01 · Leadership

Fractional CTO, CIO, CAIO, CISO & CPO

Embedded technology leadership for portfolio companies and growth-stage startups. We hold the seat, run the function, and design the full-time succession from day one.

What this is

A fractional executive engagement places a senior technology leader inside your company as a member of the leadership team, working a defined cadence (typically two to four days per week) and reporting directly to the CEO or the board. We are not advisors. We hold the seat with full operational responsibility for the function, the board’s confidence, and the team’s trust.

The five seats we hold are CTO, CIO, CAIO, CISO, and CPO. We can hold one seat or several, depending on what the company actually needs at this stage.

The seats we hold

  • Fractional CTO Engineering organization, delivery cadence, technical roadmap, build versus buy decisions, and the hiring plan for the permanent CTO. Typical for Series A through Series C companies that have outgrown a founding engineer and need a real technology org.
  • Fractional CIO Internal systems, enterprise IT, vendor relationships, identity, and the productivity stack. Typical for portfolio companies post-acquisition or any growing organization where IT has been a side-of-desk responsibility.
  • Fractional CAIO AI strategy, vendor selection, model governance, responsible deployment frameworks, and regulatory exposure. A new role for most companies. We help define what it actually means in your context before we hold it.
  • Fractional CISO Security program design, risk governance, compliance roadmap, incident response readiness, and board-level risk communication. Typical for companies pursuing SOC 2, ISO 27001, or any framework that requires named security leadership.
  • Fractional CPO Product strategy, roadmap discipline, discovery practice, and product team operating model. Typical for engineering-led companies that have shipped a lot but need product leadership to direct what gets shipped next.

When this fits

  • Pre-Series A startups that have hit the limits of founder-led technology decisions.
  • Portfolio companies post-close that need a senior seat held while the search runs.
  • Companies pursuing a regulatory milestone like SOC 2, ISO 27001, or EU AI Act compliance that requires named accountability.
  • Founders who want a senior counterpart to test decisions against without committing to a full-time hire.
  • Boards that need a trustworthy operator to assess and stabilize a function.

How the engagement works

  • Engagement structured month-to-month with a three-month minimum, no long-term contract.
  • Defined hours and clear deliverables agreed up front.
  • Direct reporting line to the CEO, founder, or board chair.
  • Board-level reporting and stakeholder communication included.
  • Hiring and onboarding of the permanent leader designed from day one, including the spec and the search.
  • Clean exit by design, with documented handoff to the full-time hire.

Have a seat to fill or a hire to plan for?

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