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This engagement is for organisations that have moved past the question of whether to adopt AI and are now grappling with how, across engineering, operations, and commercial strategy.
You may have completed an initial diagnostic or action plan. You may have pilots running. What you need now is sustained leadership to ensure those efforts compound into something durable, rather than fragmenting into isolated initiatives that lose momentum.
Whitesmith provides that leadership on a retained basis, without the fixed headcount commitment, hiring risk, or ramp-up time of a full-time executive hire.
AI capabilities change fast. A decision that made sense three months ago may need revisiting today. Whitesmith maintains a continuous view of where your AI initiatives stand, how the landscape is evolving, and what adjustments are needed so your strategy stays current, not stale.
AI usage policies, data security frameworks, client communication guidelines and regulatory compliance. The structural guardrails that let your organisation move fast without creating compliance, reputational, or security risk. We build these with you and keep them updated as tools and regulations evolve.
Which AI investments to make, when, and how to measure return. We help you avoid both under-investment (falling behind competitors and clients) and over-investment (tool sprawl, premature hires, initiatives without clear ROI).
As AI changes how work gets done, your operating model needs to change with it: team structures, pricing models, delivery workflows, hiring profiles. We guide these transitions deliberately, based on what's actually working, not what the market is hyping.
AI creates opportunities to package and sell your capabilities differently. Whether that's outcome-based pricing, productised services, or entirely new revenue streams, we work with you to design, test, and refine new commercial models.
What competitors are doing. Where your clients are heading. Which tools and practices are maturing and which are noise. We filter the signal from the hype so your leadership team can make informed decisions without drowning in the AI news cycle.
Fractional CAIO
For organisations where AI is a long-term strategic capability, not a one-off initiative. Whitesmith acts as your ongoing Chief AI Officer, providing AI operating model optimisation, quarterly strategic recalibration and executive-level guidance as tools and practices evolve.
Outcomes
Format (ongoing monthly retainer)
From $11,600 / month
£10,750 / €10,000 / month
EnquireScope and pricing tailored to your organisation's size, complexity, and strategic ambition. Engagements are typically retained on a rolling quarterly basis.
The Fractional CAIO engagement works best when it builds on a foundation of shared context. Most organisations begin with one of our diagnostic or planning engagements before moving to ongoing partnership:
AI strategy for leadership teams
Start diagnostic → Embed action plan → Fractional CAIO
AI enablement for engineering teams
Start diagnostic → Action Plan → Fractional CAIO
The diagnostic builds deep understanding of your organisation, your teams, and your constraints. The Fractional CAIO engagement then ensures that understanding translates into sustained execution and strategic evolution, not a report that sits on a shelf.
That said, if your organisation already has a clear picture of where you are and what you need, we can begin directly.
A practical, executive-focused session on using Claude to help you prioritise, unlock insights from your data, and make better, faster decisions with AI. Join Whitesmith for real-world examples of what's possible on embedding AI into strategic workflows.
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The AI landscape is changing too fast for a single hire to stay current across strategy, tooling, governance, and implementation. A fractional CAIO gives you access to a team that works across multiple organisations and sees what's actually working, not just what one person has experienced. It also avoids the 6 to 12 month hiring cycle for a role that most organisations can't yet define clearly.
Traditional retainers tend to produce advice. This engagement produces decisions and accountability. We attend your leadership meetings, we track your initiatives, and we're measured on whether your AI capability is actually improving, not on how many slides we produce.
Between monthly sessions, your leadership team can reach us directly for time-sensitive decisions: vendor evaluations, client questions about AI, policy decisions, hiring advice. We respond within 24 hours. This isn't a helpdesk; it's the kind of access you'd have with an internal executive.
Most organisations retain us for 6 to 12 months initially. The first quarter builds the strategic foundation and governance framework. From there, the engagement shifts toward execution oversight, recalibration, and commercial model evolution. Some organisations continue indefinitely as AI becomes a permanent part of their operating model.
Yes, and that's the typical arrangement. The Fractional CAIO doesn't replace your technical leadership. It augments it with dedicated AI strategic capacity. We work collaboratively with your CTO, VP of Engineering, or equivalent, ensuring AI strategy is integrated with your broader technology and business strategy.
We can begin with a standalone scoping session to establish the baseline. However, we generally recommend starting with a diagnostic (our Start engagement) to build shared context efficiently. The diagnostic fee is credited in full against any ongoing engagement started within 60 days.
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