Executive Search

Chief AI Officer Placement: From Startup to Scale

How we found a visionary AI leader for a fast-growing fintech startup in just 14 days during a critical funding round.

14 Days
Time to Hire
Series B
Funding Stage
Fintech
Industry
C-Level
Position Level

The Challenge

A rapidly growing fintech startup was in the middle of their Series B funding round when their interim CTO announced their departure. The company needed a permanent Chief AI Officer who could:

  • Lead the AI strategy for their fraud detection platform
  • Present to investors during the funding process
  • Scale the AI team from 5 to 25 engineers
  • Have deep expertise in financial ML models

⚠️ Critical Timeline: The funding round presentation was scheduled in just 3 weeks.

Our Approach

1
Rapid Market Mapping

Within 24 hours, we identified 15 potential candidates from our existing network of fintech AI leaders, including executives from major banks, payment processors, and AI-first financial companies.

2
Targeted Outreach

We crafted personalized messages highlighting the unique opportunity to build AI infrastructure at scale in the fintech space, emphasizing the company's strong product-market fit and growth trajectory.

3
Accelerated Process

We compressed the typical 6-week executive search process into 2 weeks by running parallel interview tracks and coordinating closely with the CEO and board members for rapid decision-making.

The Solution

The Perfect Match

We successfully placed a former VP of AI from a leading digital bank who had:

  • 10+ years building fraud detection systems at scale
  • Experience raising $200M+ in funding rounds
  • Track record of scaling AI teams from 5 to 50+ engineers
  • PhD in Machine Learning with 15+ publications

Results & Impact

Immediate Impact
  • Successfully presented to investors, helping close $50M Series B
  • Reduced false positive rate by 40% in first quarter
  • Established AI governance framework
Long-term Success
  • Hired 20 additional AI engineers in 6 months
  • Launched 3 new AI-powered products
  • Company valuation increased 300% in 18 months
"

"Vellan Partners didn't just find us a Chief AI Officer – they found us the perfect leader who could hit the ground running during our most critical growth phase. Their speed and precision were exceptional."

CEO & Co-Founder

Series B Fintech Startup

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