Today

info@clariopro.co.uk

Executive search, United Kingdom

Executive search for senior AI and technology leaders

Clario finds senior AI and technology leaders for UK scale-ups and mid-market companies. We recruit at Head of, Director, VP and C-suite level, for roles that usually pay £100,000 or more.

A senior hire shapes your technology, your team and your spending for years. We take the time to understand what the business needs from the role before we approach anyone, so the people you meet are suited to the job you actually have.

Talk to the Clario team about a search

Clients we have worked with

  • Google
  • Deloitte
  • Capgemini
  • HSBC
  • Meta
  • PwC

Bulletin

Monday 9 November 2026

UK hiring and employment news, updated every weekday.

  1. Monday 9 November 2026. Senior appointments. Boots UK names Georgia Cook as Head of AI Enablement. Retail Technology Innovation Hub reports that Georgia Cook has moved into the new Head of AI Enablement role at Boots UK, after nearly eight years at the retailer and a previous post as Digital Analytics Manager. Why it matters. A major UK retailer is putting a named Head of AI Enablement on its digital team, which is the kind of senior AI leadership seat boards keep creating.. Source: Retail Technology Innovation Hub.
  2. Friday 6 November 2026. Employment law & policy. Ministers seek powers to investigate AI agent incidents. The Register reports that UK ministers have tabled an amendment to the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill that would let them set rules and investigatory powers where operators lose control of AI agents, after incidents involving automated systems. Why it matters. Boards hiring AI leaders will need people who can own governance, monitoring and incident response, not only product delivery.. Source: The Register.
  3. Wednesday 5 November 2026. Hiring budgets. Bank of England raises Bank Rate to 4 percent. The Bank of England says the Monetary Policy Committee voted on 4 November to raise Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4 percent, citing stronger inflationary pressure from higher energy prices. Why it matters. A higher Bank Rate feeds into hiring budgets and the cost of growth plans for UK employers filling senior technology roles.. Source: Bank of England.
  4. Wednesday 5 November 2026. Senior appointments. Allwyn UK creates a Chief Digital Officer role. Allwyn UK says it will replace its Chief Technology Officer and Managing Director Digital roles with a new Chief Digital Officer post covering technology, data, AI, digital products and commercial accountability for digital channels, with the new structure due from 1 December 2026. The CDO seat has not yet been filled. Why it matters. For anyone hiring a CDO, owning business results is a different brief from overseeing technology alone.. Source: Allwyn UK.
  5. Tuesday 4 November 2026. AI & workforce. Together appoints its first Chief AI Officer. The Intermediary reports that specialist lender Together has appointed Apoorv Kashyap as its first Chief AI Officer. He joins from Santander UK, where he was head of AI, and will report to chief executive Richard Rowntree. Why it matters. For UK businesses making their first senior AI hire, the reporting line deserves as much thought as the job title.. Source: The Intermediary.

Senior appointments

Boots UK names Georgia Cook as Head of AI Enablement

Retail Technology Innovation Hub reports that Georgia Cook has moved into the new Head of AI Enablement role at Boots UK, after nearly eight years at the retailer and a previous post as Digital Analytics Manager.

Why it matters. A major UK retailer is putting a named Head of AI Enablement on its digital team, which is the kind of senior AI leadership seat boards keep creating.

Retail Technology Innovation Hub (opens in a new tab)

Story 1 of 5

All hiring and employment news

The roles we recruit

Most of our searches fall into three groups.

  1. Chief AI Officer and Head of AI For companies where AI has moved beyond experiments and now needs a senior owner. We help you decide which of the two roles you need before the search begins.
  2. CTO and VP Engineering For companies that need a leader for the whole technology function, or an experienced head for the engineering team. The two are often confused, so choosing the right one is the first thing we agree with you.
  3. CDO, Head of Data and CIO For companies whose systems, suppliers or data have become a concern for the board. We help you work out where the gap is and which role will close it.
Ben Cheema, Founder of Clario

14+

years in recruitment

Founded by someone who has hired from both sides of the table

Clario was founded by Ben Cheema, who brings more than 14 years of recruitment experience. He built his career in agency recruitment and executive search, then moved in-house to lead talent teams as Head of Talent and Head of Talent Acquisition.

Sitting on the hiring side changed how he sees search. He has been the one writing the brief, reviewing the shortlist and living with the hire long after the offer is signed. He knows what a good search partner does, and what wastes a hiring manager's time.

That is the standard Clario works to: a clear brief, an honest view of the market, a shortlist of people genuinely worth meeting, and regular updates you never have to chase.

Ben Cheema on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)

Or email Ben directly at ben@clariopro.co.uk

From published research

  1. 31%

    of GenAI users said they use it at work without their employer knowing.

    Source: Deloitte UK GenAI Workforce Survey, 16 September 2026.

  2. £958m

    estimated yearly spend by workers, from their own money, on AI tools for work.

    Source: Deloitte UK GenAI Workforce Survey, 16 September 2026.

  3. 19.8%

    rise in UK employers advertising tech roles directly, compared with the year before.

    Source: CV-Library and APSCo, UK tech job adverts, April to June.

These figures are from the sources named above. Read the notes on Insights.

Senior searches usually go wrong at the start, when the role has not been clearly defined. That is where we spend our first conversations with you.

Who we work with

We work with UK scale-ups and mid-market companies, in any sector, that already have a technology team and now need someone senior to lead it. That might be a software business that has outgrown its first technology leader, or an established manufacturer, lender or retailer whose systems have become a board-level issue.

We work across the UK, including London, Birmingham and Manchester, and meet clients at their offices or by video call.

See who we work with

An empty meeting room with a long wooden table, chairs and tall windows

The search, step by step

  1. Brief and role definition

    We meet the chief executive and the person the new hire will report to. Together we write what the role is for, the reporting line, the team, the salary range and the location, and you review it before anyone is approached.

  2. Market map and approach

    We map people who have done this job, or the one just below it, in comparable businesses. We approach them directly and in confidence.

  3. Assessment

    We interview the people who are interested and compare what they have done with the brief. You receive a written view of each person, including the gaps.

  4. Shortlist

    You receive a short list of people we have interviewed. For each one we explain why they fit, where the gaps are and what it would take to bring them across.

  5. Interviews

    We help you plan interviews that are thorough and stay short. The people the new hire will work with most closely take part.

  6. Offer and onboarding support

    We stay involved through the offer and the notice period, and through the first conversations after acceptance, when senior hires are most likely to fall through.

How a search works

  1. Agreeing the brief

    We meet the chief executive and the person the new hire will report to. Together we set out what the role is for, the reporting line, the team, the salary range and where the person needs to be based. You review the written brief before we contact anyone.

  2. Approaching candidates

    The strongest candidates are usually already in senior roles and are not looking. We identify them and approach them directly and in confidence.

  3. The shortlist

    You receive a short list of people we have interviewed. For each one we explain why they fit, where the gaps are and what it would take to bring them across.

  4. Offer and start date

    We stay involved through interviews, references, the offer and the notice period, which is when senior hires are most likely to fall through.

We agree terms with you in writing before the search starts.

Read how an executive search works

Guidance: what to put in a Chief AI Officer brief.

clario Hiring senior AI and technology leaders

Free download

The Clario guide to senior AI and tech hiring

A 76-page guide and an Excel hiring toolkit for a chief executive or a board hiring a senior AI or technology leader.