Also known as a fractional Chief AI Officer — with an operations spine.
The market calls this role a fractional CAIO: an executive-level AI leader engaged part-time to own strategy, governance, and adoption. The model exists because the alternative is brutal — a months-long executive search for a full-time salary, to supervise a function most organizations need steered a few days a month, not managed forty hours a week.
Here's where I differ from the fractional CAIOs you'll find elsewhere: nearly all of them come from software or data science. I come from industrial engineering and operations — manufacturing, aerospace, government. That matters because the hard part of AI leadership isn't choosing models. It's knowing which workflow deserves the investment, whether the team will actually adopt the change, and when the honest answer is a process fix that costs nothing.
Momentum is the real product. Most organizations don't fail at their first AI project — they fail at their second, when the champion who drove it gets pulled back to their day job. This role exists so that doesn't happen.
What's included
- Strategic advisory and operational priorities — a living roadmap, re-ranked as your business changes
- Technology and vendor evaluation — someone on your side of the table when vendors pitch
- AI roadmap execution — projects scoped, sequenced, and actually shipped
- Governance and operating standards — practical usage rules, privacy boundaries (PIPA/FOIP-aware), human-review requirements, and a decision trail
- Workflow optimization and continuous improvement — the Lean discipline that keeps gains from evaporating
How the month runs
A defined monthly allocation, scoped to your rhythm: leadership syncs, priority reviews, vendor and governance calls, and hands-on time with the teams doing the work. Monthly retainer, 3-month minimum, reviewed quarterly against results — if the role isn't paying for itself, we end it. That's the deal.
Who this fits
Organizations of roughly 25 to 250 people in one of three moments: a first AI project just proved value and now everyone wants one (prioritization problem); AI adoption is happening bottom-up, ungoverned, on personal accounts (risk problem); or leadership knows AI matters but nobody owns it (accountability problem). Calgary-based with on-site presence across Alberta; the role runs remotely anywhere in Canada.
Fractional questions, answered
Is this the same as a fractional Chief AI Officer (CAIO)?
Functionally yes — part-time, executive-level AI leadership: strategy, governance, vendor decisions, and roadmap execution. The difference is the spine: most fractional CAIOs come from software or data science. I come from operations and industrial engineering, so AI decisions stay anchored to workflow reality and measurable ROI, not technology enthusiasm.
How many hours per month is the engagement?
Scoped to your operating rhythm — typically a set monthly allocation covering leadership meetings, priority reviews, vendor and governance decisions, and hands-on time with the teams doing the work. Defined together before we start, on a monthly retainer with a 3-month minimum.
When does fractional make more sense than hiring full-time?
When you need the decisions made well but can't justify a full-time executive: typically organizations of roughly 25 to 250 people, after a first AI project proves value, or when adoption is happening bottom-up and ungoverned. A full-time AI executive search takes months and a senior salary; fractional starts in weeks at a fraction of the cost.
What does governance actually involve?
Clear usage rules for the team, tool and vendor standards, data-privacy boundaries (including PIPA/FOIP considerations in Alberta), human-review requirements for important outputs, and a decision trail for what gets adopted and why. Practical rules people follow — not a 40-page policy nobody reads.
Can we start fractional without doing an audit first?
Yes, though most fractional engagements follow an Opportunity Audit or a first implementation, because the roadmap gives the role its priorities. Starting fresh works when there's already AI activity that needs direction and governance.
Twenty-five minutes tells us if this is the right model.
Tell me where AI stands in your organization today. I'll tell you honestly whether you need a fractional lead, a single project, or neither.
Book the free call →