Fractional CTO & VP of Technology
Part-time technology leadership with full accountability — for Microsoft-based software businesses that need senior guidance without a full-time hire.
Start a ConversationA fractional CTO gives your organization consistent, senior technology leadership on a part-time basis. You get roadmap ownership, architectural guidance, and executive-level decision-making — without the cost and commitment of a full-time hire.
This engagement is built for companies that already have developers but lack the senior technology leadership to set direction, evaluate tradeoffs, and communicate decisions to stakeholders.
When Technology Decisions Don't Have an Owner
There's a pattern that shows up in growing software companies. The development team is capable — they ship features, fix bugs, and keep the platform running. But nobody is setting the direction. There's no technology roadmap. Architecture decisions get made by whoever happens to be in the room, or they don't get made at all. The CEO or founder ends up weighing in on technical choices they're not equipped to evaluate, not because they want to, but because nobody else is stepping into that role.
The consequences are slow but compounding. Technical debt accumulates because there's no one accountable for the long-term health of the platform. The architecture that worked at ten customers starts cracking at fifty. New features take longer to ship because the codebase has grown without a coherent plan. When an enterprise prospect sends a security questionnaire or asks about your infrastructure, the answers reveal gaps that cost you the deal. The team is building, but they're building without strategic context — and that shows up in the product, the timeline, and the bottom line.
At some point, the question becomes unavoidable: do I need a CTO? For many companies, the answer is yes — but the timing doesn't justify a full-time executive hire. You don't need someone in a seat forty hours a week. You need someone who can own the technology strategy, set the technical direction, and give your team the senior guidance they're missing. A part-time CTO who shows up with full accountability on the days they're engaged, not a consultant who drops a PDF and disappears.
This is the gap a fractional CTO fills. It's not about telling your developers what to do — it's about making the decisions that sit above the code. Which platforms to invest in. When to build versus buy. How to communicate technical tradeoffs to stakeholders who don't speak the language. Whether to hire or outsource. What to prioritize and, just as importantly, what to stop doing. These are the decisions that shape whether your technology becomes a competitive advantage or a liability, and they need an owner.
If you're wondering whether your company is at the stage where technology leadership matters, it probably already does. The companies that wait until the problems are obvious — a failed migration, a lost enterprise deal, a departure of key developers — pay significantly more to fix what could have been prevented with consistent senior guidance.
What's Included
Technology Roadmap Ownership
Set priorities, define initiatives, and communicate technical tradeoffs to founders, executives, and the board.
AI Adoption & Governance
Identify where AI adds practical value, develop usage policies, and review the security implications of AI integrations across your platform.
Team Mentorship & Hiring Guidance
Provide senior technical context to your development team and help evaluate engineering hires and vendors.
Vendor & Platform Evaluation
Assess tools, platforms, and third-party services against your architecture and security requirements.
Executive Communication
Translate technical decisions into business language for founders, executives, and investors.
Strategic Architecture Guidance
Keep your platform aligned with long-term goals and avoid the costly re-architecture that comes from short-term decisions.
How Engagements Work
Most fractional CTO engagements run as monthly retainers. The right tier depends on the complexity of your situation and how much ongoing involvement makes sense.
Tier 1 — Advisory (~1 day/month): Monthly strategy session, async support for critical decisions, review of key proposals and vendor choices.
Tier 2 — Core (2–3 days/month): Weekly cadence, roadmap ownership, ongoing team guidance and vendor oversight.
Tier 3 — Transformation (multiple days/month): For major initiatives — re-platforming, critical hires, audit preparation, or significant architectural decisions.
Who This Is For
SaaS companies with a development team in place but no CTO or senior technology leader
Founder-led businesses where the technical co-founder has moved into a different role
Organizations at an inflection point — scaling, preparing for an audit, or undertaking a major migration
Companies that need consistent technology leadership but can't justify a full-time executive salary
Experience & Proof Points
25+ years in technology leadership, including VP of Technology and VP of Application Development roles across financial services, healthcare, and SaaS.
Led a mid-market SaaS company through a full Azure migration — multi-region HA, zone redundancy, zero unplanned downtime.
Architected platforms that have stayed in production for over a decade across healthcare and financial services, meeting evolving compliance requirements throughout.
Ready to talk?
Tell me about your situation and I'll let you know if I can help — and what an engagement might look like.
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