Services · Fractional CTO

Senior Technology Leadership Without the Full-Time Price Tag.

And With AI Fluency Built In.

Zaruda's Fractional CTOs are embedded, accountable members of your leadership team — experienced technology executives with proven AI delivery track records, available at the engagement level you actually need.

Book a Fractional CTO Discovery Call Learn About Engagement Models

Process Overview

1

4–8 hours/week

Strategic

2

8–20 hours/week

Hands-On

3

20–40 hours/week

Embedded

GAP

The Challenge

THE
REAL
ITY

A high-caliber CTO with real AI expertise commands $300,000–$500,000+ in annual compensation.

For most startups, growth-stage companies, and mid-market businesses, that's not the right equation — especially for a function you may need at 50% capacity for now, not 100%. Going without, however, is worse: architectural debt, poor technology decisions, inability to attract engineering talent.

How We Work

Our Approach,
Step by Step

3 phases

Entry

4–8 hours/week

Strategic technology guidance, board and investor readiness, quarterly technology roadmap reviews, and on-call advisory for critical decisions.

Strategic

Growth

8–20 hours/week

All of the above, plus: hands-on architecture reviews, team mentorship, vendor and tooling selection, hiring support, and regular engineering leadership presence.

Hands-On

Transform

20–40 hours/week

Full embedded leadership — driving technical strategy, managing engineering team leads, owning the product-engineering relationship, and functioning as a full member of the executive team.

Embedded

Capabilities

What We Deliver

AI Strategy & Roadmap Development

→Define your company's AI strategy in the context of your market and product
→Identify highest-ROI AI initiatives and sequence them in a realistic, budget-aware roadmap
→Build vs. buy frameworks for AI tooling and platform decisions

Architecture & Technical Governance

→Review and improve existing technical architecture
→Establish engineering standards, code review practices, and security posture
→Prevent architectural decisions that create long-term technical debt

Engineering Team Leadership & Hiring

→Mentor and develop your engineering leads
→Define team structure, hiring criteria, and compensation benchmarks
→Actively support technical recruiting — writing JDs, running interviews, evaluating finalists

Investor & Board Readiness

→Prepare technology due diligence materials for fundraising
→Represent the technology function in board reviews and investor conversations
→Build the technical credibility narrative investors require for Series A and beyond