Service · 1–2 days per week, typically 3–12 months
Senior AI leadership, without the full-time hire.
You need someone who owns AI in your company: prioritises use cases, says no to the wrong vendors, keeps governance real and reports progress to the board in numbers. You do not yet need that person five days a week. A fractional Chief AI Officer fills the role for one to two days a week, with a defined mandate and a defined exit.
The gap this fills
Between "someone in IT looks after AI" and "we hired a Chief AI Officer" lies a long stretch where most companies lose a year.
AI initiatives fail for organisational reasons more often than technical ones: no single owner, decisions taken by whoever attended the last vendor demo, pilots without a budget line, governance as an afterthought. A full-time Chief AI Officer would fix that, but for a scale-up, a Mittelstand company or a business unit inside a corporate, the position is hard to justify and even harder to fill.
A fractional CAIO gives you the seniority and the accountability without the permanent headcount. One of our senior consultants joins your leadership rhythm for one or two days a week, owns the AI agenda end to end and works through your own people rather than around them.
The engagement is time-boxed on purpose. Part of the job is to make itself unnecessary: by building internal owners, by documenting decisions and, if the volume justifies it, by helping you hire a permanent lead and handing over cleanly.
- FormatEmbedded senior role, 1–2 days per week
- DurationTypically 3–12 months, with exit criteria
- ForScale-ups, Mittelstand, business units of corporates
- Reports toCEO, managing director or business unit lead
What the role owns
The mandate is written down at the start, together with the sponsor. It typically covers these six areas.
AI roadmap and priorities
One ranked list of use cases across the company, maintained monthly, with a clear rationale for what is being built now, what waits and what was rejected. If an AI strategy exists, the CAIO executes it; if not, the first weeks produce one.
Vendor and architecture decisions
Which models, platforms and agent frameworks you standardise on, where data lives, what must stay in the EU, when to build and when to buy. Decisions are documented so they outlast the engagement. Vendor-neutral by contract.
Governance and risk
The AI register, the EU AI Act classification, GDPR alignment and the usage policy get an owner who keeps them current and works with legal, the data protection officer and the works council. See AI governance.
Internal owners and skills
Every use case gets a business owner and a technical owner, and the CAIO coaches both. Over time an internal AI lead or a small team takes over the operational work.
Board reporting
A monthly one-page report to the board or the management team: what shipped, what it measured, what it cost, what is at risk, which decisions are needed. In numbers, not narrative.
Hiring and exit
If the workload justifies a permanent Chief AI Officer or head of AI, the fractional CAIO writes the profile, helps interview and hands over. Exit criteria are agreed at the start and reviewed every quarter.
What a typical month looks like
Illustrative, for two days a week; the rhythm is adapted to your organisation.
Week 1: Portfolio and priorities
Review of every running initiative with its owner: status, metrics, blockers. Reprioritisation where needed. One decision memo to the sponsor on anything that requires budget or a change of direction.
Week 2: Architecture, vendors, governance
Time with IT and data teams: architecture questions, vendor evaluations, security reviews. Governance work: register updates, classification of new use cases, alignment with the data protection officer or the works council.
Week 3: Owners and delivery
Working sessions with use-case owners and delivery teams, whether internal, ours or a third party. Unblocking, quality reviews of what is being built, coaching of the people who will run it afterwards.
Week 4: Board and outlook
The monthly report, a leadership session on decisions and risks, and planning for the next month. Once a quarter, a review against the exit criteria.
How this differs from classic consulting
Accountable for outcomes, not deliverables
A consultant delivers a document and leaves. A fractional CAIO owns the results of the roadmap, sits in your leadership meetings and is measured on what shipped and what it changed.
Inside your organisation
The role works with your people, in your tools and your meeting rhythm, with a company email address and the authority the sponsor delegates. Decisions are taken with you in the room, not presented afterwards.
Continuity instead of projects
One person holds the context across use cases, vendors, budgets and governance for months. Nothing has to be re-explained to a new project team every quarter.
Designed to end
The mandate includes building the capability that replaces it. Success looks like an internal owner running the portfolio and a board that no longer needs us in the room.
Who this is for
Scale-ups after Series A or B
AI is in the product or the operating model, the founders can no longer own it personally, and a full-time CAIO hire is premature. See startups.
Mittelstand companies with a mandate from the owner
The managing director wants AI to happen, IT is lean, and the department heads need someone senior to make decisions stick. See Mittelstand.
Business units inside corporates
The group has a central AI team with a long queue; the unit needs its own agenda, its own interface to group governance and results this year. See enterprise.
Companies between two AI leaders
The head of AI has left, or the hire is six months out. The fractional role keeps the portfolio moving and helps recruit the successor.
What we decide between in the role
We evaluate and decide between these vendors on your behalf without reseller agreements or partnerships. Standards are references we align with, not certifications we hold.
Frequently asked questions
How many days a week, and can that change?
One or two days a week is the norm. The first four to six weeks are usually closer to two, while the portfolio is reviewed and the mandate settles; the load tapers as internal owners take over. We review the allocation monthly, and short-term increases for a board preparation or a vendor selection are possible.
Who does the fractional CAIO report to?
To a sponsor with authority: the CEO, the managing director or the business unit lead. The mandate is written down at the start: what the role may decide alone, what needs the sponsor, and what budget authority it carries. It is not a shadow role reporting into IT, unless IT is the sponsor.
Does the fractional CAIO also build the agents?
Not in this role. The role decides, prioritises, governs and coaches. Delivery is done by your team, by another partner or by our agent development service, contracted separately. The CAIO stays neutral about who builds, and says so when your own team is the better choice.
What do typical exit criteria look like?
Examples: an internal owner has run the portfolio review twice without us; the AI register and governance process are running; the roadmap has been executed for two consecutive quarters; board reporting is handed over; a permanent hire has completed onboarding. The criteria are agreed at the start and reviewed every quarter.
Is there a conflict of interest if you also sell implementation?
A fair question, and the mandate is written to answer it. The role is vendor-neutral by contract, including towards us. Build, buy or partner decisions are documented with their reasoning and taken with the sponsor, and you are free to implement with anyone. The roadmap and all documentation belong to you.
Is the role remote or on site?
Mostly remote, with on-site days for leadership meetings, workshops and the moments where being in the room matters. We are based in Berlin and work across Germany, Austria and Switzerland, in German and English.
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