Commissioning means a mandate.
Not a call.
Not a briefing without a signature.
Not 'go find someone.'
In writing. Seat. Rights, stop, proof.
Without a mandate, commissioning is theatre, and the market delivers names without a yes.
I run retained AI Executive Search mandates from Hamburg for DACH seats. This page turns commissioning into a mandate. It carries no search-firm H1.
The mandate names the seat and the yes.
It says what may be stopped, without escalation theatre.
It says which proof counts, and who accepts it.
It says who signs, and who only watches.
If you commission without writing that down, you have not commissioned yet. You have voiced an expectation.
Not a search-firm slug.
Not a search-firm H1.
Not a firm-versus-mandate H1 clone.
Not a Money KEY steal.
The language stays mandate. The drain stays Money.
Treat commissioning as directory shopping and you buy the wrong frame.
Theatre: ask for names without seat fields.
Theatre: chemistry calls without a stop rule.
Theatre: kickoff without a signed yes.
Theatre: 'let us start' and mandate later.
Commission: mandate first. Market after. Judgment over volume.
Open the market without a mandate and you pay for research twice, once without seat fields, once with.
Commissioning without a signature stays intent. Commissioning with a mandate becomes search.
If you commission, retain the AI Executive Search mandate.
If you only call, the mandate is not open yet.
### Is a kickoff meeting enough to commission?
No. A meeting informs. A mandate binds.
### Does the mandate have to be long?
No. It has to be clear, rights, stop, proof.
### Who is this for?
Decision-makers who retain search, and keep accountability.
