CAIO Services | Fractional, Interim & Part-Time CAIO

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire a CAIO

Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with CAIO Services candidates, their day rates and availability.

0115 minutes, video or phone
02We scope the role and the days a week
03A shortlist of 3–5 after the call
04Fractional, interim and permanent briefs

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Pick a day that suits · live availability

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01/ the role

What CAIO services cover

The chief AI officer owns how the business adopts AI: the strategy, the use cases worth funding, the governance and the risk.

In scope: the AI strategy and the portfolio of use cases; AI governance, policy and responsible use; build, buy or partner decisions on AI tools and models; data readiness for AI, with the data lead; measuring the return on AI investment.

Building production systems is engineering work under the CTO.

Data protection compliance remains the DPO’s remit; the CAIO works with both.

What the seat does day to day is set out in the CAIO role explained; executives looking for this work can see current CAIO roles.

02/ scope

Four ways to buy the CAIO seat

Fractional CAIO services

A fractional CAIO holds the CAIO seat on a standing weekly commitment, usually alongside a small number of other clients, and owns outcomes rather than hours.

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.

Fractional CAIO services sets out the scope, the rates and how we shortlist.

Interim CAIO services

An interim CAIO works full-time for a fixed term to cover a gap, lead a change or see a transaction through, then hands over.

Interim executives are hired for immediate impact: they expect to take decisions from the first week.

Interim CAIO services sets out the scope, the rates and how we shortlist.

Part-Time CAIO services

A part-time CAIO works set days each week for one organisation.

A part-time chief AI officer works set days each week inside the leadership team, suited to a business where AI is important but not yet a full-time executive brief.

Part-Time CAIO services sets out the scope, the rates and how we shortlist.

Permanent CAIO

A permanent chief AI officer is right when AI is central to the product or the operating model and the portfolio of work needs daily leadership.

03/ the route

Fractional, interim or permanent?

Four taps. The answer names the route for the seat and the page that covers it.

How much of the week does the work fill?

Is there a fixed end or a programme?

Does the seat sit on the board for years?

Is the need now, or can it wait for a search?

The route · Fractional

A fractional CAIO services.

The work fills part of the week, so buy the days it needs.

A fractional CAIO services holds the seat on agreed days for as long as the seat is needed, and works for other clients on the rest.

The fractional CAIO services route Talk it through

04/ comparison

Four ways to buy a CAIO fractional, interim, part-time or permanent

The same CAIO seat can be filled four ways. The difference is commitment, contract and how long you need it.

FractionalInterimPart-timePermanent

CommitmentDays a week, ongoingFull-time, fixed termSet days each weekFull-time, open-ended

Usual contractContract for services, often via the executive’s companyDay-rate contract for the mandateOften pro-rata employment; sometimes a contractorEmployment contract

Clients at onceA small portfolioOneOneOne

Best whenYou need CAIO judgement every week, not every dayYou need full-time cover or a change led nowYou want the same person on the same days for the long termThe seat is full-time work for years

ExitNotice period, or convert to permanentHand-over at the end of the mandateEmployment noticeResignation or redundancy

05/ timing

Which shape fits your situation

Match the shape to the work, not the title.

Scenario 01

Weekly judgement

Fractional

You need a CAIO to own decisions every week, but the work does not fill five days.

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.

Scenario 02

Now, full-time

Interim

The board has funded AI adoption and needs someone to run it.

An interim CAIO leads it full-time through the first wave of use cases.

Scenario 03

Long term

Part-time or permanent

A part-time chief AI officer works set days each week inside the leadership team, suited to a business where AI is important but not yet a full-time executive brief.

A permanent chief AI officer is right when AI is central to the product or the operating model and the portfolio of work needs daily leadership.

06/ vetting

How we vet the shortlist

Five stages: qualification, mandate fit, reference deep-dive, shortlist and analysis, kick-off.

01
Qualification screen
Verify CAIO Services tenure, sector context and stage fit.
SOURCING
02
Mandate fit
Match to your situation — stage, board dynamics, timing.
MATCHING
03
Reference deep-dive
We take references ourselves, from recent past clients — real outcomes, not titles.
VERIFY
04
Shortlist
Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
SHORTLIST OF 3–5

07/ before you brief

Before you buy CAIO services what to decide first

The decisions.

Write down the three decisions the CAIO will own in the next ninety days.

That list decides the shape: weekly decisions point to fractional, a time-bound programme to interim, a steady load to part-time.

The neighbours.

The CAIO decides where AI earns its keep; the CTO builds it; the CDO makes sure the data under it is fit for purpose.

The checks.

The UK regulator’s guidance for organisations using AI: see the ICO’s guidance on AI and data protection.

For a contractor engagement, agree how it will run in practice, because that decides IR35 status; HMRC’s guidance for clients sets out who makes the determination.

08/ questions

CAIO services FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in a CAIO.

Ways of filling the CAIO seat without, or before, a permanent hire: fractional (days a week, ongoing), interim (full-time, fixed term) and part-time (set days, one employer), alongside a permanent search. The chief AI officer owns how the business adopts AI: the strategy, the use cases worth funding, the governance and the risk.

Fractional when you need CAIO judgement every week but not every day; interim when you need full-time cover or a change led now; part-time when the load is steady and you want the same person long term; permanent when the seat is full-time work for years.

Rates depend on scope, sector and days, and no source we can verify publishes a band for this seat. Each candidate on our shortlist states their own rate, so you compare like with like.

Building production systems is engineering work under the CTO. Data protection compliance remains the DPO’s remit; the CAIO works with both.

You brief us on scope, shape and start date. We come back with a shortlist of 3–5, each with rate, availability and IR35 position set out, assessed through our five-stage vetting.

Book 15 minutes · shortlist of 3–5

Bring the brief. We architect the team.

A shortlist of 3–5 with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.

Book a call →Submit a brief

09/ related

Keep exploring

Adjacent roles and reading.

/fractional-caio-servicesFractional CAIO Services

An ongoing weekly commitment.

/interim-caio-servicesInterim CAIO Services

Full-time for a fixed term.

/part-time-caio-servicesPart-Time CAIO Services

Set days each week.

/what-does-a-chief-ai-officer-doThe CAIO role explained

What the seat does day to day.

/vettingHow we vet

The five-stage process behind every shortlist.

Executive servicesCAIO services hubThe CAIO seat, fractionalIR35 guide

CAIO Services · fractional, interim, part-time and permanent