Senior technology, data and AI leadership
Senior technology, data and AI capability embedded where you need it: priorities, operating model, architecture, suppliers, investment decisions and delivery, without another permanent executive.
Need senior capability without hiring the whole function?
When data and AI matter to the business plan, someone needs to own the priorities, budget, suppliers and delivery decisions. A retained senior lead provides that accountability at an agreed level of involvement.
Every engagement has a named lead. If additional engineering or specialist capability is required, the people, responsibilities and fees are set out before the work starts.
The arrangement can support a growing business, a leadership transition or a defined change programme. Reviews consider both delivery progress and the capability the business needs to retain internally.
The remit
Senior capability, embedded where you need it
Senior technology, data and AI capability embedded where you need it, without pretending every business needs another permanent executive. It often suits a business whose technology leadership has not kept pace with its growth.
- Technology, data and AI leadership
- Operating-model design
- Scaling technology capability as the business grows
- Transformation leadership
- Architecture and governance
- Prioritisation
- Supplier challenge
- Investment decisions
- Delivery assurance
- Moving from pilots to repeatable capability
- Developing internal leaders and teams
The aim is capability the business keeps. The remit includes a plan for handing the work to your own people.
Who this is built for
- Owner-led and mid-sized businesses without a senior technology voice
- Boards that need technology represented at leadership level
- Businesses between technology leaders, or growing into needing one
- Teams that can deliver but have no clear owner of the direction
What you receive
- A named senior lead who owns the agreed data and AI agenda
- Decisions made and delivery led
- Specialist TechGuidr capability brought in where the work needs it
- A capability plan that works towards your own permanent hires
Typical investment
Fixed scope, fixed price
Know what the answer costs before we start. All figures ex VAT; the final fixed fee is confirmed after scoping.
- Leadership as a Service
- from £7,500/month
- Scope and cadence
- agreed around the level of leadership required
What we need from you
- A business sponsor and agreed decision authority
- Visibility of priorities, budgets, contracts, delivery risks and the existing team
- Access to the leadership and delivery meetings relevant to the role
Scope and boundaries
- The starting retainer is £7,500 per month. It does not imply unlimited availability.
- The proposal states days or capacity, meeting cadence, response expectations, cover, term and notice.
- Engineering delivery and specialist costs are identified as included or separately priced.
- A leadership retainer does not automatically include a managed IT service or round-the-clock incident support.
Track record
Relevant work
The learning and wellbeing platform rebuild shows what accountable senior leadership looks like: the review that found the real problems, then both applications and the iOS and Android apps rebuilt, the data platform re-architected and a full tenant migration carried through, led from inside the business.
Read the full storyBefore you commit
Questions before you commit
How much time does the starting retainer buy?
The £7,500 starting fee is a monthly leadership retainer, with capacity agreed for your remit. Before you commit, the proposal gives the number of days or hours, meeting cadence, response expectations and cover. That makes it possible to compare the offer with an interim or permanent hire. It does not include unlimited access or an engineering team by default.
What happens when we hire permanently?
The engagement can include defining the role and handing over priorities, decisions and working information. Recruitment and transition support are agreed in scope.
Is this a fractional CTO?
It covers much of what people look for in a fractional CTO or head of data: senior ownership of priorities, architecture, suppliers and delivery. It is agreed as a remit with outcomes rather than a number of days, and it is set up to hand over to your own people.
How is it different from an interim CTO?
An interim executive usually fills a permanent role full time until a hire is made. Leadership as a Service is a monthly remit with defined outcomes, sized to what the business needs, with specialists brought in where the work requires them.
How does the cost compare with hiring?
It starts from £7,500 a month, with the remit, availability and decision authority agreed before it starts, so it can be compared directly with the salary, recruitment and on-costs of a permanent senior hire.
Can you act as a chief AI officer?
Yes, where the remit is AI strategy, governance, adoption and delivery. The decisions the role owns are agreed at the start.
The route
Other services
Every engagement sits on the route from an idea to a working system. Start wherever you are.
Tell us what the role needs to own
Two or three sentences is enough. We will tell you straight whether and how we can help.