Month 1
Assess and plan
Team, systems, spend and roadmap reviewed. You get a written plan with the first moves and what they cost.
Fractional CTO
A senior CTO, one day a week.
You need someone to own technology, but not a full-time CTO hire yet. Shekhar joins your leadership team one day a week and owns the team, the roadmap, the vendors and the AI bets, until you hire a permanent CTO.
Five things a CTO owns.
The same job a full-time CTO does, sized to where your company is now.
- Team
- Structure, hiring and coaching for your engineers or IT lead.
- Roadmap
- What to build, buy or stop, tied to the business plan.
- Vendors
- Contracts, integrators and cloud spend under control.
- AI
- Which AI bets to fund, built properly and run at a known cost.
- Board
- A monthly technology report your board can actually read.
Why fractional
More senior than a contractor, a fraction of a hire.
A full-time CTO takes months to find and costs well into six figures before equity and search fees. Many mid-sized companies need that judgment one day a week, not five. When you outgrow it, you hire, and we help you choose.
Months 2 and 3
Put it to work
Run the plan with your team, fix vendor contracts, start key hires and get the first AI work moving.
After that
Lead, then hand over
Weekly leadership, monthly board reporting, and a clean handover when your permanent CTO starts.
How it works
One fixed day, every week.
A fixed weekly day with your team, a standing slot in your leadership meeting, and direct access in between for anything urgent.
€12,000Per month, one day a week, 3-month minimum
We take on two fractional CTO clients at a time, so every one gets Shekhar personally.
Each week
- Your fixed day
- Time with your team: priorities, reviews, hiring, vendor calls.
- Leadership meeting
- A standing seat, so technology is part of every business decision.
- In between
- Direct access for urgent questions, answered within one business day.
Each month
- Board report
- Progress, spend, risks and decisions needed, on one page.
- Plan review
- What moved, what didn't, and what changes next month.
Common questions
Before you add a fractional CTO.
- Remote or on site?
- Mostly remote, with on-site days agreed up front for the moments that matter, such as planning sessions and board meetings. Travel is billed at cost.
- Can we start with more time?
- Yes. Two days a week is possible for the first months of a turnaround or a large build. We agree it on the first call.
- Do you write the code?
- No. We lead your team and your partners. We don't build ourselves, and we take no referral fees from any vendor or partner we recommend while acting as your CTO.
- What happens when we hire a full-time CTO?
- We help you choose them with the AI leadership hire check, with the fee credited against the retainer, hand over, and can stay on as an adviser.
Need a CTO, not a full-time one?
Tell us where your technology stands. In 30 minutes you'll know whether a fractional CTO fits.
Prefer email? shekhar@asksarthi.ai · LinkedIn