Recruiter field notes · Technology · Cybersecurity
Recruiter field notes: Cybersecurity / CISO
Search snapshot
The search
Closed a 3-month search for an FMCG client, replacing a beloved 20-year veteran who retired. The successor's real challenge was managing an inherited team's expectations, not just the technical handover. Separately, closed a cybersecurity leadership role in 44 days for a major real estate developer at AED 50K by finding a candidate from a direct competitor in the same industry.
Compensation
The compensation reality
Roughly an AED 15K gap between strong candidates (asking AED 80K) and client budgets (AED 65K). Some accepted the lower comp given team size, scope, and firm stability. A broader trend in tech leadership: AI-assisted delivery capacity means candidates believe, correctly, they can deliver more, and it shows in their comp expectations.
Market insight
What changed, and what the market gets wrong
A sharp focus on AI-assisted operations. Clients want proof a candidate can drive custom, enterprise-grade tooling that combines AI and human expertise, and reduces third-party vendor dependency over time.
Too much emphasis is placed on personal technical strength. The CISO role is about leadership and streamlining, not running operations. Not personally knowing agentic AI isn't disqualifying, what matters is whether they'd learn it themselves or push their team to learn and grow. Both candidates and employers get this wrong.
Hiring signals
Candidate and job description signals
We can't expect senior leaders to go back to university and get an academic qualification each time there is a tectonic shift in technology.
Recruiter field note, byteSpark.ai