Technology Advisory
A CTO for the days your company needs one
You get a senior technology owner for a set number of days each month. That person decides architecture, keeps the roadmap, reviews vendor contracts and reports to your board in plain language.
New to the idea? Read what CTO as a service is, and when to hire one.
What the role covers
- Architecture decisions
each recorded in a short note, with the options that were rejected.
- A roadmap and a risk register
kept current and shared with your team.
- Vendor and contract oversight
quotes, statements of work and code-ownership clauses read before you sign.
- Hiring and team design
which roles first, and what to outsource.
- Security oversight
which controls apply and who owns each one.
- Board and investor notes
what the system costs and what could go wrong, on one page.
- Dedicated engineering squads
when you need hands, a dedicated team can start under the same technical lead.
How the engagement is set up
The contract names the days per month, the written outputs and the person who owns each. Billing is monthly, by days. The minimum term is six months, so the roadmap has time to be tested against real releases. The engagement opens with a discovery period, led by a principal architect.
What lands in your folder
Each month you hold documents, not impressions: the decision notes made that month, the updated roadmap, the current risk register and any vendor reviews. When the engagement ends, they stay. A new CTO or a new vendor can start from them on day one.
How the role works with your team
The CTO sits between your business owners, your engineers and your vendors. The role writes the brief a vendor builds against, checks the work against it, and explains the result to your board. If your plans call for more engineers, the same person designs the team and the hiring order, and a dedicated squad can fill the first seats.
Who it suits
- A founder who is not technical and relies on contractors
- A company whose ERP or portal runs on one vendor's code
- A business that has three vendors and no one owning how their systems fit
- A company asked technology questions by an investor or lender
A company with a senior technical lead already making these decisions needs a team, not a CTO.
Questions buyers ask
It is a senior technology leader who works for your company a fixed number of days each month, on contract. The guide covers when it fits and what to ask for in the contract.
The same role under another name: a part-time chief technology officer, hired by the days you need rather than as an employee.
More in Technology Advisory
Which technology decision is waiting for an owner?
Tell us what you want to build.
The first call is 45 minutes with an architect, usually the founder. It is free, and we will sign an NDA first if you ask.