Senior AI leadership, without the £150k hire.

Why fractional

A capable full-time AI lead costs £120,000 to £180,000 a year, assuming you can find one. Most mid-sized organisations don't need forty hours a week of AI leadership. What they need is the right decisions made consistently: what to build, what to buy, what to stop, and whether what's been delivered is actually any good. Twenty-five focused hours a month covers that, at a fraction of the cost and none of the hiring risk.

What the role covers

• Strategy ownership. A living AI roadmap tied to your commercial goals, reviewed and re-prioritised every month.
• Delivery oversight. Internal projects and external suppliers held to scope, budget and quality, with problems surfaced early rather than at the deadline.
• Vendor management. Tool selection, contract review and renewal challenges, with no reseller incentives sitting behind any recommendation.
• Governance and risk. Usage policies, data protection alignment (UK GDPR), and a clear line of human accountability for automated decisions.
• Board reporting. A monthly written report in plain commercial language: progress, spend, risk, and what needs a decision.
• Team capability. Steadily raising your organisation's own AI competence, so the value stays in-house.

How it works in practice

You get a fixed monthly rhythm: a leadership session to set priorities, working time on the month's agreed focus, supplier and project reviews as they're needed, and the written board report. Hours are tracked transparently, and unused strategy time rolls into delivery work rather than the other way round. You're dealing with one senior, accountable person throughout, not a rotating cast.

Why a 12-month term

AI capability is built, not bought. The organisations that get ahead are the ones that make good decisions repeatedly across a full year, not the ones that buy a burst of advice and then drift. The minimum term reflects how long meaningful change actually takes, and most of the value compounds in the second half.