Delivery keeps slipping
Your team is busy but releases are late, priorities keep changing or the business cannot see what will be delivered next. A CTO gives the work an order, challenges estimates and resolves decisions that are blocking progress.
Fractional CTO · UK & Ireland
Fractional CTO services.
Decisions. Delivery. Ownership.
Your software matters to the business. Bring in a senior technology leader to make the difficult decisions, give your developers clear priorities and follow the work through.
A monthly fee agreed around your needsResponsibilities, time commitment and start date agreed before you sign.
The role, explained
What is a fractional CTO?
A fractional CTO is a Chief Technology Officer who works with your business for an agreed part of the month. They take responsibility for the technology behind your product: the roadmap, architecture, engineering priorities and the decisions that connect technical work to business goals.
This suits a business building or selling software, or relying on a custom platform, where developers or a delivery partner need senior direction. We work with UK and Irish businesses and tailor the role to the decisions and delivery ahead of you.
When it makes sense
Recognise the situation?
A major technology decision is approaching
You are considering a rebuild, a new platform, a change of supplier or AI in a customer-facing product. You need someone who can test the assumptions and explain the trade-offs before you commit.
The team needs senior technical leadership
You have developers or an external build team, but nobody with the remit to own architecture, engineering standards and the product roadmap together. A fractional CTO fills that leadership gap.
Responsibility, made concrete
What your leader takes on.
Own the product and technology roadmap
Connect planned work to the business priorities. Agree what to build, improve or stop, with dependencies and decision owners made clear.
Lead architecture and build-or-buy decisions
Review the options against reliability, security, maintainability, cost and the people who will operate the system. Explain the consequences in business terms.
Give engineering teams direction
Work with your developers and delivery partners on priorities, quality and release readiness. Resolve disagreements and help the team make decisions at the right level.
Hold delivery to account
Review progress against the agreed scope and outcomes. Bring risks, supplier commitments and decisions to the leadership team while there is still time to act.
The first priorities
Start with the work
in front of you.
We begin with the product, the people doing the work and the decisions waiting for an owner. We review the roadmap, delivery commitments, architecture and known risks with your team.
Together we agree the CTO’s authority, availability and first priorities. The result is a working arrangement for making decisions and moving delivery forward, with the sequence and timing shaped around your situation.
Choose the right help
Which role fits the gap?
| Role or service | Where it helps |
|---|---|
| Fractional CTO | Part-time leadership of a software product, its engineering and technical direction. Useful when you need ongoing ownership for an agreed portion of the month. |
| Fractional CIO | Leadership of internal business systems, technology investment and the operating model. Often the better fit for organisation-wide systems and transformation. |
| Fractional IT Director | Leadership of the IT function, internal team, support providers and supplier performance. Often the better fit for operational IT management. |
| Interim or permanent CTO | A fuller time commitment for a temporary leadership gap or a continuing role. We discuss whether the workload needs that level of cover. |
| Software delivery team | The engineers and specialists carrying out the implementation. CTO leadership and additional build work have separate, agreed responsibilities and costs. |
Costs and commitment
A monthly fee agreed around your needs
We agree a monthly fee based on the responsibilities and time your CTO needs. The main fractional leadership page shows illustrative starting fees and levels of cover. These are starting points for a conversation, rather than fixed packages or unlimited access.
Your agreement sets out the named leader, scope, availability, reporting, term and start date. Engineering, software subscriptions and managed services are scoped and priced separately. You can continue working with your existing team and suppliers.
Leadership and delivery
A leader who helps get the work done.
AssurePath combines technology leadership with software delivery and managed services. Your CTO works with the people responsible for delivery, makes decisions and follows progress. If you need additional build capability, we agree it separately so the leadership role and implementation costs stay clear.
Explore product and software delivery →Questions before the call
Know what you’re
bringing in.
What does a fractional CTO actually do?
They own the agreed technology leadership responsibilities: product and engineering priorities, architecture, technical decisions, supplier oversight and delivery follow-through. The exact scope reflects your product, team and business needs.
How much does a fractional CTO cost?
The monthly fee depends on the time, responsibility and cover required. We publish illustrative starting fees on our fractional leadership page and agree your actual monthly fee before you sign. Additional implementation and software costs are agreed separately.
Can you work with our existing developers or software agency?
Yes. You do not have to replace your developers or use AssurePath for the build. Your CTO can lead decisions and hold delivery to account across your existing team and suppliers.
Do we need a CTO, CIO or IT Director?
A CTO focuses on the technology you build into a product. A CIO focuses on business systems and technology investment across the organisation. An IT Director leads the IT function and providers. We can help identify the responsibilities you need before choosing a title.
How quickly can we start?
We agree a start date after understanding the scope and matching the right leader. Availability depends on the role and requirements, and is confirmed before you sign.
Is fractional leadership just advice?
No. It is a working leadership role with agreed responsibility for decisions and follow-through. Strategy and documentation support the work. Any additional engineering or delivery team is scoped explicitly.
Talk it through
Tell us where
you need a hand.
A free 30-minute scoping call to work out the role, the priorities and the right level of cover. We’ll reply within one working day to arrange a time.
Prefer to talk now? 0333 050 0729
Let’s scope the seat
Start with a conversation.
30 minutes to understand what you need. We’ll reply within one working day to arrange a time.