Engagements / 02 · Most chosen

Fractional AI Lead

A senior AI leader embedded in your team for a day a week. Weekly 1:1 with the founder or CTO, running architecture and code review, supporting your technical hires, and getting you investor-ready. £9,000/month, rolling, 30-day notice on either side.

£9,000 / month Rolling, 30-day notice ~1 day / week equivalent

Who this is for

You are a founder or CTO between £500k and £10M ARR, with a real product and a team that ships — but the AI surface is new for you. You do not need a full-time VP of AI on £180k plus equity. You need senior judgement on architecture, hiring, and due-diligence prep without paying for a headcount you cannot fully use.

This is also the retainer most clients move onto after a Production Audit or Build Sprint ends — a way to keep shipped work shipping without the cost of another full engagement.

What you get

  • Weekly 1:1 with founder or CTO. 45 minutes, structured agenda, action items I chase down in writing.
  • Architecture and code review cadence. Every major AI PR reviewed before merge, with written feedback your team learns from.
  • Technical hiring support. I sit in on senior-engineer interviews, co-write take-home tests, give a written recommendation.
  • Investor and DD prep. When you raise, the technical section of the deck is mine, and I take the DD call if needed.
  • Async access on Slack or email between sessions. Reasonable-use response within 4 working hours.

How it runs

Onboarding takes a week. I sit in on the next sprint planning, read the repo, meet the team. From week two the cadence locks in. Every month I send a one-page written report to the founder: what we did, what it cost, what is next, what I am worried about.

Rolling month-to-month. Either side can end it with 30 days' notice. No long lock-in. No minimum term beyond the first 90 days (which is roughly how long it takes for the relationship to produce value on a difficult stack).

FAQ

Is this a fractional CTO?

No. You probably already have a CTO. This is a peer to your CTO, specialised in the AI surface. They own architecture and delivery; I own the AI-specific judgement they do not have depth in yet.

How is this billed?

Monthly in advance. Standard 30-day invoice terms. I do not bill in arrears or time-track — the engagement is scoped in outcomes, not hours.

Can you take equity instead?

Rarely, and only after one paid engagement has gone well. See the FAQ on the home page for the reasoning.

Exploring fractional support?

30-minute discovery call. I will ask what you are building, what your existing leadership looks like, and whether this is genuinely the right shape.

Book discovery call