H2 2026 Search Recap
Defense AI / Executive Search
A confidential mandate where the market was narrow, the business need was immediate, and the hiring decision required more than a stack of résumés.
The work behind the hire
Brass Tracks organized the uncertainty, tested the assumptions, and gave the leadership team a smaller set of better-supported decisions.
The company needed a senior sales leader who could sell AI software into complex defense environments, build pipeline with Army and special operations customers, and operate as a hands-on hunter alongside the founders. Clearance, customer credibility, early-stage fit, and the ability to turn technical capability into funded programs made the market exceptionally narrow.
Defense access alone was not enough. Many candidates knew the customer but had not personally built and closed a software revenue motion. Others had scaled sales organizations but were too far removed from the field. The viable market sat at the intersection of mission credibility, software judgment, and personal deal ownership.
The company did not need a traditional executive who would arrive and immediately build layers. It needed a hunter-builder who could create the sales function while personally carrying the number, then scale the organization from evidence rather than theory.
Brass Tracks built the search around demonstrated software revenue, Army and SOF access, and end-to-end deal ownership. Candidates were pressure-tested against real customer motions, acquisition pathways, executive presence, and the willingness to work directly with the founders.
The result
Mandate architecture
Installed the commercial leadership needed to turn defense AI capability into a repeatable growth motion.
Defense access, software revenue ownership, Army and SOF credibility, and founder-stage operating range had to exist in one person.
A hunter-builder who could carry the number first and scale the function from evidence.
The difficult search
The mandate that combines too many things. The market that appears too narrow. The role other firms keep turning into the same predictable slate.