Your Fractional CTOfor the AI Era

15 years of building and leading technology organizations. Now working with a select number of mid-market and enterprise companies as a Fractional CTO — bringing senior technology leadership without the full-time overhead.

Not sure yet? See how I work — or just send a message and decide later.

15+ years in technology leadership
Deep, long-term client engagements
India, US, and EU markets

Solo founder building 0→1?  I also work with early-stage founders who need a technical co-pilot for the agentic era — architecture decisions, AI-first workflows, and on-call judgment without a full engineering team.

See how →

Every company has a different technology problem

The specifics differ. The underlying challenge is the same: making the right technology bets, at the right time, with the right people.

Mid-market companies that outgrew their tech

You've scaled the business but the technology didn't keep up. Every new feature takes three times longer than it should. Engineers are leaving. The board wants an AI strategy and no one knows where to start.

I help you stabilize the platform, fix the team dynamics, and build a credible AI roadmap — without a full-time CTO hire that's premature for your stage.

Corporations that need independent technology judgment

You're evaluating a technology acquisition, commissioning an AI initiative, or need an independent technical perspective that isn't colored by internal politics or vendor relationships.

I act as an independent advisor: technology due diligence, AI strategy review, or a second opinion on a major architecture decision. No agenda beyond getting it right.

Industry companies connecting shop floor to cloud

You manufacture something real but your systems — ERP, MES, supply chain visibility — are legacy, siloed, and leaving efficiency gains on the table. AI sounds interesting but where does it actually fit?

I help you connect operational data to decision intelligence — predictive maintenance, demand forecasting, quality control — with a practical roadmap that respects your operational constraints.

Tech-led firms that need to become AI-native

You run a consultancy, software shop, or agency with a 20–50 person tech team. Your competitors are moving faster with AI. Your engineers are dabbling but nothing has shifted at the firm level. Clients are starting to ask questions you can't answer confidently.

I've been exactly where you are. I help services teams retool their delivery model — tooling, workflows, upskilling, and the commercial story — so AI shows up in your margins and your client conversations.

How I work

Every engagement starts with a diagnosis. Then we agree on the right model for your situation.

01

Fractional CTO Retainer

2–3 days per week, embedded with your team. I own the technical direction, lead hiring, and attend leadership meetings. Typically 6–12 months.

Best for: Companies scaling from ₹50Cr–₹300Cr that need senior tech leadership

02

Advisory & Strategy Project

Fixed-scope, fixed-price. AI maturity assessment, transformation roadmap, technology due diligence, or architecture review. 4–8 weeks, clear deliverables.

Best for: Enterprises and investors needing a structured output

03

CTO Advisory Board Seat

Monthly strategic sessions, available for critical decisions, board-level technology input. Ideal for early-stage startups that need senior technical judgment but not operational involvement.

Best for: Early-stage startups and portfolio companies

Is your engineering teamready for AI?

8 minutes. 7 dimensions. A plain-language score showing exactly where you stand — and what it would take to move forward.

7
Dimensions
42
Questions
5
Maturity levels

Latest thinking

All posts →
· Leadership

Fractional CTO Cost in 2026: What You Actually Pay

What a fractional CTO costs in 2026 lands between $150 and $350 an hour, or $8,000 to $16,000 a month for an ongoing retainer. That range is real, but it’s also close to useless on its own — the number that matters is the one for your stage, your scope, and your geography. This post breaks down what you actually pay, what moves the price up or down, and the cost structure most pricing guides leave out entirely: hiring senior technical leadership out of India for a US or EU company.

7 min read
· Founders

Fractional CTO for Non-Technical Founders: What You Actually Get

If you’re a non-technical founder paying someone else to build your product, you are trusting invoices you can’t verify and code you can’t read. A fractional CTO for non-technical founders exists to close exactly that gap.

Most articles on this topic describe a fractional CTO as a part-time senior engineer. That misses the point for you specifically. What you actually get is a technical advocate — someone in your corner who can tell whether the agency is charging you a fair price, building something that will scale, and telling you the truth. I’ve spent fifteen years running engineering teams and stepping into companies as this person, and the pattern is always the same: the founders who get burned are the ones who had nobody senior watching the build.

7 min read
· Founders

Fractional CTO for US Startups, Based in India: How It Works

The cost gap is the reason to start this conversation, so I’ll lead with it. A fractional CTO based in India runs a US startup roughly $3,500 to $9,000 a month. The full-time equivalent in a US tech hub runs $18,000 to $28,000. That is the widest price gap anywhere in the fractional market — and yet almost nobody has written honestly about how the arrangement actually works day to day.

7 min read

Ready to talk?

I work with a small number of clients at a time. If you're facing a technology inflection point — AI strategy, engineering leadership, a major architecture decision — let's have a 30-minute conversation.