Executive Level AI Leadership Without A Full Time CAIO Hire
A fractional Chief AI Officer (CAIO) is a senior AI leader who works with your business on a part-time basis. Hartz AI provides fractional CAIO services for UK SMEs, covering strategy, governance, vendor selection and team capability building without a full-time salary.
The average UK Chief AI Officer salary exceeds £150,000 per year. Fractional CAIO services typically cost 20 to 30 per cent of a full-time equivalent. We help founders, boards and leadership teams make better decisions about AI and keep it safe across the organisation.
A fractional Chief AI Officer gives your business executive-level AI leadership without a full-time salary. Hartz AI provides fractional CAIO services for UK SMEs with 10 to 250 employees, covering AI strategy, governance, vendor selection and team capability building.
When Does A Fractional Chief AI Officer Make Sense?
The UK Government's AI Regulation White Paper (2023) recommends that organisations designate senior leadership responsibility for AI governance. A fractional CAIO fills that role. Fractional CAIO support is usually the right move if:
- You are serious about AI and feel the risk of uncoordinated experiments across teams.
- You need someone who can talk to the board, leadership, technical teams and frontline staff in one language.
- You want guidance on where to invest in AI without being sold a platform or a product first.
- You need help aligning AI projects with strategy, risk appetite and culture.
If you are earlier in your AI journey and just need clarity on where to start, a shorter AI consultancy engagement may be better as a first step.
Start With AI Consultancy InsteadFractional CAIO support for leadership teams across sport, charities, professional services, education and real estate in the UK.
Executive AI Leadership
What Does A Fractional Chief AI Officer Actually Do?
A fractional Chief AI Officer from Hartz AI helps you set AI direction, make good decisions and connect AI projects to your strategy, risk appetite and culture. You get executive-level perspective without adding a full-time salary to your leadership team. Hartz AI builds capability, not dependency.
At Hartz AI, fractional CAIO work usually includes:
- Shaping and refining your AI strategy so it is realistic, grounded and aligned with your goals.
- Helping leaders understand risks, opportunities and trade offs without jargon or hype.
- Overseeing AI projects so they stay focused on value and safe, responsible use.
- Connecting AI work across training, implementation, champions and bespoke solutions.
The aim is not to create a new layer of complexity. The aim is to give you a steady, informed hand on the AI tiller while you build internal capability. Your fractional CAIO should own AI governance - explore our AI governance and risk services to see how governance and leadership work together.
Discuss Fractional CAIO SupportWho Fractional CAIO Support Is For
A fractional CAIO is usually a good fit for organisations that:
- Have leadership and board level interest in AI but limited in house expertise.
- Are already experimenting with AI and want to reduce risk and duplication.
- Need someone to challenge vendors and partners with your interests at the centre.
- Want AI to be part of board conversations, not a side project that lives in one team.
If you are very early and still exploring what AI means for you, we might begin with AI consultancy first and then move into fractional CAIO support once there is more clarity.
Start With AI ConsultancyHow Does Fractional Chief AI Officer Support Work In Practice?
There is no one size fits all model, but most fractional CAIO engagements follow a simple structure that balances strategy, oversight and practical momentum.
Orientation And Assessment
We learn your context, ambitions and constraints, and map where AI work is already happening across the organisation.
- Leadership and stakeholder interviews.
- Review of current AI experiments and tools.
- Initial view on risks, quick wins and gaps.
Strategy, Governance And Roadmap
We help you choose where to focus, how to govern AI safely and how to connect projects to your wider strategy.
- Clear AI principles and decision criteria.
- Lightweight governance and risk approach that fits your size.
- Prioritised roadmap across training, implementation and bespoke work.
Ongoing Leadership And Oversight
On a recurring basis, we support leadership, track progress and help unblock issues across your AI work.
- Regular check ins with leadership or an AI steering group.
- Input into key decisions and vendor selection when needed.
- Connection to AI training, implementation and champion programs.
How Does A Fractional CAIO Connect With Training, Implementation And Champions?
A fractional CAIO is most effective when they are part of a wider pattern of learning, experimentation and capability building. Here is how the role fits with your other Hartz AI services.
Build Understanding
Use AI training to get teams comfortable with AI concepts and tools. Your CAIO helps shape focus and messaging.
Clarify Strategy
Use AI consultancy and your fractional CAIO to shape AI direction, governance and priority areas.
Deliver Projects
Use AI implementation and, where needed, bespoke AI solutions to build workflows, tools and systems that match your roadmap.
Embed Capability
Use AI champion programs, supported by your CAIO, to grow internal capability and keep AI work grounded and safe.
What Do Organisations Gain From A Fractional Chief AI Officer?
A fractional CAIO changes the quality of decisions, the connection between projects and strategy, and the level of confidence across your organisation. Hartz AI fractional CAIO clients report 85% satisfaction with the service.
- Clear direction for AI that leaders and teams can explain in simple language.
- Better prioritisation so you focus on the projects that make sense now, not everything at once.
- Improved governance as sensible policies, guardrails and practices are put in place.
- More value from projects because AI work is coordinated, not scattered across teams.
Is A Fractional CAIO The Right Next Step For You?
Fractional Chief AI Officer support is usually the right move if:
- AI is already on your leadership or board agenda and you want guidance grounded in your context, not hype.
- You have multiple teams exploring AI and you want a clearer, safer way to coordinate that energy.
- You are not ready for a full time CAIO, but you know you need more than ad hoc advice.
- You want to build internal capability over time, not outsource your AI thinking forever.
If you are unsure whether your organisation is at this point yet, we can explore that together in an initial conversation without commitment.
Common questions
What Do People Ask About Fractional Chief AI Officers?
Strategic AI leadership without a full time hire
Ready To Explore Fractional Chief AI Officer Support?
If you want AI to be part of how your organisation thinks and decides, a fractional CAIO from Hartz AI can help you move from scattered activity to a coherent, confident path. Craig Hartzel founded Hartz AI to give UK businesses a clear path to AI capability. The first step is a simple conversation.