you are now, not where you were.