Fractional CAIO

A fractional Chief AI Officer is an experienced AI leader who works for your company part-time, usually 20 to 60 hours a month, instead of as a full-time employee. The fractional CAIO sets AI strategy, prioritizes use cases, puts governance and usage policies in place, and oversees delivery, giving companies senior AI leadership at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire.

Fractional Chief AI Officer engagements typically cost $6,000 to $25,000 per month, depending on hours, scope, and the maturity of your data and systems. Experienced fractional AI leaders usually bill $200 to $450 per hour. Frontline scopes each engagement on a discovery call and provides a written proposal within 2 business days, with no hidden fees.

Hire a fractional Chief AI Officer when AI is on the leadership agenda but nobody owns it. Common triggers include scattered AI experiments with no plan, pilots that never reach production, employees using AI with company data and no policy in place, and clients or investors asking how you govern AI.

A Chief AI Officer decides where AI can create value across the business, builds the roadmap, sets the rules for safe and responsible use, selects vendors and tools, and makes sure AI projects move from pilot to daily use with measurable results.

A CIO runs the systems and infrastructure the business depends on, and a CTO builds the technology behind your product. A Chief AI Officer focuses on AI adoption, value, and governance across every department. A fractional CAIO works alongside your CTO or CIO rather than replacing them.

An AI consultant or agency delivers a defined project or recommendation and then leaves. A fractional Chief AI Officer joins your leadership team, owns AI results on an ongoing basis, and stays vendor neutral. If AI needs to become part of how your company operates, a fractional CAIO is usually the better fit.

Yes. Smaller and mid-sized companies often benefit the most, because they need AI leadership to stay competitive but cannot justify a full-time AI executive salary. A fractional CAIO gives them a clear plan, practical guardrails, and focused execution at a predictable monthly cost.

Frontline typically presents 2 to 3 vetted fractional Chief AI Officers within 5 to 7 business days of the scoping call. Timelines depend on industry, location, hours required, and specialized experience such as regulated data, machine learning engineering, or generative AI deployment.

Every fractional Chief AI Officer in the Frontline network goes through executive-level screening covering AI strategy, delivery track record, data governance, and industry experience, a case interview on real AI adoption scenarios, reference checks with prior executives or boards, credential verification where applicable, and a background check before meeting a client.

Yes. You can convert your fractional Chief AI Officer to a permanent, full-time hire at any point. Frontline handles the transition as a direct hire placement, and the hire is covered by the 5-Year Placement Warranty, which is 20 times longer than the 90-day industry standard.

Tell your Frontline account manager. Frontline reviews every engagement monthly, and if the fit is not right, Frontline presents a replacement slate of vetted AI leaders at no added fee so your AI program keeps moving.