A leading Abu Dhabi group, for whom Faze 3 had already delivered a series of technology transformation programmes, was reshaping its IT function for its next phase of growth.

The CIO needed a new layer of leadership reporting directly to them, with clear accountability for IT operations, service delivery and the wider technology estate. In parallel, the group was establishing an AI Excellence Centre and needed the people to turn its AI strategy into working capability:

•       Senior IT leadership roles reporting to the CIO

•       A Head of Digital & AI to lead the AI agenda

•       Specialists across AI/ML engineering, ML DevOps, data operations, data UX, security and governance, and product management

This talent is scarce and heavily contested across the GCC. The client needed people who could perform from day one inside a live transformation agenda, not simply CVs that matched a job title.

Our consultants had worked inside the organisation on those programmes, so Faze 3 knew the operating model, the stakeholders and what good looked like in each seat.

We built every role brief with the CIO’s team, separating the genuine non-negotiables from the matters best tested in conversation.

Each role then ran as its own campaign on Calibr™, our proprietary recruitment intelligence platform. Every applicant was assessed against the calibrated brief, with strengths and concerns documented and every close call reviewed by a senior Faze 3 practitioner. Nobody was rejected for a gap that a short conversation could have resolved.

Faze 3 screened each shortlisted candidate personally before presenting them in a streamlined client pack setting out strengths, risks and fit, so the hiring panel could go straight to interview selection.

The client received focused, fully evidenced shortlists across both its IT leadership and AI hiring agendas:

•       Decision-ready shortlists for every leadership and AI Excellence Centre role

•       Consistent assessment across a high volume of applicants, with every decision explainable

•       Hiring panel time spent on interviews rather than on reading CVs

•       Human judgement where it mattered: when a top-rated leadership candidate was set aside on assumed salary expectations, our own screening call showed he was well within range and returned him to consideration

The engagement has taken our relationship with the group from delivering its technology change to building the team that will lead it.