Your Company Just Hired a Head of AI. What Now?

So a new name appeared on the org chart. "Head of AI." Or "Chief AI Officer." Or "VP of AI Strategy." Or "Director of AI Transformation." The title varies. The implication doesn't.

Someone senior has decided that AI is important enough to hire a dedicated person. Which raises the obvious question: important enough to do what, exactly?

i've been that hire. Not always with "AI" in the title, but i've been brought into organisations specifically to figure out where AI fits. And i can tell you that what happens next depends entirely on what mandate that person was given. So let me walk you through the possibilities.

The three types of AI hire

Not all Head of AI roles are the same. The differences matter enormously for you.

Type 1: The Builder. This person has been hired to create new AI products or capabilities. They'll build a team. They'll want engineers. They're focused outward, on what the company sells, not inward on how it operates. This is the least threatening version for existing employees. Your job probably isn't directly affected. You might even benefit if AI products generate new revenue.

Type 2: The Optimiser. This person has been hired to make the company more efficient using AI. They'll audit processes. They'll run pilots. They'll measure time savings. They'll produce business cases with headcount implications. This is the version that should make you pay attention. When someone is hired specifically to find efficiencies, they will find them. That's the job.

Type 3: The Strategist. This person has been hired because the board felt they needed someone who "gets AI" in the leadership team. They might not do much for six months while they figure out their role. They'll produce a strategy document. They'll make recommendations. What happens depends on whether leadership actually acts on those recommendations. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes the strategist gets frustrated and leaves. Sometimes the strategy gets implemented and it looks a lot like what the Optimiser would have done.

Most of the time, it's Type 2. Companies hire AI leaders because they've seen the efficiency numbers and they want those numbers for themselves.

What happens in the first 90 days

Here's what typically happens when a Head of AI starts, based on having watched this play out at multiple organisations.

Weeks 1-4: They meet everyone. Lots of coffees. Lots of "just getting to know the business" conversations. They're friendly. They're curious. They ask questions like "What takes up most of your time?" and "What do you find most repetitive about your work?" These sound like innocent questions. They're not. They're scanning for automation targets.

Weeks 5-8: They identify quick wins. Low-hanging fruit. Processes that are obviously manual and could obviously be automated. They'll run a small pilot, probably in a department that's open to it. They need an early success to build credibility.

Weeks 9-12: They present to the board. The pilot results are in. The business case is clear. "If we roll this out across the organisation, we could save X million pounds per year." That X has a direct relationship with Y jobs.

This timeline varies. Some move faster. Some get bogged down in politics. But the general shape is consistent.

The signals to watch for

When the Head of AI is doing their rounds, watch for these:

They spend a lot of time in your department. If the new AI person keeps showing up at your team meetings, asking about your workflows, and requesting documentation of your processes... your department is on the list. Not necessarily the redundancy list. But the "high potential for AI intervention" list, which is often a way-station on the road there.

They hire a team quickly. If the Head of AI gets budget to hire 5-10 people in their first quarter, that's serious investment. The company expects serious returns. Serious returns means serious changes.

They're working closely with HR. An AI leader working with the technology team is building things. An AI leader working with HR is planning what the organisation looks like with fewer people.

They launch an "AI literacy" programme. This sounds positive and sometimes it is. But it can also be preparation for the argument: "We gave everyone the chance to develop AI skills, and those who didn't engage have made their own choice." It creates a paper trail of opportunity that justifies later decisions.

What this means for you specifically

Honestly, it depends on what you do.

If your role is primarily about processing information, generating reports, writing standard documents, handling routine queries, scheduling, data entry, or basic analysis... the Head of AI is coming for your workflow. Not necessarily for you personally, but for the work you do. The question is whether you'll be the person doing the new AI-assisted version of that work or whether the new AI-assisted version needs fewer people.

If your role involves complex decision-making, relationship management, creative problem-solving, physical presence, or things that require deep institutional knowledge... you're less immediately at risk. But "less immediately" is doing some work in that sentence. The capability of AI tools is expanding quickly.

What to actually do

Right. Practical stuff.

Don't panic. A Head of AI being hired doesn't mean layoffs are imminent. It means AI is on the agenda. That was probably already true before this person arrived.

Do pay attention. Watch what departments they focus on. Watch what pilots they launch. Watch whether the pilots are about "improving quality" or "reducing time." The language reveals the intent.

Make yourself visible. Not in an annoying way. But if the Head of AI is going around meeting people, make sure you're one of them. Be the person who's curious and engaged, not the one hiding in the corner hoping they don't notice you. People who show interest in AI tend to end up on the "keep and retrain" list rather than the "redundancy" list.

Start building your own AI skills now. Not so you can impress the new AI person, but so you have options. If you can demonstrate that you already use AI tools effectively, you become more valuable, not less.

Talk to your manager. Have a direct conversation about AI strategy and what it means for your role. Your manager probably knows more than they're saying. A direct question sometimes gets a direct answer, especially if your manager trusts you and likes you.

The one thing to do today: find out who the Head of AI reports to. If they report to the CTO, it's probably about building products. If they report to the COO or CEO, it's about operational efficiency. If they report to the CFO... well. That tells you everything you need to know about what "AI" means at your company.