Fractional AI Lead · Monthly retainer · Hertfordshire & UK
A senior AI brain on tap — without hiring a Head of AI
Hiring a genuinely good Head of AI is expensive, slow, and hard to get right. But treating AI as a one-off project means the momentum dies the moment the invoice is paid. The Fractional AI Lead is the middle path: a senior AI partner who owns your direction, builds alongside you, and keeps you on the cutting edge month after month — for a fraction of a full-time hire, on a rolling retainer with no long lock-in.
Strategy and delivery, not just advice
A lot of fractional roles are advice-only: someone turns up, has opinions, and leaves you to find someone else to build. This isn't that. As your Fractional AI Lead I own the strategy and do the hands-on work — designing agents, wiring up automations, shipping tools, and improving what's already running. You get a partner who can both point at the right move and actually make it, which is the combination that keeps AI moving in a business rather than stalling in a backlog.
A rolling pipeline of improvements
AI isn't a thing you install once; the frontier moves every few weeks and so should you. On retainer, we run a living roadmap — a prioritised pipeline of builds, automations and tune-ups that we work through together as your business changes. Something new becomes possible, we fold it in. A process shifts, we adjust. Instead of a stale plan in a drawer, you get steady, compounding progress and an AI setup that keeps getting sharper.
Someone watching the frontier so you don't have to
Keeping up with Claude, Gemini and the wider AI world is a full-time job in itself, and it's not yours. Part of what you're buying is that I do it for you — tracking what's genuinely useful, quietly ignoring what's hype, and bringing you only the developments that matter for your business. You stay on the cutting edge without spending your evenings reading release notes, and you make big calls with someone senior who actually knows the terrain.
How the retainer works
It's deliberately simple and low-risk. You pick a tier based on how much momentum you want each month, you get priority access and regular working sessions, and we agree the priorities together. There's no long contract and no mystery platform — it's rolling, and you can scale it up, down or pause as your needs change. You own everything we build. It should feel like having a senior AI partner in your corner, not signing up to another vendor.
Who it's for
The Fractional AI Lead fits ambitious SMEs and growing businesses who've seen enough to know AI is going to be a real advantage, and who want to build that advantage properly and continuously — without carrying the cost of a senior full-time hire before they're ready. If you want AI to become a compounding edge rather than a one-off project, and you want a senior partner who has your back on it every month, this is the offer.
Straight answers
How is a Fractional AI Lead different from just hiring a consultant for a project?
A project ends; a Fractional AI Lead is ongoing. Rather than a single build and a goodbye, you get continuous ownership of your AI direction, a rolling pipeline of improvements, and someone senior tracking the frontier for you month after month. It suits businesses that want AI to keep compounding rather than stalling once a project wraps. You can still do one-off projects with me — this is for when you want momentum.
What does it cost?
It's a monthly retainer, tiered by how many days of my time you want each month, typically in the region of £1,500 to £5,000 a month. It's rolling with no long lock-in, so you can scale it up, down or pause as things change. For most SMEs it works out at a fraction of the cost of a senior full-time AI hire, with none of the recruitment risk.
Do you actually build things, or just advise?
Both, and the building is the point. I design the strategy and then do the hands-on delivery — agents, automations, custom tools, and improvements to what's already running. You're not left holding advice with no one to execute it. That combination of senior thinking and real delivery is exactly what keeps AI moving in a business.
We're not a tech company. Is a Fractional AI Lead overkill for us?
Not if AI could be a real advantage for you — and for most ambitious SMEs it now can. You don't need to be a tech company; you need a senior partner who translates the frontier into practical moves for your business and keeps it all in plain English. The retainer scales to your size, so you only take as much as you need. Plenty of the best-fit clients are ordinary businesses that simply want an edge.
Am I locked in?
No. It's a rolling monthly arrangement with no long contract, no proprietary platform, and no mystery software. You own everything we build, and you can scale up, scale down or pause as your needs change. It's designed to feel like a partner you keep because it's working, not because you're trapped.
Get a senior AI partner in your corner
Own your AI direction, keep a rolling pipeline of improvements moving, and stay on the cutting edge — for a fraction of a full-time hire. Let's talk about the right tier for you.