The Carlyle GroupSyndicatedPortfolio
Portfolio Chief Technology OfficerAI Consultancy · fractional, interim and permanent AI leaders
AI Consultancy · fractional chief AI officer or head of AI, briefed and shortlisted
AI consultancy from Fractional Quest means a fractional chief AI officer or head of AI working in your business on a fractional, interim or permanent basis. Fractional Quest is a recruitment agency, not a consulting firm: we do not employ consultants or sell a team. We find a fractional chief AI officer or head of AI for your brief — fractional, interim or permanent — and they contract with you directly.
Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 23 October 2026 · 4 sources linked below
- 3–5our shortlist
Fractional seats our founder has held
Climatise
One Up Productions
CK Delta
In the press
- Financial TimesThe executives going ‘fractional’, not freelance
- International FinanceRenting the C-suite, and why the fractional executive era has arrived
The agency
What an AI consultancy covers
This page sets out what an AI consultancy engagement covers, how fractional, project and interim compare, how it runs. The board below shows current AI and data leadership roles.
AI consultancy at leadership level is about ownership, not advice. The chief AI officer owns how the business adopts AI: the strategy, the use cases worth funding, the governance and the risk.
Fractional Quest is a recruitment agency, not a consulting firm: we do not employ consultants or sell a team. We find a fractional chief AI officer or head of AI for your brief — fractional, interim or permanent — and they contract with you directly.
An AI consultant at leadership level is usually a fractional chief AI officer or head of AI: see fractional chief AI officer.
The seat in more depth: CAIO services · Chief AI Officer recruitment agency · fractional AI consultants.
On the board · last 90 days
Current AI and data leadership roles on the board
From our jobs feed. Where a posting states no rate, “est” is our estimate from the seat’s published band; ◆ marks days a week the posting states.
12 of 12 roles
Function
Engagement
- Reg Advantage LtdSyndicatedFractionalProduction Lead and Fractional CTO
- Green Orbit LtdSyndicatedFractionalFractional CTO Wanted | Green Orbit | Initially Equity Only | UK-Based
- Maxima Opus Ltd | Cloud, Cyber & CTO ConsultingSyndicatedFractionalFractional CTO
- LRO Financial ConsultancySyndicatedFractionalFractional Financial Controller
- Confidential clientOur mandate · available nowFractionalFractional SDR
- Unity AdvisorySyndicatedFractionalReward Lead (Fractional- 12 month FTC)
- Confidential clientOur mandate · available nowFractionalFractional Executive Assistant
- PHIXSyndicatedFractionalPart time / Fractional Finance Director
- CivSec GroupSyndicatedFractionalAcquisition CFO / Finance Director (Fractional)
- Algorithmiq OySyndicatedFractionalFractional Chief Operating Officer (COO)
- Twenty-Nine Palms EntertainmentSyndicatedFractionalBusiness Affairs Executive (Fractional / Per-Project)
Every fractional role in the UK is on the fractional jobs board.
Three seats
What does a fractional seat look like in practice?
Three fractional seats our founder has held. Real companies, named with their permission; we state only what the seat covered.
Fractional seats our founder has held
ClimatiseFractional · go-to-marketA carbon-reporting software company that needed go-to-market leadership before a full-time hire.
- Seat
- Fractional go-to-market lead
- Days
- Two days a week
- Scope
- Go-to-market
One Up ProductionsFractional · go-to-marketA production company that needed both the go-to-market strategy and its execution.
- Seat
- Fractional go-to-market: strategy and execution
- Days
- Two days a week
- Scope
- Go-to-market
CK DeltaFractional · technologyTechnology work: tech stack implementation.
- Seat
- Fractional technology lead
These are seats our founder has held, not placements.
The scope
What an engagement covers — and what it does not
In scope. The AI strategy and the portfolio of use cases worth funding; AI governance, policy and responsible use; build, buy or partner decisions on tools and models; data readiness for AI, with the data lead; measuring the return on AI investment.
Not in scope. Building production systems is engineering work under the CTO. Data protection compliance remains the DPO’s remit. An AI consultant at leadership level decides where AI earns its keep and governs it.
The neighbouring seats. The CAIO decides where AI earns its keep; the CTO builds it; the CDO makes sure the data under it is fit for purpose.
When companies look for AI consultancy: Staff using AI tools with no policy, pilots that never reach production, a board asking for an AI plan, or customers asking how their data is used in AI.
The process
How does a brief become a shortlist?
Six steps, one accountable person at each. We don’t promise a shortlist by a date; the weeks below are what a well-scoped brief usually takes.
- Day 001The 15-minute callThe seat, the engagement shape, the days or hours, the start date and the budget. No account needed; a call or a written brief.You and us
- Week 102Scope agreed in writingThe outcome the seat exists for, which days, and how the engagement will run for IR35. A brief that describes a person rather than a job, we rewrite with you.Us
- Weeks 1–203Search and approachWe approach people who aren’t looking and verify prior tenure in the seat at your scale and stage.Us
- Weeks 2–304References, taken by usFrom recent clients and boards: what they delivered, not what they titled it.Us
- Week 305Shortlist of three to fiveEach with day rate or salary, availability and IR35 position set out. You interview and decide.You
- Week 406Kick-offScope, first-month outcomes and the contract agreed before day one.You, them and us
Against the alternatives
Four ways to buy AI expertise fractional, project, interim or permanent
The same AI problem can be bought four ways. The difference is who does the work, for how long, and who is accountable afterwards.
| Fractional AI leader | Project consultancy firm | Interim executive | Permanent hire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you buy | A fractional chief AI officer or head of AI, days a week | A defined deliverable | A leader full-time for a fixed term | A full-time leader for years |
| Who does the work | One named senior person | A team, often with a partner who sold it | One named senior person | Your employee |
| Accountable after | Yes — they stay | No — the project ends | Until the hand-over | Yes |
| Best when | You need senior judgement every week, not every day | The work is a one-off with a clear output | You need full-time cover or a change led now | The seat is full-time work for years |
| Usual contract | Contract for services, often via the leader’s company | Statement of work | Day-rate contract for the mandate | Employment contract |
The decision
When AI consultancy is the right call
Three situations, and the shape that fits each.
- No policyStaff using AI with no rulesAI use has outrun policy. A fractional AI leader puts governance, approvals and training in place.
- PilotsPilots that never shipProofs of concept keep stalling. A fractional AI leader picks the use cases worth funding and owns them to production.
- BoardThe board wants an AI planA fractional chief AI officer writes the plan, the governance and the measures the board will hold it to.
Vetting
How do we vet an AI consultant?
Five stages before anyone reaches a shortlist of three to five.
- Pedigree screenTenureWe verify prior tenure in the seat, at the scale and stage you need. No consultant presenting as an executive.
- Mandate fitFitFit to your stage, sector and the problem the seat exists to solve, not a CV keyword.
- Reference deep-diveVerifyWe take references ourselves, from recent clients and boards: what they delivered, not what they titled it.
- ShortlistShortlistThree to five candidates, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
- Kick-offStartScope, first-month outcomes and the contract agreed before day one.
The full process is on how we vet.
how it runs
How our AI consultancy works from brief to the first ninety days
Brief. A scoping call on the problem, the shape (fractional days, an interim mandate or a permanent seat), the start date and what success looks like in the first ninety days. A good brief names the decisions the AI leader will own.
Shortlist. We search for your brief and come back with a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate or salary, availability and IR35 position set out, assessed through our five-stage vetting.
Contract. You choose; the consultant contracts with you directly, usually through their own company for fractional and interim work. Agree how the engagement will run in practice, because that decides its IR35 status — HMRC’s guidance for clients sets out who makes the determination.
Cadence. A fractional AI leader works best on fixed days with a standing slot with the CEO. Review the days each quarter. An interim works to a written mandate with review points and a hand-over date.
fractional or firm
Fractional AI consultant or an AI consultancy firm? who stays accountable
AI consultancy firms usually sell a build or a pilot: a chatbot, a model, a proof of concept. Pilots that nobody senior owns rarely reach production.
A fractional AI consultant is a different purchase: one senior person who holds the brief week after week and answers for the outcome. A fractional chief AI officer sets direction, governance and priorities on a standing weekly commitment, which suits most businesses better than a full-time hire while the field moves quickly.
Out of scope either way. Building production systems is engineering work under the CTO. Data protection compliance remains the DPO’s remit. An AI consultant at leadership level decides where AI earns its keep and governs it.
Standing. Check professional standing before you sign: the ICO’s guidance on AI and data protection — how UK GDPR applies to AI systems and to decisions made with AI; BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT — the chartered body for IT, whose Professional Register is a public record of technology professionals.
The right route
Agency, recruiter, interim or permanent?
Three taps. Say how much senior work there is, for how long, and whether it is one leader or a run of hires; the tool names the route.
The route · Fractional recruiter
An embedded fractional recruiter.
A hiring plan to work through below the leadership team is a talent-acquisition job: a recruiter inside your business for part of the week, paid for their time. We don’t supply them; the page below explains the role.
The route · Non-executive director
A non-executive director.
Independent oversight and constructive challenge, not executive direction. We recruit NEDs through the same brief process.
The route · Advisor
An advisor, not yet a seat.
Less than a day a week of senior input is advisory. Buy it as a scoped engagement; when it grows into a day or more, brief us for a fractional executive.
The route · Interim
An interim executive.
Four or five days for a fixed period is interim: cover for a departure, a turnaround or a transaction. The IIM puts the UK average at £907 a day and ten months.
The route · Permanent
A permanent search.
Four or five days of work, ongoing, is a full-time seat. We recruit permanent executives through the same brief process.
The route · Fractional executive
Brief a fractional recruitment agency.
Senior judgement for part of the week: a fractional CFO, CTO, CMO or COO on one to three days. We come back with a shortlist of three to five, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
We recruit executives. We don’t supply embedded fractional recruiters; where that is the right route, the tool says so.
Clients
What do companies say about our fractional work?
From a company where our founder has held a fractional seat. Name and logo given with the client’s permission.
“Excellent fractional support for building both our go-to-market strategy and our execution.”
Charlie AndersonDirector, One Up ProductionsWhere we are
Where is Fractional Quest?
Where we are
71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ
Fractional Quest Ltd, registered in England and Wales, no. 17322105. This is our registered office; meetings are by appointment, and most briefs start on a 15-minute call.
Questions
AI Consultancy questions, answered
AI consultancy puts senior AI expertise into a business. Through Fractional Quest that means a fractional chief AI officer or head of AI on a fractional, interim or permanent basis, owning: the AI strategy and the portfolio of use cases worth funding; AI governance, policy and responsible use; build, buy or partner decisions on tools and models.
Fractional Quest is a recruitment agency, not a consulting firm: we do not employ consultants or sell a team. We find a fractional chief AI officer or head of AI for your brief — fractional, interim or permanent — and they contract with you directly. You get one named senior person rather than a team sold by a partner, and they stay accountable for as long as you need them.
Fractional when you need senior AI judgement every week but not every day; a project consultancy when the work is a one-off with a clear deliverable; interim when you need full-time cover or a change led now; permanent when the seat is full-time work for years.
It depends on the shape, the days and the sector, and no source we can verify publishes a band for this seat. Fractional Quest publishes no fees; each candidate on a shortlist states their own rate, so you compare like with like.
It depends on how the engagement runs in practice — control, substitution and whether the AI consultant is part and parcel of your organisation, not on the label "consultant". For medium and large private-sector clients the client makes the status determination. Every candidate on our shortlist states their IR35 position.
The AI strategy, the choice of use cases, governance and responsible use, build-or-buy decisions and the measures of return. Through Fractional Quest it is owned by a named fractional AI leader, not a pilot team.
If you need one model built, a build partner. If you need someone to decide where AI fits across the business and to govern it, a fractional chief AI officer — which suits most companies better than a full-time hire while the field moves quickly.
Sources
Where does every figure on this page come from?
The primary publisher for each number, linked. Where a figure is our own arithmetic, the page says so where it appears.
- HMRC
- legislation.gov.uk
- 1Understanding off-payroll working (IR35) HMRCStatus depends on how the engagement runs; medium and large clients make the determination.
- 2Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 HMRCEmployer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year.
- 3
- 4Employment Agencies Act 1973 legislation.gov.ukThe law a recruitment agency works under; no fee to a work-seeker.
