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Product & Tech Leadership in PE: AI, Offshoring Maturity, and the New CPO Playbook
by Eric Walczykowski, Ryan Bonner
Product and technology leadership has become one of the most active areas of hiring across private equity-backed software companies. Over the past several months, we’ve seen a surge in searches for CTOs and CPOs, driven by a convergence of factors shaping the future of value creation.
In the latest Tailored Talent, I sat down with Ryan Bonner, Partner and Head of our Product & Tech executive search practice, to discuss what’s fueling this growth and how AI, offshoring maturity, and commercial acumen are redefining what great leadership looks like in today’s market.
Watch the full conversation with Ryan Bonner on Tailored Talent.
Why the Spike Now?
Ryan leads one of our fastest-growing practices at Bespoke, advising sponsors on how to attract technical leaders who can manage global teams, leverage automation, and deliver measurable business outcomes. His perspective reflects hundreds of conversations with investors and executives across the software landscape, and the trends we see are unmistakable.
- AI sits at the center of nearly every CTO and CPO scorecard.
It influences how work is done and what gets built. - Offshoring has matured from low-cost execution to regionally specialized capability.
Results now depend on cultural fluency, process discipline, and the credibility of leaders orchestrating distributed teams. - Product is now a commercial engine.
Today’s CPOs are expected to think like general managers with P&L ownership, aligning roadmap, adoption, and expansion to measurable ROI.
Offshoring That Actually Works
The conversation with Ryan reinforced that cost and availability are no longer the only drivers. Successful offshoring models depend on aligning work types to regional strengths and on leadership that bridges time zones, cultures, and delivery expectations. The right CTO or product leader optimizes productivity and quality through process design, not just lower costs.
The CPO Profile That Drives Revenue
Sponsors are increasingly focused on product leaders who can link customer insights to measurable outcomes. The best CPOs understand cost to build, time to value, adoption velocity, and expansion metrics, and they run disciplined feedback loops to drive continuous improvement. They’re not just engineering-minded; they’re business operators who collaborate across marketing, sales, and operations to drive top-line growth.
AI’s Dual Mandate
AI is no longer optional. For CTOs, it’s about accelerating development, QA, and release cycles. For CPOs, it’s about embedding intelligence into the product experience itself. Together, the two roles determine how AI enhances both internal efficiency and customer engagement. As Ryan noted, the collaboration between CTO and CPO is now critical to sustained success.
When to Separate CTO and CPO
A decade ago, combining these roles made sense up to $100 million ARR. That’s changing fast. Complexity, scale, and AI adoption are pushing sponsors to separate these roles earlier (often around $50 to $60 million ARR) to sharpen focus and accelerate execution. The result is better alignment, faster delivery, and often, greater cost efficiency.
How AI is Transforming Search Itself
At Bespoke Partners, AI isn’t just reshaping the roles we hire for. It’s redefining how we deliver results. The Bespoke Executive Index enables our teams to interpret data rather than collect it, producing more accurate shortlists that align tightly to scorecards.
We’re seeing faster time to shortlist, stronger candidate matches, and average time to close under 90 days, all while maintaining our five-search cap to preserve quality and focus.
What this Means for Sponsors
- Prioritize leaders who can integrate AI into both operations and strategy.
- Expect CPOs to own commercial results, not just roadmap execution.
- Evaluate whether separating CTO and CPO earlier in company scale improves focus and ROI.
- Partner with search firms using data-driven precision to compress time to value.
As Ryan and I discussed, technology and product leadership sit at the heart of every value creation plan. The firms that adapt fastest will define the next generation of growth.
To learn more about leadership trends in product and technology, subscribe to the Tailored Talent podcast or connect with the Product & Tech executive search team at Bespoke Partners.
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