New 2025 Report Highlights Tech Executive Pay Trends

June 3, 2025 – Executive compensation goes beyond negotiation—it’s a strategic tool for driving growth, retaining talent, and maintaining a competitive edge. Understanding your executives’ value can be the key to securing top talent instead of losing them to rivals. Riviera Partners’ 2025 Executive Compensation Report, exclusively available to Riviera’s client and partner network, offers valuable insights into the real salary, bonus, and equity packages tech companies are offering for leadership roles across VC-backed, PE-backed, and public companies.

One of the most significant shifts in the tech hiring market is the growing demand for AI and data-driven leaders, according to the Riviera Partners report. “AI leadership roles, such as chief AI officer and head of AI product, are commanding premium compensation packages,” the study said. “In fact, AI-related leadership roles are often compensated at higher total compensation levels than traditional roles like CTOs or CPOs.”

Riviera Partners explained that this shift is not just driven by the rise of AI technologies, but by the strategic importance of having executives who can integrate AI into products, processes, and platforms. “As AI adoption accelerates, the need for specialized leadership capable of driving AI initiatives has never been more critical,” the report said. “Tech companies are seeking AI-savvy executives who can lead innovation, scale AI infrastructure, and ensure the responsible deployment of AI technologies.”

Riviera Partners shared the following compensation trends in VC-backed companies:

• Equity-Rich Offers: Base compensation in VC-backed companies has remained stable, particularly in seed and series A firms. Most early-stage companies continue to offer equity-heavy packages to win talent. For example, the report points to how in seed and series A firms, base salaries are generally lower, but equity grants average 1.2 percent.
• Even More Incentive: Sign on bonuses for Series A+-stage executives now average 14 percent of their initial salary.

“Equity-heavy packages are dominating in early-stage VC-backed companies, while more mature startups are increasingly offering customized comp packages to attract AI and engineering leadership,” said Eoin O’Toole, managing partner of Riviera’s venture-backed practice.

Related: Executive Transitions in Private Equity: Managing Leadership Change for Maximum Impact

Riviera Partners provided the following shifting trends in PE-backed companies:

• Performance-Linked Compensation: In the private equity sector, compensation packages are increasingly tied to performance, with equity compensation tied to transformation milestones and long-term company growth. Bonus structures often focus on EBITDA and operational efficiency, rewarding leaders who drive measurable results.
• M&A Experience Is a Premium: Executives with experience in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are commanding a significant premium in compensation, especially in the PE space. These leaders are highly sought after for their ability to manage transitions and drive growth.

Public Companies Focus on Operational Efficiency

“Despite flat base salaries and annual bonuses across many public companies, there is a noticeable shift in leadership expectations,” the Riviera Partners report said. “Executives are now expected to deliver greater enterprise-wide impact, particularly in roles focused on technology modernization and platform innovation.”

Private Equity’s Leadership Imperative: Driving Impact with Agility and Vision

As the private equity landscape becomes increasingly dynamic and complex, the demand for transformative leadership has never been greater. PE firms are no longer just seeking financial expertise—they want seasoned executives who can deliver alpha through strategic insight, operational excellence, and cultural leadership. Recruiters tell Hunt Scanlon Media that these leaders must demonstrate a clear track record of growing businesses, driving EBITDA, navigating successful exits, and leading through periods of disruption and transformation. Beyond the numbers, firms value executives who can align teams around value creation goals, engage effectively with stakeholders, and bring a balance of vision and execution to the table.

At the same time, market trends are reshaping the leadership profiles in demand. Heightened volatility and economic uncertainty have shifted focus toward resilience, operational rigor, and the ability to lead through ambiguity. Leaders are now expected to drive efficiency while retaining top talent and fostering innovation. 

“As public companies continue to integrate AI into their operations, there is an increasing emphasis on leaders who can drive data strategy and AI innovation,” the report also said. “These leaders are often compensated with a mix of base salary, equity, and performance-based incentives.”

EMEA’s Growing Focus on AI and Talent in Emerging Markets

In EMEA, companies are rapidly shifting to integrate AI into their leadership teams, according to the Riviera Partners report. There’s a noticeable focus on candidates who can bridge technical expertise with business strategy, particularly in product and engineering roles.

“There is renewed emphasis on local presence, with many firms preferring candidates based near key hubs like London, Berlin, Paris, and Barcelona. Southern Europe is emerging as a source of strong talent, particularly in engineering and product,” the report explained.

Related: Who Rises to Lead in Private Equity?

“Top candidates are all in on AI,” said Glenn Murphy, managing partner, EMEA. “There is a sense that the shift we are seeing will be historic and candidates don’t want to look back and realize they were on the sidelines.”

The Pressure to Attract and Retain Top Talent

Riviera Partners also noted that companies today face heightened competition for executive talent, and many are feeling the pressure to improve their compensation offerings. “The most competitive firms are shifting toward blended packages of cash and equity—with an increasing focus on performance-based incentives,” the search firm said. “This approach enables companies to attract top leaders while aligning their compensation structures with long-term business goals.”

The report also reveals that equity compensation is becoming more variable in VC-backed and public companies. As businesses navigate economic volatility, compensation packages are more often tied to measurable business outcomes such as AI-driven innovation, platform modernization, and cost-saving goals.

Economic Uncertainty Influences Public Companies’ Compensation Strategies

The report also reveals how public companies are adjusting their compensation structures in response to ongoing economic volatility. “With concerns around high interest rates, potential tariff impacts, and a cooling S&P, many public companies are becoming more selective in their hiring, prioritizing executives who can deliver measurable results quickly,” the study said. “The decline in market caps is impacting how much equity companies can offer, and it’s driving a greater emphasis on performance-linked bonuses and cash-heavy offers.”

“Additionally, C-suite executives—particularly those in product, engineering, and platform leadership roles—are now more likely to have their compensation linked to enterprise-wide impact rather than just company growth,” the Riviera Partners report said. “Companies are focusing on clarity around equity mechanics, with more companies offering downside protection and liquidity timelines to appeal to candidates cautious about market volatility.”

Riviera Partners is a global recruiting firm specializing in the technology industry. The firm provides clients with optimal placements by combining recruiter interactions and experience with data-driven findings about candidates. Riviera Partners has recruited for key executive roles at Pinterest, Postmates, Tinder, Twilio, Uber, Asana, Dropbox, GitHub, DoorDash, Hulu, and partnered with venture-backed concerns, including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Benchmark, Accel, Menlo Ventures, KPCB, Greylock, and General Catalyst.

Through machine learning algorithms, Riviera Partners identifies specialized, highly qualified candidates that fit an organization’s needs from 600,000 professionals across tech geographies. Riviera can often provide a short list of candidates in 30 days and has a success rate of over 95 percent.

Related: How PE Firms Are Evolving In 2025

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media