From Zero to AI: How One Investment Firm Built a World-Class Team in 18 Days

A global investment advisor managing over $268 billion across real estate, equity, and credit needed to build their AI function from the ground up.

No team. No roadmap. Just a mandate to lead the charge into intelligent automation, better risk modelling, and scalable innovation.

They came to Harnham with a clear brief: find senior AI leaders who could build the plan and deliver it.

Here’s what happened and what your business can take from it.

The Brief

• Objective: Make two senior AI hires from scratch 
• Timeline: Urgent. 
• Context: No existing AI infrastructure or internal team 
• Requirement: Deep AI/ML expertise and the credibility to engage at C-suite level 

The Result

Within just 18 working days, we took the brief, identified top talent, and made two high-impact placements, delivering exactly what the client needed without wasting time or overwhelming their internal team.

The roles:

• Director of AI Strategy – Defined the AI roadmap, budgeted initiatives, aligned internal stakeholders, and evaluated vendors. 
• Director of AI Engineering – Built the architecture and models to bring that roadmap to life, from pipelines to deployment.

These were $400k+ hires based in New York, shaping the client’s internal capabilities and the digital transformation of their portfolio companies.

What Changed

These hires laid the groundwork for real change. With leadership in place, the client could start applying AI where it mattered: automating manual processes, improving how risk is modelled, and identifying new ways to support their portfolio companies.

Midway through the process, the brief evolved. One role became two. We adapted quickly, and the result is a structure where strategy and delivery are clearly defined; with one leader now managing the other.

It’s a setup designed not just to scale, but to last.

3 Lessons for AI Hiring Leaders

1. Start with leadership
   Engineers alone can’t set vision, structure governance, or align the board.
2. Match your sector
   This client operates in private equity, which means they couldn’t rely on generic AI talent. They needed leaders who understood financial services, regulatory requirements, and how to drive long-term value across a portfolio.
3. Hire for impact
   We didn’t flood them with profiles. We delivered 14 targeted CVs and filled both roles in under 4 weeks.

The Bigger Picture

You’re not alone if you haven’t got it all figured out.

According to Harnham’s internal research, 61% of professionals already use AI in their roles but just 37% of companies have a policy in place. (Source: Harnham AI Report – April 2025)

That’s a big risk especially in regulated industries like finance. The good news? The right hire can change that.

Want the full story?

Download the case study and discover how Harnham delivered senior AI leadership in under three weeks and what your business can learn from it.

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