I stabilize fragile systems, strengthen security, and add AI that actually helps the team ship — without derailing the roadmap.
What you get
I don’t resell tools or arrive with a generic playbook. I look at what’s running today, tell you the truth, and ship a sequence of concrete improvements your team can own.
I will say “this is unsafe,” “this is too fragile,” or “this AI idea is a toy, not a tool” if that’s the reality. Calm, candid, and protective of your people and customers.
Decades in production: servers, telecom, AWS, security policy, and AI used in real workflows. I know what it feels like to be on call when things go sideways.
Stabilize the foundation, clarify the security story, then add targeted automation where it measurably helps. Small steps. No freeze. No theater.
I don’t replace your engineers or talk over them. I design scope so velocity holds while risk comes down, and I leave practices the team can maintain without me.
Pressure to “have an AI strategy” is real. I only introduce automation you can observe, test, and own — not demos that never survive contact with production.
Fewer incidents, a clearer answer when customers and auditors ask hard questions, and a team that can keep shipping without dreading the next fire.
Who this is for
US-based B2B SaaS and tech-enabled services. Seed to Series C, roughly 10–200 people, paying customers, real stakes.
Finance, security, data platforms, communications — domains where an outage or a weak security story actually costs trust and revenue.
Incidents are creeping up, cloud bills are noisy, architecture feels fragile, and the AI conversation is incoherent. You’ve outgrown the scrappy setup.
Find where the platform is actually fragile, what’s likely to fail, and which risks will hurt customers first. Then fix those before adding more surface area.
Make the security and compliance story match what you promise larger customers. Clear posture, fewer surprises in due diligence.
Targeted automation and AI that improves delivery, can be tested, and is owned by the existing team — not a parallel science project.
Step 1: Discovery call
A short conversation to sanity-check fit. You should leave knowing whether I’m the right grown-up in the room — and I should know if I can actually help.
Step 2: Honest assessment
A focused look at what’s running today: real risks, likely failures, and the highest-leverage fixes. You get a phased proposal with priorities, not a 40-page deck.
Step 3: Hands-on execution
We work the plan in small steps alongside your team: stabilize, harden security, then introduce AI and automation where it clearly pays off. Scope is designed to protect velocity.
You can plan around it
When I commit to an outcome, I intend for you to be able to plan around my word. The goal is a platform the team understands, maintains, and evolves — without becoming dependent on me.
FAQs
The questions founders and executive teams usually ask before they bring in a fractional CTO.
US-based B2B SaaS and tech-enabled services companies that are past the idea stage. Typically Seed to Series C, 10–200 employees, paying customers, and products in high-consequence domains like finance, security, data, or communications. The people who bring me in are founders and executive teams who know they’ve outgrown the current setup.
Yes — if the work is scoped to real risks and shipped in phases. I don’t sell retainers for advice in the abstract. You get a concrete sequence: stabilize what’s running, strengthen security, then add AI where it helps. Each phase has deliverables your team can use, not recommendations that sit in a folder.
No. I start with an honest assessment, then I implement alongside your team. Architecture, security posture, and automation only count if they exist in production and the people who run the system understand them.
I work with your engineers, not over them. Scope is designed to protect feature velocity while reducing the risk of the next incident. The point is to take weight off the people already carrying too much — not to insert another layer of process.
I can — after we know the foundation can hold it. I will push back on toys, vendor theater, and “AI for AI’s sake.” What I will do is find the few automations that clearly improve delivery, make them observable and testable, and leave them owned by your team.
You should be stronger than I found you. That means systems and practices the team can maintain and evolve without me. Documentation, decision records, and operating habits are part of the work — not an afterthought once invoices are paid.
A short conversation to sanity-check fit. Bring the incident, the customer questionnaire, or the feeling that you’ve outgrown the scrappy setup.
Practical writing on architecture, security, and AI that has to survive production — not vendor fluff.
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