Fractional CTO / Technology Advisor
Senior, CTO-level technical leadership for startups and growing companies that have engineers but need experienced direction — without hiring a full-time CTO.
You have developers but no experienced technical leader — so big architecture, AI and build-vs-buy decisions get made without senior judgment, and technical risk quietly compounds.
Fractional CTO / Technology Advisor provides senior technical leadership for startups and growing technology companies that need CTO-level guidance without hiring a full-time CTO. We work with founders, executives and engineering teams on technology strategy, architecture, AI adoption, product decisions, technical roadmaps, engineering practices and the major technology decisions. It's designed for companies that already have developers but need an experienced leader to provide direction, challenge assumptions, reduce technical risk and keep technology aligned with the business. This is an advisory and leadership engagement — not a replacement for an engineering team or a hands-on development contract.
- CTO-level judgment without a full-time CTO salary.
- Big technology and AI decisions made with experience behind them.
- Assumptions challenged and technical risk actively reduced.
- Technology kept aligned with business goals.
A bounded, phased engagement. Each bar below is proportional to its estimated duration on a shared calendar.
Understand the business, team and technology landscape.
Shape strategy, architecture and the technical roadmap.
Guide decisions, challenge assumptions and reduce risk month to month.
Concrete artefacts you keep — delivered in editable, open formats your team owns.
Technology Strategy & Roadmap
A strategy and roadmap aligned with business goals.
OngoingArchitecture & AI/LLM Guidance
Direction on architecture, AI/LLM and major decisions.
OngoingEngineering Team Guidance
Direction on practices, hiring and delivery.
OngoingExecutive Technology Advisory
Ongoing advisory to founders and executives.
Ongoing
The edges of this engagement, and what we’ll need from you to run it.
- Replacing your engineering team or writing production code.
- A hands-on development contract.
- Full-time employment or an interim staff role.
- Day-to-day people management as a line manager.
- An existing team of developers or engineers.
- Founder/executive access for advisory sessions.
- The business goals technology needs to serve.
- Openness to having assumptions challenged.
Fixed-scope and outcome-priced — one agreed figure for a defined set of deliverables, with no hourly billing.
Per month; scales with engagement level.
- Fixed scope, agreed before we start — no open-ended hourly billing.
- One figure covers the full set of deliverables listed alongside.
- The number only moves with system complexity, and only by agreement.
- Technology Strategy & Roadmap
- Architecture & AI/LLM Guidance
- Engineering Team Guidance
- Executive Technology Advisory
Answers to the questions we hear most about this engagement.
Is this a full-time CTO?
No — it's fractional, CTO-level leadership on a monthly basis, for companies that need direction without a full-time hire.
Do you write code?
It's an advisory and leadership engagement, not a hands-on development contract — we direct and de-risk; your team builds.
Who is it for?
Startups and growing companies that already have developers but need an experienced technical leader to set direction and reduce risk.
How is it priced?
A monthly retainer from $6,000, scaling with how deeply involved you need us to be.