Service Advisory

Executive AI leadership, without the executive headcount.

A full-time Chief AI Officer runs $400K+ and takes six months to hire — if you can find one who's actually shipped. A fractional CAIO gives you the same accountability at a fraction of the cost: someone who owns the AI roadmap, sits in the vendor meetings, answers to the board, and is measured on the same scoreboard as everything else I build.

~20% Of a full-time CAIO cost

Day 1 Operational, no ramp-up hire

1 owner For every AI decision

In most mid-market and enterprise organizations, AI is owned by committee — IT runs the infrastructure, innovation runs the pilots, legal runs the fear, and nobody runs the P&L. Vendors exploit that gap ruthlessly. So do consultants selling strategy decks. The result is scattered pilots, duplicated spend, and no one who can tell the board what AI actually returned this quarter.

The fractional model fixes the accountability problem without the executive search. I take ownership of the AI agenda — roadmap, vendor selection, governance, build oversight — on a retainer, and I report against numbers. Because I build these systems myself, vendor claims get tested by someone who knows exactly what's behind the demo. That alone usually pays the retainer.

What the role covers

Strategy and roadmap — owning what gets built, in what order, and what each initiative must return, reviewed quarterly with your executive team.
Vendor and build decisions — sitting on your side of the table for every AI vendor pitch, contract, and build-vs-buy call.
Governance and risk — usage policy, model risk controls, and compliance posture that satisfy your board, your auditors, and your regulators.

You don't need a $400K hire to have someone accountable for AI. You need someone who's shipped, who's measured, and who picks up the phone.

One role, four accountabilities.

The same scoreboard as everything else I build — reviewed with your executives quarterly.

01 / Direction

Own the roadmap

A ranked, KPI-tied AI agenda — what gets built, what gets bought, what gets killed — reviewed and re-ranked as results land.

02 / Defense

Sit on your side of the table

Every vendor pitch and contract reviewed by someone who builds these systems and knows what the demo is hiding.

03 / Delivery

Keep builds honest

Oversight of internal teams and outside vendors against scope, budget, and the number each project committed to.

04 / Governance

Answer to the board

Usage policy, risk controls, and a quarterly AI P&L your board can actually read — returns, costs, and what changed.

Retainer-basedVendor-neutralBoard reportingGovernanceRoadmap ownershipHands-on

Questions, answered.

The ones every buyer asks first.

What does a fractional Chief AI Officer cost?

A retainer typically runs 15–25% of a full-time CAIO’s fully-loaded cost, scaled to cadence — from a monthly advisory rhythm to multiple embedded days per week. Every engagement starts with a scoped first quarter so you can measure before you commit.

How is this different from hiring an AI consulting firm?

A firm sells you a team and a methodology; the incentive is more billable work. A fractional CAIO is a single accountable person on your side of every table — including the table where consulting firms pitch you. I have no delivery army to feed.

How many days per month do we get?

Typical engagements run two to eight days per month depending on how much is in flight. The cadence flexes — heavier during vendor selection or a build, lighter in steady state. The accountability is constant either way.

Can this convert into builds or a full-time hire?

Yes to both. I build agents, RAG systems, and infrastructure myself when the roadmap calls for it, and part of the mandate can be hiring and onboarding your permanent AI leadership — then handing them a working scoreboard instead of a mess.