Fractional Chief AI Officer Services
For CEOs running $10M–$100M businesses who have AI problems and no one internally who owns solving them. Two engagements. No fluff. Someone finally accountable for results.
Every engagement starts with the audit. Most clients move straight into the retainer.
How the AI Transformation System Works
Three phases. 90-day roadmap. Monthly cadence. Someone accountable for results at every step.
Strategy
AI Readiness Audit — Days 1 to 30
Before anything gets deployed, I map exactly where AI is breaking down in your organization. Discovery sessions with leadership, operations, and your technical team. End-to-end diagnostic of tools, workflows, ownership gaps, security, and compliance readiness. Deliverable: a complete AI Readiness Report and prioritized 90-day action plan — within 30 days.
Transformation
AI System Installation — Days 31 to 90
The plan gets executed. AI tools connected to your workflows. Agentic systems that automate busy work. AI-powered development pipelines your engineers actually use. Team training so your people work with AI, not around it — from developers to leadership. Deliverable: working AI systems inside your organization. Not presentations. Not pilots.
Education & Accountability
Fractional CAIO Retainer — Month 2 Onward
Your AI Transformation System compounds month over month. Monthly strategy sessions, async access between sessions, executive reporting on AI progress, and continuous optimization against your roadmap. Deliverable: an organization where AI is working, measured, and scaling — with someone finally accountable for making it stay that way.
The Monthly Operating System
This runs every month. No ambiguity. No "what should we do next?" No drift. A structured 4-week cadence that produces results automatically — whether you drive it or not.
Executive Alignment
KPI review, roadmap adjustment, and priority decisions with leadership.
- Review AI transformation KPIs
- Adjust roadmap priorities
- Clear blockers at the executive level
- Set monthly objectives
Department Activation
Deep work in 1–2 departments — identifying workflows, mapping AI opportunities, assessing team readiness.
- Department-specific deep dive
- Workflow identification
- AI opportunity mapping
- Team readiness assessment
Implementation Sprint
1–2 high-impact AI builds, automations, or workflow transformations deployed inside your organization.
- High-impact AI builds
- Workflow automation deployed
- Tool integration and connection
- Process transformation
Training & Reporting
Team training delivered. Impact report in leadership's hands. Next month pre-loaded — no drift, no "what's next?"
- Team AI proficiency training session
- Monthly impact report delivered
- Next month pre-loaded
- Internal AI champion development
AI Readiness Audit
Every engagement starts here. Before I install anything, I need to understand exactly where AI is breaking down in your business — and give you a clear plan to fix it. This is that plan.
What Happens:
- Discovery sessions with you and your key stakeholders — leadership, operations, and any technical team
- End-to-end mapping of where AI should be working in your business and isn't
- Identification of the exact gaps — tools, workflows, ownership, security, compliance, and governance
- Quantified cost of what your current AI gaps are costing you — in time, headcount, and revenue
- A prioritized 90-day AI Transformation roadmap — what to install, in what order, and why
Timeline: 30 days from kickoff to final deliverable.
Fractional Chief AI Officer (CAIO) — Monthly Retainer
After the audit, most clients want someone to stay on and make sure the plan actually gets executed. That's the retainer. I become your organization's Fractional CAIO — accountable for AI results, month over month.
What's Included Each Month:
- Monthly strategy session — priorities, progress, and accountability against the roadmap
- AI tool deployment and workflow installation — agentic systems, AI-powered development, and business automation that actually ships
- Team AI proficiency training — your people learn to work with AI, not around it
- Async access — questions answered, decisions unblocked, between sessions
- Executive reporting — board-ready AI progress updates, governance, security, and compliance posture
Investment: Retainer pricing is scoped to your organization's size, complexity, and objectives — and discussed on the discovery call. Most clients find the ROI justifies itself within the first 90 days.
Staff Augmentation & Specialized Talent
For organizations that need on-going or flexible access to experienced engineering talent.
*Available only as a follow-on to audit engagements or after a strategy call.*
How It Works:
When you need additional hands to maintain, scale, or extend your systems, we can provide experienced contractors who integrate smoothly with your team.
What You Get:
- Experienced engineering talent matched to your stack
- Flexible engagement options (part-time, full-time, or project-based)
- Optional ongoing technical oversight
- No recruiting delays or hiring overhead
Why Use Our Contractors vs. Hiring Full-Time?
- Faster: Start in weeks, not 3–6 months
- Flexible: Scale up or down as priorities shift
- Aligned: Contractors already familiar with our consulting work
- Low Overhead: No benefits, HR management, or onboarding burden
Why it works: You get skilled support quickly without the cost, delay, or risk of full-time hiring.
You Have a $2M Problem. A Fractional CAIO Is the Solution.
Most businesses running $10M–$100M have AI problems worth millions in lost efficiency, wasted headcount, and missed revenue. A full-time Chief AI Officer costs $300K–$500K+ per year and takes 6–12 months to hire.
A Fractional CAIO gives you the same operator-level AI leadership — built from inside Fortune 10 and Fortune 50 organizations — for a fraction of the cost. No recruiting. No ramp-up. Starts with the audit. Scales into the retainer.
Book Your Discovery CallWhy a Fractional CAIO Instead of Hiring Full-Time?
Hiring a Full-Time CAIO
A Chief AI Officer with real operator experience commands $300K–$500K+ in total compensation, takes 6–12 months to recruit, and may still lack the hands-on implementation background your organization actually needs.
And if they don’t work out — you’ve lost a year and significant budget.
Doing It Internally
Your engineering team is already stretched. Asking them to own AI transformation on top of current delivery commitments is how you get pilots that never ship and engineers who burn out.
AI transformation requires dedicated ownership — not a side project assigned to whoever has 20% spare capacity.
Fractional CAIO Advantage
You get operator-level AI leadership — from someone who’s built and run AI systems inside Fortune 10 and Fortune 50 organizations — on a flexible retainer.
No recruiting timeline. No full-time overhead. No ramp-up. The AI Transformation System starts installing in week one — with someone accountable for making it work.
Ready to Become AI-Native?
One strategy call — no commitment, no sales pitch. Just clarity on where AI is breaking down in your organization and what it will take to fix it.
Schedule Your Strategy CallNot ready for a call? Take the free AI Readiness Assessment first — five minutes, department-by-department breakdown, prioritized actions.