In research we conducted, we found that 90-95% of people use AI in one of two ways: they let it generate answers for them, or they use it to validate what they already think.

Only 5-10% do something different. They create “productive friction.”

Instead of asking AI, “Why am I right?” they ask, “Why am I wrong?”

This maps directly to executive search.

Most firms will use AI to generate candidate lists, write outreach emails, and create job descriptions. Faster, cheaper, more efficient. But that’s not the breakthrough opportunity.

The firms that win will use AI as a sparring partner. They’ll challenge their assumptions about what makes a great nonprofit leader. Stress-test their cultural fit hypotheses. Generate counterarguments to their own hiring recommendations.

This isn’t about humans vs. machines. It’s about human judgment enhanced by machine intelligence.

At DEJ Search, we’re not using AI to replace our thinking about nonprofit leadership. We’re using it to sharpen it.

Because in a world of AI-generated everything, the scarcest resource isn’t information.

It’s judgment.