Here is a composite. A PE-backed distributor with about $120 million in revenue has agreed a transformation role needs to exist. The sponsor says it should be AI and growth. The CEO says it should be margin and working capital. The board chair says, quietly, that it should be whoever makes the next two quarters easier. The recruiter asks for a job description. Everyone assumes the other two will agree, and nobody is willing to say they won't.
Three people want three different things from the same hire. If you write the brief to please all of them, the search will find a candidate who sounds like they can deliver all of it. That person usually does not exist.
The disagreement is in the data
AlixPartners surveyed 427 executives for its 11th annual private equity leadership survey, 174 from PE firms and 253 from portfolio companies. Investors put more emphasis on top-line growth, AI adoption and acquisitions. Portfolio executives were more focused on margins, debt and operational risk. Four in ten PE-owned companies expect AI to cut more than 10% of jobs, and portfolio leaders were more than twice as likely as investors to say they were satisfied with the results of their AI investment.
You do not need to read those as a verdict on either side. They are two groups looking at the same company and seeing different jobs.
Share of companies that are structurally ready for AI, according to research from executive search firm Riviera Partners. Only 55% of early adopters believe they have the right leadership to scale it.
Riviera Partners via Hunt Scanlon Media, April 28, 2026The same Hunt Scanlon report adds a detail that matters here: private equity-backed companies are looking for transformation leaders tied to EBITDA improvement. That is a sharper brief than "AI leader," but it still hides the argument about which EBITDA, over what period, and at what risk.
What goes wrong when you search first
A retained search is good at finding the best person for a defined job. It is not designed to settle an argument inside your company. If the brief is vague, the search firm will do what a good one does: interview your stakeholders, collect three different answers and write a compromise. The candidates will be impressive and the hire will disappoint at least two of the three people who approved it.
A search finds the best answer to a question. It cannot tell you the question is still open.
Do the job for 90 days, then write it down
The alternative is to bring in a fractional leader first, with one specific deliverable: the job description. The person works two or three days a week for about 90 days. They run the first diagnostic, ship one visible improvement and learn where the company agrees and disagrees. Because they have done the job, they can tell you what it takes, which parts belong in one seat and which belong in two.
| When | What the fractional leader does | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1 to 3 | Interviews the sponsor, CEO and board separately. Maps the systems and data. | A written list of where the three views agree and where they do not. |
| Weeks 4 to 8 | Delivers one measurable result on a real problem. | Evidence of what the work needs and how long it takes. |
| Weeks 9 to 12 | Writes the spec, pay range, reporting line and a 100-day scorecard. | A job description the three people have already argued over. |
Then you run the search. A retained search against that brief is a different exercise. The firm is looking for a specific person, doing a specific job, for a specific sponsor, and can tell candidates exactly what they are walking into. Candidates can usually tell the difference.
The rules that make it work
- Keep the spec neutral. Decide at the start whether the fractional leader can be a candidate. If they can, someone else should check the spec.
- Write the exit date down. Ninety days, with named deliverables. Extensions are a decision, not a drift.
- Give them real access. A fractional leader who cannot see the numbers or meet the sponsor writes a generic spec.
- Plan the handover. The permanent hire should meet the fractional leader and read the work.
When this is the wrong move
If the role is well understood, skip it. A CFO or a head of sales has a known shape, and a fractional spec phase just delays the hire. If the company needs a full-time operator on Monday, search directly. And if the problem is a single system, a specialist or consultant is the right buy. We cover that distinction in our piece on AI consultants and fractional heads of AI.
The test is simple. Ask three people who will work with the new leader to write the first-year goals on their own. If the three lists match, hire. If they do not, you have found the job you need to write first.