AI Strategy and Operating Model
Fractional Chief AI Officer
Senior AI leadership on a defined monthly commitment, owning the loop rather than advising on it
- Duration
- Monthly, six-month minimum
- Ladder stage
- Platform
- NATIVE stages
- Notice, Assess, Target, Integrate, Validate, Expand
The situation
When this engagement is the right one
You need someone accountable for the AI operating model, and you do not need a full-time executive to get it. A fractional CAIO owns the loop: the cadence, the gates, the portfolio, and the board report. This is ownership, not advice.
You are probably seeing
- The AI agenda is being carried part-time by a CIO who already has a full portfolio.
- Decisions wait for a monthly steering committee that mostly reviews slides.
- You are hiring for a Head of AI and the search will take nine months.
What we do
The work, in the order it happens
- 01Own the NATIVE loop end to end across the active portfolio.
- 02Run the standing leadership cadence and the stage gates.
- 03Chair vendor and platform decisions, with exit cost stated each time.
- 04Prepare and present the quarterly board report.
- 05Coach the internal successor, because the intent is to leave.
What you get, and keep
- A standing leadership cadence with published agendas and decisions.
- A live portfolio register with gate status per item.
- A quarterly board report.
- A named internal successor development plan by month four.
Prerequisites
- A direct reporting line to the CEO or CIO.
- Authority to stop work, not only to recommend stopping it.
Not included
- This is not interim staff augmentation and it is not a delivery team.
- We do not sign off on decisions we were not permitted to influence.
Duration and price shape
Monthly, six-month minimum
Monthly band, published. Fixed monthly commitment in days, never hourly.
Where this sits in the method
- NNoticeWhat the market is already telling you
- AAssessAre you ready, really?
- TTargetChoosing the battlefield
- IIntegrateRewriting workflows and decision rights
- VValidateProve it before you scale it
- EExpandWhen the pilot becomes reality
Commercially this is a Platform engagement on the Proof, Product, Platform ladder.
FAQ
Questions we get asked
- How many days per month?
- A defined commitment, agreed up front, typically four to eight days. It is a commitment, not a maximum to bill against.
- What happens at the end?
- A named internal successor takes the loop. If there is no successor by month four, we say so in writing.
Related engagements
Work that usually sits either side of this
AI Strategy and Operating Model
AI Operating Model Design
Decision rights, governance cadence, funding model, and the choice between a central centre of excellence, federated pods, or both
AI Strategy and Operating Model
Board and Executive Briefings
Half-day and full-day sessions for boards and leadership teams, built on the NATIVE framework and the RAO prompt standard
Next step
Ready to scope fractional chief ai officer?
Bring the pilots you already have running. The first call is a scoping conversation, not a pitch.