Fractional CTO
Fractional CTO Services
Senior technology leadership a few days a month, with a build team behind it.
01
What is a fractional CTO?
A fractional CTO is a senior technology leader who works for your business part time, typically a few days a month, instead of as a full-time hire. They take on the job of a Chief Technology Officer: setting the technology roadmap, choosing the architecture and tools, managing developers and vendors, and making sure what gets built is secure and actually serves the business. You may also see it called CTO as a service, a virtual CTO, a part-time CTO or an outsourced CTO. An interim CTO is similar but usually full time for a fixed period, while you hire a permanent one.
Our fractional CTO service is different from a pure advisor in one way: there is a delivery team behind it. When the roadmap calls for custom software, process automation, cloud infrastructure or dashboards, our team can build it, or the CTO can brief and manage your own developers or another vendor. For businesses whose main technology question is AI, see our fractional Chief AI Officer service.
02
What our fractional CTO takes ownership of
Technology roadmap
A plan tied to business goals, with priorities, costs and timelines the leadership team and board can follow.
- Quarterly priorities
- Budget and trade-offs
- Board-ready updates
Architecture and stack
Decisions on platforms, data and integrations made once, properly, before they become expensive to undo.
- Build, buy or partner
- Cloud and data design
- Technical debt plan
Team and hiring
Structure for your developers, job specs, interviews, and a plan for when to hire a full-time CTO.
- Hiring and interviews
- Onboarding and process
- Freelancer and agency oversight
Vendors and contracts
Software and agency choices checked on merit, with scope, pricing and deliverables held to account.
- Vendor selection
- Contract and SOW review
- Delivery tracking
Security and reliability
The basics done right: access, backups, monitoring and a response plan, sized to your stage.
- Access and identity
- Backups and recovery
- Security questionnaires
Automation and AI
Where automation, data and AI can take load off your team, and what to do first.
- Process automation
- Reporting and dashboards
- AI use cases
03
Fractional CTO vs full-time CTO vs development agency
| Fractional CTO | Full-time CTO | Development agency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time | A few days a month, flexible | Full time | Per project |
| Cost | A monthly retainer, a fraction of a senior salary | Senior salary, equity and benefits | Project fees |
| Owns the roadmap | Yes | Yes | No, delivers what is specified |
| Independent view on vendors | Yes | Yes | No, recommends its own work |
| Hands-on build | Through our team or yours | Leads an in-house team | Yes |
| Speed to start | Days | Months to hire | Weeks |
| Best for | Startups and SMEs that need senior judgement, not a full-time executive yet | Companies where technology is the product and the team is large | A well-defined build with an owner on your side |
A fractional CTO is often the step before a full-time hire: they set the direction, build the first team, then help you recruit their permanent replacement.
04
How a fractional CTO engagement works
Technology review
Two to three weeks looking at your systems, code, vendors, team and costs, ending with a written assessment.
Roadmap
Priorities for the next two to four quarters, agreed with the leadership team, with budget and owners.
Regular leadership
A weekly sync, monthly roadmap review and on-call availability for decisions, at the cadence you choose.
Delivery and hand-over
Work delivered through our team or yours, and when you are ready, help hiring a full-time CTO.
05
Fractional CTO questions
What is a fractional CTO?
What is the difference between a fractional CTO and a virtual CTO?
How much does a fractional CTO cost?
When should a startup hire a fractional CTO?
What is the difference between a fractional CTO and an interim CTO?
Can your fractional CTO also build the software?
Talk through your technology decisions
Tell us your stage, your team and the decisions on your desk. We will come back with how a fractional CTO engagement would work for you and what it would cover.
A reply from a consultant, usually within one working day.
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Get started
Tell us where the week goes
Two weeks, fixed scope, a costed plan at the end. No obligation after it.
- We map your workflows and where the time actually goes
- You get the three that cost the most, with what automating them takes
- Delivered as a document, in 5 to 7 working days
Tell us where the week goes
A digital audit maps your workflows, names the three that cost the most time, and prices what it takes to automate them. No obligation after it.