Executive Search Success Story: Securing a Chief Data & AI Officer to Drive Grid Analytics and Operational Intelligence for a Tampa Energy Company

How JRG Partners executed a confidential Chief Data & AI Officer search that equipped a Tampa-headquartered energy and utility services company with the enterprise leadership required to turn grid, asset, and customer data into predictive maintenance, outage prevention, and operational cost reductions across a growing Florida service territory.

The Challenge

A Tampa energy and utility services company was managing a rapidly expanding Florida service territory with aging infrastructure, rising storm-related outage costs, and growing regulatory expectations for reliability reporting. The company collected enormous volumes of sensor, asset, and customer data but had no executive leadership to convert it into operational intelligence. Executive leadership identified several critical vulnerabilities threatening operating performance:

• Reactive maintenance driving unplanned outages and escalating repair costs
• Storm response and restoration planning dependent on manual assessments
• Asset, sensor, and customer data siloed across operational technology and enterprise systems
• Reliability and regulatory reporting assembled manually with limited confidence in accuracy
• Field workforce productivity constrained by inconsistent data and scheduling tools
• No executive accountable for data strategy, platforms, or AI across the enterprise

Recognizing that reliability and cost objectives could not be met without data and AI leadership, the CEO and board created a Chief Data & AI Officer position with authority over enterprise data platforms, analytics, and AI deployment across operations. The mandate also included a Director of Asset & Grid Analytics and a Head of Enterprise Data Platform. The company required an executive search partner with access to data leaders who had delivered results in utility, energy, and asset-intensive industrial environments.

Why They Chose JRG Partners

Chief Data & AI Officer Search Specialization

JRG Partners maintains a dedicated practice for Chief Data & AI Officer searches, evaluating candidates on enterprise data platform delivery, operational AI deployment, and measurable business results rather than technical credentials alone.

Industrial and Engineering Search Expertise

With deep experience recruiting engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain leadership, JRG Partners understood the operational technology, asset management, and field service context the new executive would need to master.

Florida Market Knowledge

Headquartered in Boca Raton, JRG Partners brought direct knowledge of the Tampa Bay executive market and Florida’s energy sector, supporting both regional sourcing and national candidates open to relocation.

Our Executive Search Strategy

Phase 1 — Operational Data Assessment & Role Design

Our consultants partnered directly with the CEO, Chief Operating Officer, and VP of Engineering to assess the company’s data landscape across operational and enterprise systems, define the Chief Data & AI Officer’s authority, and align the mandate with reliability, cost, and regulatory priorities.

Phase 2 — Talent Identification & Mapping

Our research team performed an extensive talent mapping initiative targeting data and AI leaders at investor-owned utilities, energy companies, industrial operators, and enterprise data organizations. Over 255 executive profiles were systematically assessed for operational analytics and asset-intelligence results.

Phase 3 — Candidate Engagement

Priority during outreach was given to executives with a documented history of building enterprise data platforms integrating operational technology, deploying predictive maintenance and outage analytics, and delivering measurable reliability improvements. Only candidates meeting these strict performance baselines advanced.

Phase 4 — Selection Process

Finalists presented an enterprise data and operational AI roadmap to the executive team and board, completed structured leadership assessments, and underwent reference verification focused on quantified reliability, cost, and regulatory outcomes.

Key Outcomes

• 255+ data, analytics, and AI executive profiles mapped across utilities, energy, and asset-intensive industries.
• Placed the company’s first Chief Data & AI Officer in 61 days with authority spanning platforms, analytics, and operational AI.
• Integrated operational and enterprise data into a single platform within twelve months.
• Reduced unplanned outages by 19% through predictive maintenance analytics.
• Lowered annual operating costs by $5.2M through optimized maintenance and field workforce analytics.
• Built a three-role leadership structure spanning enterprise data and AI, grid analytics, and data platform.