An AI lead without the salary.
a month is where most engagements start. Scale up when the roadmap is heavy, down when it is running, stop with a month's notice.
A full-time AI executive costs hundreds of thousands a year and is hard to find. Most businesses of 10 to 500 people need the judgement, not the headcount. Fractional AI leadership gives you an accountable AI lead on a day rate, measured on outcomes, with the capability handed over as you grow your own.
The job, sized to your business.
Six responsibilities, each with a deliverable you can point to at the end of the month.
Roadmap ownership
A living AI roadmap tied to revenue and cost, reviewed monthly. Use cases ranked by return, each with an owner and a number attached.
Build versus buy
Vendor evaluation, platform selection and honest build-versus-buy calls for each capability, so you stop renting what you should own.
Governance and risk
Data permissions, human review points, audit trails and an AI use policy your team follows. The Guardrails Framework, applied before incidents rather than after.
Team upskilling
Hands-on training for the people who will live with the tools, so the capability stays in your business when the engagement scales down.
Deployment oversight
Pilots run to production standards from day one: measured on task completion, wired to real data through the Digital Brain, watched after they go live.
Board reporting
A monthly report your leadership can act on: what shipped, what it returned, what is next and what it needs.
What you get, by month.
A typical first six months. Every month ends with a written report and a decision the board can see.
- Month 0
The free audit
Readiness scorecard, top three use cases with a number on each, 90-day roadmap. $0.
- Month 1
Roadmap and policy
The roadmap adopted by leadership, an AI use policy written for your obligations and rolled out, a named owner per system in a register.
- Months 2 to 3
First deployment
One use case built or bought, on a free trial where it is digital staff, measured against its number from week one.
- Months 4 to 6
Widen and hand over
The next use case chosen by the first one's number, build-versus-buy calls made per capability, training delivered, and the first quarterly board report.
Day rate. Monthly retainer. No lock-in.
Who it is not for.
A business that already has a capable AI lead in the building, or one that wants a report and nothing after it. A project consultant delivers a document and leaves. A fractional lead is accountable over time: the roadmap is owned, decisions are made and revisited, and capability is built inside your team.
It is also not a substitute for hiring when the workload justifies a seat. Often it precedes the hire: we build the strategy, governance and first deployments, then help define the role and hand over a working program instead of a blank page.
How it ran at a 150-person firm.
A partnership under board pressure to have an answer on AI, with partners split on direction and staff pasting client material into public chatbots. Two days a month: roadmap from the audit findings, a confidentiality-grounded AI policy in month one, build-versus-buy on three capabilities, quarterly board reports. Two systems in production within six months. Read the case.
Questions.
How much time do we get and what does it cost?
Engagements run on a fixed monthly retainer, typically one to a few days a week depending on the roadmap. It costs a fraction of a full-time AI executive, and you can scale up, scale down or stop with notice. No long lock-in contracts. Contact us for a quote sized to your roadmap.
Should we build AI capability in-house or buy it?
Usually both, decided per capability rather than once. Own your context, data and workflows, because they are your moat. Rent the models, because they improve every quarter. Buy judgement until you have grown your own. Making that call honestly for each capability is a core part of the fractional role.
Can you work with our existing IT provider or MSP?
Yes. We set direction, governance and standards, and work alongside your MSP, developers or internal IT. They are included by design, because they keep what gets built running after each engagement scales down.
Does this replace hiring our own AI lead?
Often it precedes it. We build the strategy, governance and first deployments, and upskill your people as we go. If and when a full-time hire makes sense, we help define the role and hand over a working program instead of a blank page.
Where do we start?
Every fractional engagement starts with the free audit, so you see the roadmap before you spend a dollar.
What is fractional AI consulting?
Senior AI leadership on a part-time, ongoing basis. We own your AI roadmap, make build-versus-buy and vendor decisions, set governance and upskill your team, typically a few days a month. You get the judgement of an AI executive without the cost of the headcount.
How is this different from a project-based consultant?
A project consultant delivers a report and leaves. A fractional consultant is accountable over time: the roadmap is owned, decisions are made and revisited, and capability is built inside your team. The engagement is measured on outcomes, not documents.