fractional cto services

Fractional CTO Services for AI Startups

A fractional CTO gives you senior technical leadership for 10 to 20 hours a month at roughly a tenth of a full-time CTO's cost. What I bring to fractional CTO services that a generic advisor doesn't is current, hands-on AI depth (LLMs, voice agents, MCP) and a documented record of capital efficiency: a $200K/year infrastructure bill cut by more than 70%, $300K in credits secured, and an engineering org rebuilt to run at a fraction of its previous cost without losing velocity.

Request a callback Book a 20-min call ↗

Proof point

From $3,000/mo

What does a fractional CTO do?

I run architecture reviews and make decisions that won't need undoing. I set AI strategy: what to build, what to buy, and what it will cost per user. I help with hiring: JD design, technical interviews and offer calibration. I put cloud and AI cost governance in place, which often pays for the retainer by itself. And I prepare board and investor-ready technical narratives and diligence.

Who should hire fractional CTO services?

Pre-seed to Series A founders without a technical co-founder. Funded startups whose AI spend is scaling faster than revenue. And agencies or non-tech companies adding AI products who need an experienced hand in the architecture room.

Pricing

Tier	Cadence	Price
Advisor	10 hrs/mo · async + 2 calls	$3,000/mo
Active CTO	20 hrs/mo · weekly calls, hiring, architecture ownership	$6,000/mo
Interim	Hands-on leadership between full-time hires	custom

FAQ

Common
questions.

Straight answers. If yours isn't here, ask on a 20-minute call.

How much does a fractional CTO cost?+

US market rates run $4K–$25K/month depending on involvement. My tiers start at $3K/month for advisory and $6K/month for active engagement, with AI-specialist depth that typically bills at a 2x premium elsewhere.

When should a startup hire a fractional CTO?+

When technical decisions start costing real money to get wrong: before a big architecture commitment, before scaling AI spend, before a funding round's technical diligence, or when a non-technical founder is fielding engineering decisions alone.

Fractional CTO vs technical co-founder: which do I need?+

If the product IS deep tech, find a co-founder. If you need senior judgment, architecture, and hiring leadership while you find one (or instead of one), fractional gets you there without giving up 20% equity.

Ready to talk numbers?

Twenty minutes, straight to the engineer. No sales rep, no deck.

Request a callback Book a call ↗