beyond data

    Fractional AI Leadership

    ~$250k vs 1-2 days/fortnight

    Full-time Head of AI loaded cost vs fractional engagement

    Senior AI leadership at the exec table, without committing to a $250k full-time hire you can't yet justify.

    Fractional AI Leadership embeds a senior AI leader inside your executive team one to two days per fortnight, accountable for the AI agenda alongside the CEO and CIO. It suits growing Australian businesses under board pressure to have an AI plan, where a permanent Head of AI is premature. Minimum engagement is three months.

    The Problem

    What usually breaks

    A full-time Head of AI in Australia lands at roughly $250k base, plus super, equity, and the twelve months of delivery work you need lined up to keep them busy. The search itself runs four to nine months. Two years in, retention becomes its own project, because the good ones get poached by the banks. That is a serious commitment for a role your business may not yet be ready to carry.

    The fractional alternative is different in kind, not just in cost. One senior AI leader. One or two days per fortnight. At the leadership table when the board asks about AI, in the room when a vendor tries to sell you a platform, and accountable for the outcome rather than the advice.

    Most boards at growing businesses do not need a Head of AI yet. They need somebody senior who has done this before, sitting next to the CEO while the business works out whether it does.

    How It Works

    The engagement, step by step

    1. 1

      Two-week scoping: current AI posture, board expectations, leadership team readiness, and the first ninety days of the agenda.

    2. 2

      Fractional leader named and introduced to the exec team, with a standing seat in leadership meetings from week three.

    3. 3

      AI portfolio stood up: every live initiative catalogued, scored for value and risk, and either funded, paused, or killed.

    4. 4

      Vendor and build-vs-buy calls triaged as they arrive, with a written recommendation inside five business days.

    5. 5

      Quarterly board update drafted with the CEO, covering what was delivered, what was learned, and what is next.

    6. 6

      Hiring runway built: when the work justifies a full-time Head of AI, the role definition, hiring brief, and interview rubric are already written.

    7. 7

      Clean handover if and when the permanent hire starts, with the fractional leader available through onboarding.

    Capabilities

    The capabilities behind this

    AI Leadership

    Senior AI leadership without a full-time hire. Someone accountable for the roadmap, the vendors, and what actually ships.

    Learn more

    AI and Data Strategy

    We work out which decisions are worth fixing first and what your data can actually support. You leave with a costed shortlist and a first build to start on.

    Learn more

    AI & Data Roadmap

    Your strategy broken into phases with owners, sequence, and dependencies. You leave with a plan your team can start on Monday.

    Learn more
    Outcomes

    What changes once this is in

    AI fluency at the leadership table inside a quarter

    Leadership meetings stop deferring AI questions to "we'll come back to that". Within the first quarter, the exec team can answer the board credibly and say no to the wrong ideas with confidence.

    A governed AI portfolio, not a shelf of pilots

    Shadow AI projects get pulled into the light. Every initiative has a named owner, a funded path, and a kill criterion. Typically 20 to 40% of the existing pipeline gets paused or retired in the first ninety days.

    Vendor and build-vs-buy calls made in days

    The pricing email that used to sit for three weeks gets a written recommendation inside five business days. Procurement cycles shorten. Bad platforms get declined before the sales team gets attached to them.

    A clear runway to a permanent hire

    When the business is ready, the role definition, compensation band, and interview scorecard are already drafted. The fractional leader runs the shortlist and hands the agenda over cleanly.

    In the room

    What your leadership team gets at the table

    SituationWhat a fractional AI leader does
    The board asks "what's our AI plan?"Drafts the board paper with the CEO. Names the two or three bets, the data they depend on, and the twelve-month funding ask. No slideware.
    A vendor tries to sell you a platformReads the proposal, benchmarks it against two alternatives, and returns a one-page buy, negotiate, or walk recommendation inside a week.
    An internal team proposes an AI projectRuns a ninety-minute triage: is the use case real, is the data there, who owns the outcome. Funds it, reshapes it, or kills it before a business case is written.
    A competitor makes an AI announcementSeparates the press release from the product. Tells the CEO in plain English whether it moves the market or not, and whether you need to respond.
    A build-vs-buy call needs makingWrites the decision memo. Total cost of ownership, integration risk, team capability, and a recommendation you can take to the ExCo.
    A data team hire is being scopedSits in on the role design. Pushes back on job descriptions that ask for a unicorn. Helps the CIO hire the person the business can actually manage.
    In Your Business

    How this lands inside your operation

    Your fractional AI leader attends your weekly or fortnightly ExCo. They chair the AI steering group if you have one, and they set one up if you don't. They read the vendor proposals before you do. They sit in on the data team's planning sessions, review the roadmap quarterly, and write the board paper when AI comes up at the next meeting.

    Between sessions, they are reachable. A vendor sends a pricing schedule on a Tuesday. Your CIO forwards it. By Wednesday you have a one-page read on whether it is worth a second meeting. No statement of work. No new project code. Just the senior judgement you would have hired for, available at the cadence the business actually needs it.

    This is for you if…

    • Growing Australian CEOs, CIOs, or Chairs whose board has asked for an AI plan
    • Leadership teams honest enough to say they do not yet have the expertise to lead the answer
    • Businesses where a full-time Head of AI is twelve to twenty-four months premature
    • Organisations with live AI activity that is fragmented, shadow, or stalled
    • Sectors under genuine AI pressure: financial services, insurance, healthcare, professional services, manufacturing, energy & utilities

    This probably isn't the right fit if…

    • Businesses with twelve months of funded, queued AI delivery work and the overhead to carry a full-time hire
    • Organisations looking for a deck and a workshop rather than accountability
    • Teams that want a contractor to execute a project already scoped
    Common Questions

    Frequently asked

    Let's talk about Fractional AI Leadership.

    30-minute call, no slides, no obligation. We'll tell you plainly whether this is the right fit for what you're trying to do.

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