Bespoke Partners, the leading executive search firm for private equity portfolio companies, today released the private equity sector's first AI Leadership Benchmarking Guide for measuring AI deployment progress in software and SaaS company leadership. For the first time, PE sponsors, Boards and C-suite executives have benchmarks to assess a portfolio company leader's progress in transforming operations, products and services with AI. The benchmarks cover every executive function, including CEOs and Operations, Finance executives, Go-to-Market leaders, Human Resources and Technology leaders.
Bespoke Partners launches first AI Leadership Benchmarks for PE-backed software and SaaS
133 recruiting scorecards reveal AI progress PE sponsors want
60.9% of PE sponsors want candidates who can transform a function or multiple functions
AI-centered executive recruiting mandates increased 53% over past year
AI Leadership Maturity Model defines four stages
Self-test available to measure AI progress against benchmarks
"Panic drove the 'SaaSpocalypse' fear that AI will kill software. But the transformation of software and SaaS using AI has been under way for years," said Eric Walczykowski, Bespoke CEO. "Until now, there has been a lot of speculation about what 'great AI' will look like in practice. Now our benchmarking data reveals for the first time where AI-forward SaaS leaders stand in their transformations."
A chief finding is that 60.9% of private equity sponsors launching executive searches want candidates who can use AI to transform a function or across multiple linked functions in the enterprise.
"AI ambition is easy to articulate," said Adam Boone, Bespoke Chief Commercial Officer. "The leadership test is whether it changes how the business operates. This guide gives investors and executives a concrete benchmark for turning AI deployment into measurable value. The stakes are revenue, margin, competitiveness and enterprise value."
The Bespoke AI Leadership Maturity Model defines four stages: Planning, User Enablement, Function Enablement and Enterprise Transformation. Each stage specifies the operating evidence leaders must demonstrate, from sustained user adoption to redesigned workflows and enterprise accountability.
Bespoke also published a self-test that allows anyone to measure their own AI progress against the benchmarks.
About Bespoke Partners
Bespoke Partners is the leading executive recruiter for private equity and the largest firm specializing in recruiting for software and SaaS companies in the United States. Bespoke-recruited executives have orchestrated more than 200 portfolio company exits totaling nearly $600 billion. Bespoke Partners is Built Different, with a unique firm structure, functional role focus and deep expertise in 28 software subsectors. Bespoke's data-driven services utilize the Executive Index, a comprehensive AI-powered talent market mapping platform. The Executive Index enables Bespoke to complete searches in less than half the industry average time with a 95% placement success rate.
