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Ongoing retainer · Senior AI ownership

Senior AI leadership without a full-time hire

Work with a Fractional AI Lead to turn your AI roadmap into shipped systems, sound architecture, and measurable business value — with the judgment of a PhD computer scientist and former CTO, at a fraction of a full-time leader.

Start with an AI Readiness Audit Discuss a retainer

Who it is for

Healthcare teams

Medical-AI and health-data teams that need senior AI judgment with regulatory awareness, without hiring a full-time AI leader.

Manufacturing SMEs

Mittelstand and SME manufacturers scaling AI from a first pilot into a dependable production capability.

Teams with a roadmap, no owner

Founders and teams that have an AI roadmap but no senior AI owner to drive architecture, vendor decisions, and delivery.

What the Fractional AI Lead owns

  • ✓ The AI roadmap — what gets built, in what order, and why
  • ✓ Architecture decisions for data, models, and deployment
  • ✓ Vendor and build-vs-buy decisions
  • ✓ Implementation oversight and code/architecture review
  • ✓ Model evaluation and validation strategy
  • ✓ Compliance-aware documentation and traceability

What it is not

  • ✗ Not a generic full-time CTO replacement
  • ✗ Not open-ended hourly staff augmentation
  • ✗ Not prototype theater or slideware
  • ✗ Not advice that walks out the door — ownership of outcomes

How we can work together

Three levels of engagement, scoped to where you are. Detailed pricing is shared in a scoping call or proposal.

AI Implementation Retainer

Best for small, ongoing builds and fixes.

  • ✓ Hands-on implementation
  • ✓ Monthly check-in
  • ✓ Async support

Fractional AI Lead

Best for teams scaling AI as a capability.

  • ✓ Roadmap and architecture ownership
  • ✓ Vendor decisions and implementation oversight
  • ✓ Monthly strategy session

Fractional Applied AI Scientist

Best for research-heavy healthcare and manufacturing AI.

  • ✓ Experimental design and model evaluation
  • ✓ Validation strategy
  • ✓ Research-to-production bridge

Recommended starting point

Unless the scope is already clear, most teams start with an AI Readiness Audit. It de-risks the work, aligns everyone on priorities, and its fee is credited against the first month of a retainer.

Explore the AI Readiness Audit

Common questions

Ready for senior AI ownership?

Start with an audit, or book a call to discuss a Fractional AI Lead retainer directly.

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What does a Fractional AI Lead own?

A Fractional AI Lead owns the decisions a company cannot outsource: the AI roadmap, the architecture, vendor selection, and accountability for delivery. That ownership is the line separating the role from consulting. A consultant produces a recommendation and leaves the decision with you; a fractional lead makes the decision, signs off the design, and is answerable when a model underperforms in production.

Concretely the mandate covers which use cases get built and in what order, the choice between building, buying and fine-tuning, the evaluation and monitoring standard, the regulatory posture under the EU AI Act, and holding internal or external engineers to delivery.

Execution still needs engineers. The role supplies direction and accountability, not implementation capacity, and a well-structured engagement ends with a named internal owner, documented architecture decisions, and a roadmap someone else can run.