Placing a Chief Revenue Officer for Tars Pro (Dubai) Driving AI-Powered Growth

The Challenge

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Tars Pro needed a CRO who could be more than a revenue leader — someone who:

• Deeply understood AI, tokenomics, and agent frameworks
  
  
• Had networks across institutional crypto, AI / ML startups, and enterprise clients
  
• Could build and lead a GTM engine (sales, partnerships, alliances) over an evolving AI×blockchain product stack
  
• Managed cross-border growth (UAE, Saudi, Singapore, etc.) with sensitivity to regulation, compliance, and varying AI adoption
  
• Worked effectively in a founder-driven, high-velocity environment where roadmap pivots are frequent
  
  

Despite many outreach and internal searches, the founders were not getting CRO candidates with the right AI credibility + institutional gravitas. They needed a retained partner who could deliver that hybrid profile — fast.

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Our Approach

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We ran an exclusive retained search with the following layered strategy:

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1. AI-centric Commercial Diagnostic

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• We audited Tars Pro’s product roadmap (AI market, agent tokenization, staking) and mapped out revenue levers tied to AI usage, marketplace volume, licensing of agent frameworks, and partnerships.
  
• We created a segmentation of commercial “AI paths” (e.g. enterprise AI agents, DeFi + AI bundling, AI toolkits) to inform where sales should focus.
  
  

2. Refined CRO Profile: AI + Institutional DNA

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We defined a candidate profile emphasizing:

• Senior revenue leadership in AI / ML, data / analytics, or AI-adjacent SaaS or tokenized ecosystems
  
• Track record building partnerships with AI platform providers, LLM collaborators, or institutional AI labs
  
• Experience scaling revenue in regulated or compliance-heavy markets
  
• Cryptonative or blockchain exposure (so the candidate could speak credibly to tokenization, agent tokens, bonding curves)
  
  

3. Target Mapping & Outreach

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• We built a global map of ~80 candidates across US, Europe, MENA, Singapore, crypto & AI hubs
  
• We prioritized those who had held titles like VP / SVP / CRO in AI / data / SaaS + involvement in tokenomics or AI marketplaces
  
• We conducted deep outreach, screened for AI technical fluency (not just sales chops), and held founders-only “technical vetting” calls
  
  

4. Shortlist & Placement

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• Within 3 weeks, we delivered a high-quality shortlist of 4 CRO candidates, each of whom could speak credibly on AI architectures, agent frameworks, tokenization, and GTM
  
• The founders met, vetted, and selected a Dubai-based CRO who combined AI / ML background + institutional commercial leadership
  
  

The Hire & First 90 Days

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The chosen CRO brought ~15 years’ experience scaling revenue in AI / data infrastructure + SaaS, and had prior exposure to blockchain token models.

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Initial 90-Day Actions

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• Reorganized GTM into AI verticals: enterprise AI agents, AI infrastructure partnerships, AI token monetization
  
• Established cross-region sales branches: UAE, KSA, Singapore
  
• Designed AI-driven pipeline tracking (ML forecasting, usage-score leads)
  
• Introduced a tokenized revenue share or usage-based pricing for AI agents, aiming to align usage with monetization
  
  

Results & Metrics

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Metric vs Outcome

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Time to shortlist: ~21 days

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Time to offer: ~35 days

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Total qualified candidates reached: ~80

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Retention at 12 months: 100% (still onboard)

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New pipeline initiated (90 days): USD 20–25M+ across MENA & SEA

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Projected ARR uplift (due to AI pricing model): +35–45% YoY

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AI agent marketplace volume growth (first 3 mo): +70% user adoption increase (new AI agents launched)

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Client Testimonial

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“Sam and the team didn’t just find us a CRO — they found someone who speaks our language. He understands AI, token models, and commercial scale. In 3 months, our revenue thesis evolved from purely product-led to truly AI-powered monetization.”

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— Tars Pro Founder & CEO

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