Fractional CTO
CTO-level leadership without the CTO-level fixed cost. And since we live in the age of agents: I don't just decide — I also build.
What a fractional CTO does
A part-time technical leader makes sure technology serves the business: architecture choices, team building and mentoring, steering vendors and subcontractors, security and regulatory requirements (GDPR, DORA, NIS2), and AI strategy — what generative AI changes in your specific product and processes.
This is agentic leadership in practice: in the generative AI age a technical leader can be a builder again. A prototype isn't a slide deck but a working system, and directional bets get tested in code within a week.
When this is the right call
- The product is scaling and technical decisions start costing real money
- The dev team is growing, but nobody leads it as a whole
- An AI strategy needs deciding — and someone to actually execute it
- Legacy is slowing down sales and nobody owns the modernization
- A full-time CTO isn't a justified cost yet
Background
Over a decade of production software (fintech, messaging platforms, automotive), leading technical work at Rakentaja Mediat (platforms with 300k+ users), and operating my own product: the Willit marketplace runs in production, not on slides. I know what it feels like to own both the code and the P&L.
FAQ
- What is a fractional CTO?
- A part-time technical leader — CTO-level expertise for e.g. 1–2 days a week, at a fraction of full-time cost.
- When is it worth it?
- When technical decisions are business-critical but a full-time CTO isn't justified yet.
- How is this different from consulting?
- A consultant recommends and leaves. A fractional CTO owns decisions and outcomes — and also builds.
Related services
Let's talk about your situation — the first 30-minute call is free.