Chief AI Officer · Select engagements.
Strategic AI leadership for CEOs of £5–20m technology companies — where AI decisions are no longer experimental, and mistakes compound quietly.
This is not a retainer for accelerating AI adoption. It is an engagement for companies that want to make AI decisions correctly the first time.
I work with a small number of companies at any one time. If the timing is right, the conversation is worth having.
Scope of services
The work isn’t about doing more with AI. It’s about deciding what kind of system you’re building — before scale makes those decisions expensive to reverse.
AI vision & business alignment
Clarifying where AI genuinely creates value in your business — and where it doesn't. Yet.
Outcome: a direction the leadership team can stand behind and defend.
Data & infrastructure foundations
Making early architectural choices that support learning without locking the organisation into fragile prototypes.
Outcome: foundations that can change their mind without collapsing.
Responsible & trustworthy AI
Introducing proportionate guardrails early — not bureaucracy, but judgment.
Outcome: confidence under investor, customer, and regulatory scrutiny.
AI product exploration & MVP support
Supporting experimentation without mistaking movement for learning.
Outcome: clearer signals and fewer false starts.
Early automation & AI operations
Applying AI where it removes friction — not where it adds complexity.
Outcome: efficiency gains that free attention for growth.
Founder & leadership AI enablement
Building enough literacy at the top to govern AI decisions calmly, without hype or premature hiring.
Outcome: leaders who retain ownership of AI decisions.
How an engagement works.
01. Initial conversation
A 45-minute call to establish whether the fit is right. No preparation required. No pitch from either side.
02. Diagnostic period
Four to six weeks of structured observation — leadership interviews, system review, vendor assessment. The outcome is a clear picture of where your AI decisions are being made well and where they aren't.
03. Ongoing engagement
Monthly retained advisory, available for board presentations, vendor negotiations, team briefings, and the decisions that can't wait for the next scheduled call.
Fractional CTO
Outside of Chief AI Officer work, I take a small number of Fractional CTO engagements with high-growth technology businesses — typically companies scaling through a significant inflection point.
If this is relevant to your situation, the best route is through a direct conversation.