Industrial Technology Executive Search

Leaders for industrial tech's next phase.

Aerospace and defense, automotive and mobility, robotics and sensing. The role you are filling has changed since the last person held it. We place the leaders built for what it is becoming.

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95% Referral Rate

4.9 out of 5 rating

85% Return Rate

113 Median Days to close

The Industry

Built for the business
you are becoming

Industrial tech and infrastructure runs where hardware, software, and capital meet: autonomous systems, defense modernization, and the buildout behind AI. The role you're filling has changed since the last person held it, but most hiring hasn't caught up. In our 2026 research, only 9% of organizations substantially rethink an executive role before hiring for it, and 29% simply replace like-for-like. The leaders who win these mandates are built for the business you're becoming.
Source: ON Partners Widening Gap, 2026

Where We Work

Driving meaningful change on a global scale.

Click to see who we've placed, what roles we run most, and what's driving demand right now.

Aerospace & Defense

Market demand is hitting defense and aviation at once; hire the executives who can scale both.

The US FY2026 defense budget request is the largest in modern history, and commercial backlogs at Boeing and Airbus sit near 14,800 aircraft. Procurement reform, hypersonics, autonomous platforms, and space programs are all pulling on the same talent pool. The leaders who perform here hold program execution depth on one side and the financial and regulatory fluency a board expects on the other. The combination is rare. We have built the relationships for years.

Most-placed roles in this industry

Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Operating Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Revenue Officer VP of Engineering

A sample of our work in this area

Automotive & Mobility

The vehicle is becoming a software platform, find the leaders who can run it.

EV adoption, ADAS, and Level 3+ autonomy are reshaping the bill of materials and the org chart at the same time. Automotive LiDAR is on a 30%+ CAGR, and the autonomous vehicle sensor market is on track to grow nearly twentyfold by 2035. Strong leaders here pair industrial discipline with software product instincts and the supplier relationships to move quickly. Most are running active books. We know them already.

Most-placed roles in this industry

Chief Executive Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Revenue Officer Chief Product Officer Chief Financial Officer VP of Engineering

A sample of our work in this area

Computing & Infrastructure

We identify the rare leaders ready to turn AI investment into impact

Hyperscaler AI capex is on track to clear $700 billion in 2026, and data center semiconductor revenue will pass $475 billion the same year. Compute, networking, cooling, and power are all being rearchitected together, and the leaders who can run that complexity are scarce. The right CTO, CRO, or CEO has shipped at hyperscale, understands custom silicon economics, and translates technical decisions into investor language. That profile is who we recruit.

Most-placed roles in this industry

Chief Revenue Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Product Officer General Manager

A sample of our work in this area

Imaging, Sensing & Lidar

From feature to foundation: The new era of sensing.

Lidar, radar, and computer vision are now core to autonomous vehicles, drones, industrial robots, defense systems, and consumer electronics at once. Solid-state lidar is replacing mechanical lidar on a five-year horizon, and the autonomous vehicle sensor market alone is growing more than 33% per year. Leaders here hold optics or semiconductor depth plus product, supply chain, and commercial credibility. The talent pool is narrow. We have spent a decade building it.

Most-placed roles in this industry

Chief Executive Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Revenue Officer Chief Product Officer VP of Sales VP of Operations

A sample of our work in this area

Optics & Photonic

AI scaling requires global manufacturing fluency; we connect you with the leaders who have it.

Co-packaged optics, silicon photonics, and high-speed optical interconnect are the bottleneck behind AI cluster scaling, and the same component shortages now extend into automotive lidar and defense ISR systems. The strongest optics leaders pair deep technical credibility with global manufacturing fluency and customer relationships across hyperscaler, telecom, and defense accounts. The candidate pool is global and tightly held. We know the right people in every node.

Most-placed roles in this industry

Chief Executive Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Revenue Officer Chief Operating Officer Chief Financial Officer VP of Sales

A sample of our work in this area

The Leadership Landscape

What your peers are dealing with in
industrial tech & infrastructure

The executive leadership challenges in this industry are moving faster than most anticipated. Here's what's actually driving search activity right now and what it means for the leaders companies need.

The Challenges

Talent scarcity is the new supply chain bottleneck.

29% of organizations still default to replacing executives with a "like-for-like" candidate. In a market where sensing and connectivity are fundamentally changing, hiring for yesterday’s requirements ensures a leadership gap.
The most capable operators are currently scaling mission-critical segments of the $700B hyperscaler buildout; they aren't looking for roles - they have to be identified and engaged with partner-level credibility.
In high-value sectors like Silicon Photonics and Solid-State Lidar, the proven candidate pool is global and tightly held. We operate at the level to access this community before a search even begins.
Off-limits conflicts at large firms shrink your candidate pool

The Opportunities

Strategic hiring as an infrastructure accelerant.

Only 9% of organizations substantially rethink the role before hiring. These firms are the ones securing "dual-threat" leaders who can turn historic capital cycles into industrial-scale impact.
With 15% of peers using succession as a chance to redesign roles, there is a clear opening to move beyond the status quo and build a leadership team optimized for the new AI era.
With double-digit increases in defense modernization budgets, there is a prime window to install leadership that brings commercial "tech-firm urgency" to aerospace and defense infrastructure.
Strategic hiring today builds the durable advantage required for 2027/2028 exits, balancing high-velocity innovation with the EBITDA discipline private equity demands.

What's Changing

The landscape and roles being rewritten.

Sensing and connectivity have moved from specialized sub-units to the literal foundation of the global economy, requiring leaders with much deeper semiconductor and RF depth.
31% of your peers are already updating roles to reflect new priorities—the window to secure top-tier talent before the market fully shifts is narrowing.
Onshored manufacturing and supply chain resilience are pulling capital into US-based hardware at a pace that requires a new breed of "Agile Industrial" leadership.
Connectivity leadership is pivoting from "infrastructure capex discipline" toward the orchestration of software-driven services for AI at the edge.

Start a Search

Ready to find your next Industrial tech leader?

A conversation is all it takes to know if we're the right fit. Tell us about the role, and we'll tell you what the market looks like. You'll speak directly with the partner who would lead your search.

85% of clients search with us again

98% firm placement rate

4.9 / 5 client satisfaction rating

Partner-led from kickoff to close

Common Questions

What leaders may ask before a search

What C-suite roles are most commonly placed in industrial tech and infrastructure companies?

Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer are tied as the most-placed roles, followed by Chief Technology Officer, Chief Revenue Officer, and VP of Sales.

CFO searches are particularly active for PE-backed hardware platforms where capital intensity and investor narrative are both at the top of the agenda.

CTO searches are highest in computing, autonomy, and sensing companies where the role now requires software and AI fluency in addition to core hardware expertise.

What makes executive search in industrial tech and infrastructure different from other industries?

Industrial tech is six adjacent sub-sectors moving at once: aerospace and defense, automotive and mobility, computing and infrastructure, imaging and sensing, wireless and connectivity, and optics and photonics. Each has its own technical depth, customer set, regulatory environment, and capital structure.

The leaders who run these businesses well are rarely available. Most are heads down on a product launch, a defense program, or a customer ramp that has their full attention. Finding them takes direct relationships in the specific sub-sector and the ability to recognize strong candidates who built careers across hardware, software, and operations rather than spending twenty years in one place.

A partner-led firm with real domain depth is the difference between a search that delivers and one that restarts.

How is the AI infrastructure buildout reshaping executive hiring in hardware tech?

Hyperscaler AI capex is on track to clear $700 billion in 2026, and that spending is reshaping demand across computing, networking, optics, sensing, and the supply chains that support all of them.

Leaders who have actually shipped at hyperscale, who understand custom silicon economics, and who can sell into the four or five companies setting the pace are in unprecedented demand. The same dynamic is pulling optics leaders into AI cluster work and pulling power, cooling, and data center executives into the same talent pool.

ON Partners has the relationships in place across every category the surge is touching.

Leaders for industrial tech's next phase.

Built for the business
you are becoming

Driving meaningful change on a global scale.

Market demand is hitting defense and aviation at once; hire the executives who can scale both.

The vehicle is becoming a software platform, find the leaders who can run it.

We identify the rare leaders ready to turn AI investment into impact

From feature to foundation: The new era of sensing.

AI scaling requires global manufacturing fluency; we connect you with the leaders who have it.

Meet the experts

What clients say after the search is closed

Companies trust ON Partners

Leaders recently placed

DecisionHR Hires New Chief Revenue Officer

Power Integrations Appoints New Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales

Safe Software Appoints New Chief Financial Officer

Ready Rebound Appoints New President and Chief Revenue Officer

Wagepoint Names New Chief Commercial Officer

Diebold Nixdorf Appoints New Chief Information Officer

What your peers are dealing with in
industrial tech & infrastructure

Talent scarcity is the new supply chain bottleneck.

Strategic hiring as an infrastructure accelerant.

The landscape and roles being rewritten.

Ready to find your next Industrial tech leader?

What leaders may ask before a search

Related Insights From ON Partners

2026 Leadership Report | AI & Succession Planning | ON Partners

What NVIDIA’s Back-to-Back C-Suite Searches Should Tell You

ON Partners Research Finds AI Is Changing Executive Roles Faster Than Organizations Are Rethinking Them

Elevating Supply Chain from 'Necessary Evil' to C-Suite Influence

How Pay Parity Is Reshaping Women’s Leadership and Executive Search

AI Adoption Isn’t a Technology Problem – It’s a Leadership One

Leaders for industrial tech's next phase.

Built for the business you are becoming

Driving meaningful change on a global scale.

Market demand is hitting defense and aviation at once; hire the executives who can scale both.

The vehicle is becoming a software platform, find the leaders who can run it.

We identify the rare leaders ready to turn AI investment into impact

From feature to foundation: The new era of sensing.

AI scaling requires global manufacturing fluency; we connect you with the leaders who have it.

Meet the experts

What clients say after the search is closed

Companies trust ON Partners

Leaders recently placed

DecisionHR Hires New Chief Revenue Officer

Power Integrations Appoints New Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales

Safe Software Appoints New Chief Financial Officer

Ready Rebound Appoints New President and Chief Revenue Officer

Wagepoint Names New Chief Commercial Officer

Diebold Nixdorf Appoints New Chief Information Officer

What your peers are dealing with inindustrial tech & infrastructure

Talent scarcity is the new supply chain bottleneck.

Strategic hiring as an infrastructure accelerant.

The landscape and roles being rewritten.

Ready to find your next Industrial tech leader?

What leaders may ask before a search

Related Insights From ON Partners

2026 Leadership Report | AI & Succession Planning | ON Partners

What NVIDIA’s Back-to-Back C-Suite Searches Should Tell You

ON Partners Research Finds AI Is Changing Executive Roles Faster Than Organizations Are Rethinking Them

Elevating Supply Chain from 'Necessary Evil' to C-Suite Influence

How Pay Parity Is Reshaping Women’s Leadership and Executive Search

AI Adoption Isn’t a Technology Problem – It’s a Leadership One

Built for the business
you are becoming

What your peers are dealing with in
industrial tech & infrastructure