Use a fractional CTO when the next technology decision is bigger than your current bench.
The model works best when a company has serious technical work underway but no senior leader who has made similar decisions before. Common triggers are a platform migration, AI adoption, a post-acquisition integration, a vendor replacement, a team restructuring, compliance exposure, or a board asking sharper technology questions than the team is ready to answer.
What the work includes
- Reviewing current architecture, delivery process, team capability, and vendor dependence.
- Writing a technical strategy that leadership can approve and teams can carry out.
- Evaluating AI opportunities against data quality, process maturity, risk, and upkeep.
- Working with implementation teams and checking their output against the agreed specification.
How much of my time
Advisory work usually runs five to ten hours a month: architecture reviews, decision checks, a second opinion on a vendor or a hire. Hands-on oversight runs fifteen to thirty hours a month and adds deliverable reviews, technical hiring, and milestone checks. Most engagements mix the two, and the balance shifts over time.
Where hands-on work fits
I’m not extra headcount, and I don’t replace your engineering team, which owns production code. I do still build. When a decision depends on whether something will work in practice, such as an AI workflow, a difficult integration, or a new architecture, I often build the first version myself so the decision rests on evidence.
When to hire full-time instead
If software is your core product and critical technical decisions come up every day, you need a full-time CTO. I can help define that role and cover the gap while you hire.