PILLAR · LEADERSHIP

Fractional AI Director

Hiring a full-time AI director costs €200K+/year. Our fractional AI Directors embed into your company, audit your processes, design the AI roadmap, and drive transformation — at a fraction of the cost.

60%
lower cost vs full-time hire
30 days
to actionable AI roadmap
10×
ROI on AI strategy spend
30 / 60 / 90 days
Q1 plan
30
days
Audit & strategy
  • AI footprint mapping
  • Quick-wins ranked
  • Roadmap drafted
60
days
First wins shipped
  • Pilot agents live
  • Vendor stack chosen
  • Policy v1 in force
90
days
Scale + governance
  • KPI dashboard live
  • Risk register operational
  • Board cadence set

First measurable results — within a quarter

The leadership gap

You don't need a €200K/year AI VP. You need someone who's done this 20 times — for 1–2 days a week.

Hiring a full-time AI executive is hard, slow, and expensive. The senior people are working in big tech, not on the BG/EU job market. Meanwhile, your team is making AI vendor decisions, deploying tools, and shipping policies — without senior oversight. A fractional AI Director gives you proven leadership for a fraction of the cost — embedded enough to drive change, lean enough to be replaceable when you're ready to hire full-time.

€200K+
Fully-loaded annual cost of a full-time Head of AI in BG/EU
9 months
Average time-to-hire for senior AI leadership in CEE
1–2 days/wk
What our fractional AI Director engagement actually takes
What an AI Director owns

Senior leadership, embedded — not a slide deck consultant

We don't just write strategy. We sit in your leadership meetings, own decisions, drive vendor selection, and stand up the governance practice — until your in-house team can run it.

AI strategy & roadmap

12–18 month AI roadmap aligned to business KPIs. Quarterly reviews, ruthless prioritization, no vanity projects.

Process audit & opportunity mapping

Full audit of operations, sales, support, finance — ranked by ROI × feasibility. The shortlist your CEO asks for and your COO trusts.

Vendor & tech stack selection

We've evaluated 100+ AI vendors. We pick what fits — Claude vs GPT, n8n vs Zapier, OpenAI vs Anthropic vs self-hosted — without bias toward our own stack.

AI governance ownership

Owns policy, AI risk register, EU AI Act compliance, and the quarterly board cadence. Doubles as your fractional Head of AI Governance.

Change management & enablement

AI rollouts fail on people, not tech. We design the change-management program, train executives, and bring skeptical teams along.

Board & exec reporting

Monthly KPI report, quarterly board pack, ad-hoc executive briefings. Your CEO gets clarity on what AI is producing — in business terms, not engineering jargon.

What you get

An embedded senior — without the hiring drama

Our fractional AI Directors are senior practitioners who've shipped AI at scale — most have run AI programs at funded startups, scale-ups, or enterprises. We're not management consultants who've never built. We're not freelancers between gigs. We're operators on rotation, with deep practitioner credibility and the network to bring in specialists when needed.

Fractional AI Director vs alternatives

DimensionFractionalFull-time hireBig-4 consultancy
Annual cost€60–120K€200K+€400K+
Time to start1–2 weeks6–9 months4–8 weeks
Hands-on delivery
Board-ready reporting
Replaceable when team is ready
Owns AI risk register & policy

Most of our engagements run 6–12 months. By month 9, your in-house team is ready to take over — and we hand off cleanly. No lock-in, no platform, no licensing trap.

How we work

First quarter: 30 / 60 / 90

Predictable, paced, board-friendly. Each milestone has clear deliverables and a decision gate.

01
Day 1–30

Audit & strategy

We sit with leadership, ops, and key managers. Full AI footprint map, opportunity ranking, draft 12-month roadmap.

  • Full AI inventory
  • Top-10 ROI opportunities ranked
  • Draft 12-month AI roadmap
02
Day 31–60

First wins shipped

Pilot AI agents live in supervised production. Vendor stack chosen and procurement closed. AI usage policy v1 in force.

  • Pilot agents in production
  • Vendor stack approved
  • AI policy v1 published
03
Day 61–90

Scale & governance

KPI dashboard for the board. Risk register operational. Quarterly cadence set. Roadmap approved by exec committee.

  • KPI dashboard live
  • AI risk register operational
  • Quarterly board cadence set
04
Month 4+

Steady-state ownership

Ongoing strategic ownership: backlog grooming, vendor reviews, board reporting, governance updates. We hand off when your in-house leader is ready.

  • Monthly leadership reviews
  • Quarterly board reports
  • Clean handover when you're ready
Outcomes

What "first quarter" actually delivers

Not slides. Decisions made, agents shipped, policies in force, and a team that knows where it's going.

60%
Lower cost
Vs hiring a full-time AI VP at market rate
30 days
To roadmap
Actionable, prioritized, board-approved
10×
ROI multiplier
On AI strategy investment in year one
FAQ

Fractional AI Director — common questions

How is a Fractional AI Director different from a consultant?
A consultant writes a deck and leaves. A fractional director owns outcomes, sits in your leadership meetings, signs off on vendor decisions, and is accountable for the AI program's KPIs. We act as part of your exec team — not external advisors.
How much time do they actually spend with us?
Typical engagement: 1–2 days/week for 6–12 months. Some companies start at 3 days/week for the first 30 days during audit, then taper to 1 day/week steady-state. We'll size to your need.
What's the typical engagement length?
Most run 6–12 months. By month 9, your in-house team is usually ready to take over — and we hand off cleanly. Short pilots (3 months) and ongoing retainers are also possible.
Will you replace our existing CTO or COO?
No. We work alongside your CTO/COO/CEO — we own the AI track specifically. Your existing leadership stays in charge of the broader business; we add specialist depth where they don't have it.
What does it cost?
Most engagements range €60–120K/year, depending on time commitment and scope. We quote after a free first meeting where we scope the actual need — no inflated retainers.
Can you also handle AI Governance for us?
Yes — most of our directors double as Head of AI Governance, owning policy, risk register, and EU AI Act alignment. See our AI Governance pillar for the full governance scope.
What kind of companies do you work with?
Bulgarian and EU enterprises with 30–5,000 employees. Mostly fintech, banking, e-commerce, manufacturing, and professional services. We're a poor fit for pre-product startups and very early-stage companies — there's not enough surface to direct.
What if we need someone full-time later?
We help you hire. We've sourced and interviewed AI leaders for several of our clients, and we'll happily run that process — or hand off to your existing recruiting partner with a tailored spec we wrote together.

Get senior AI leadership without a €200K hire.

Book a free 30-minute strategy call. We'll talk through your situation and tell you whether a fractional AI Director is the right move — and which of our practitioners is the best fit.

No sales pressure · Free 30-min consultation · Bilingual delivery (EN/BG)