What do you specialize in here at H.I.E.C, and why does it matter?

Historically I’ve had a ‘deep tech focus’ working on leading edge technology across communications and computing – both hardware and in particular, infrastructure-enabling software (vs. application layer).  This said, I’ve shifted my specialization focus to industrial tech and I’d say this is now my disciplined focus.  This still includes areas of computing and networking (edge networks, obviously next gen automation and operational technologies are just that, advanced technologies… but the focused use cases are very much IoT/industrial based enterprise operating models and the organizational/leadership architectures needed to effectively adapt.

You work at what you describe as the intersection of advanced technology, changing competitive dynamics and volatile markets. What kinds of organizations does that actually describe, and what makes leadership in that environment so complex?

Leadership dynamics in advanced OT/industrial technology are unusually fluid because C-suites sit at the collision point of safety‑critical physical operations, rapidly evolving IT/OT/AI stacks, and rising cyber, regulatory, and ESG scrutiny, all under macro and supply-chain volatility. They face three intertwined challenges: first, orchestrating IT–OT–AI transformation on top of legacy brownfield assets, aligning technology and business strategy while protecting uptime and cybersecurity; second, winning the leadership and skills battle by blending traditional industrial expertise with scarce digital, data, and cyber talent, reshaping org structures and culture fast enough to address succession risk; and third, balancing resilience, decarbonization, and growth in critical-infrastructure markets, forcing constant capital-allocation trade-offs between risk mitigation, ESG commitments, and innovation-led growth, with far higher visibility and penalty for missteps than in most sectors.

What brought you to H.I.E.C?

Most of the motivation will be easily recognized – at the time I was recruited, I’d reached a bit of a ‘life’s too short’ to associate with / to consider joining anything but a unique and ‘no or at least limited ‘BS’ platform… H.I.E.C seemed to be that sort of platform – when this combined with the ‘true’ one P&L/pointing to full global integration as we built the ‘global’ side of the firm, the intense qualitative focus (quality was an imperative, non-negotiable and no excuses allowed), the level of collaboration (at the time I joined the firm was even more Euro-dominant in terms of people but the collaborative energy was already at work both inside Europe and with isolated resources in Asia and the US… I recognized that this core principle would scale as the firm grew and that has proven to be the case). The commitment to building/maintaining and continuing to leverage a differentiated position at the forefront of advancing technology-driven leadership challenges.

You have a background in organizational design as well as executive search. How does that shape the way you approach a brief?

Ha! Yes, some might say this is both a liability (it may well lead to over-complication of what I think we need to secure in candidate capabilities to fully meet the necessary leadership qualities) and a strength (my background in org design does give me a unique lens through which to grasp client’s chosen approach to translating strategy into execution)  but yes, it has deeply shaped my approach to clients, to search and to bus dev.  I look for the systems and operating models at work. I think of candidate briefs as ‘role architecture’ within a ‘context’ and try to capture the dynamics that will ensure optimal impact within those unique contexts when it comes to candidate evaluation. I’m looking (as we all do of course) at both individual competencies as well as system-level fit. I wish we had more opportunity to actually translate some of this unique insight into benefits our clients could use post placement – integration and organizational shaping as part of a longer-term advisory relationship. I have achieved this level of client integration a few times in my career (for example, one leading to a 5 year run as an operating partner with a PE firm), but these have remained the exception vs. the rule.

You cover a wide range of functional roles, from CTO and CPO through to COO and board. What connects that work, and how does a systems-level perspective change the outcome for clients?

I hope the combination of deep functional and sector understanding and systems-level perspective has delivered differentiated value, as suggested above. The pull towards the transactional, which has always remained at the core of what we do (for most clients), does limit the depth of change and impact I can achieve in any given search or client relationship.  Some of this (in all honesty) is impacted by my appetite at any given stage of my career (how much I’m interested/able to invest in converting clients’ view / forcing them to expect more/aim higher) but it is also reflected by the client’s history and willingness to entertain and embrace ‘more’.  It’s a balancing act, and I applaud myself (when I do it) and others in our industry who fight the good fight to find ways to broaden the dialogue and the focus of our work with each client to reach this higher level of impact and outcome… It’s not easy!!

What are clients asking you most frequently at the moment?

What’s the saying? What is old becomes new again, and what is new quickly becomes table stakes! I’ve been around and operated at high enough levels to see quite a few cycles of old back to new and new cycling through table stakes and sometimes back into the shadows. I will say that this ‘new’ AI and all that it embodies in leadership and organizational dynamics/responses to tech-driven change feels different, feels more intense (well, maybe not more intense than the advance of interconnected powerful server-based technologies…and the exponential lift in processing power YOY). Bottom line, we need to recognize that we’re being challenged in ways that require significant investment… focused and diligent effort if we are to stay relevant and capable of providing clients with value beyond the insights they have today… it’s an understatement to say ‘its complicated’… it really is! But the basics that have underpinned successful transformation and transition remain – character, judgment, navigating through sustained uncertainty (and ambiguity), resilience, the ability to build and sustain high-trust cultures that engage and develop critical thinking, collaboration across shifting (and to some degree necessary) silos… while limiting the calcification and narrowed perspective that always accompany silos… and the development of critical (and yes, it’s not new…non-existent or at least not existing at the price point ‘we’ – a client – can afford) talent.  We should push ourselves, at a minimum, to the point we understand the new that we can help clients avoid being blinded by it… so we can help them recognize that even amidst the withering pace of change and uncertainty we face today… a focus on these (and other) foundational leadership principles and a disciplined process to effectively assess candidate’s capacity in these core areas… will always and dramatically heighten the success rate and ensure the impact needed on each hire. This is particularly true when the available (and affordable) AI talent (the new) is just not there, and clients need to consider transitional talent that can scale to the challenge vs. come with previous and deep experience in the ‘new’.  Every generation of revolutionary technological change has had to embrace this bridge-hiring, and it will be our role for the foreseeable future to help clients find/embrace those bridges.

Please reach out to David here if you would like to discuss any of the topics raised further.