Fractional CAIO, The AI Centre

01Fractional Chief AI Officer (fCAIO)

The AI Centre

Engagement model: This opportunity is offered as a business-to-business consultancy engagement, rather than a salaried employment position. You will provide your services through your own limited company, under a consultancy agreement with The AI Centre Group Ltd.

Working with: Regional AI Director, client executive sponsors and leadership teams.

Fees: Fees for agreed fCAIO delivery days are calculated at 60% of the agreed client day rate. Client assignments, scope, availability, the calculation basis and payment terms will be agreed in advance.

02About The AI Centre

The AI Centre provides executive AI leadership, helping businesses connect AI ambition with commercial priorities, responsible governance and measurable outcomes.

Our fractional Chief AI Officers work with CEOs, boards and leadership teams to develop the direction, capability and accountability needed for successful AI transformation. A structured methodology and consistent delivery standards underpin our work.

03The opportunity

We are looking for experienced senior leaders who can help businesses make sound decisions about AI and turn those decisions into practical, measurable progress.

As a fractional Chief AI Officer, you will provide senior, hands-on leadership within assigned client organisations. You will help leaders establish their priorities, understand their readiness, choose where to invest, oversee delivery and build the capability to sustain results.

You will lead the business agenda for AI, coordinating the client teams, technical owners, implementation partners and specialists needed to deliver it. Commercial judgement, organisational change and responsible governance will be central to your work.

You will work directly with the client’s executive sponsor and leadership team, with operational accountability to your Regional AI Director for engagement quality, capacity, methodology adherence and escalation.

04What you will do

You will lead clients through The AI Centre’s six-stage AI Transformation Operating System.

05ALIGN — Establish direction and executive commitment

Work with leaders to define why AI matters to the business, the outcomes they want to achieve and the scope of the engagement. Establish sponsorship, decision rights and accountable ownership. Challenge unsupported assumptions, unrealistic expectations and technology choices that lack a clear business rationale.

06DIAGNOSE — Assess readiness and build the evidence

Assess capability across strategy and leadership; data and technology; people and culture; processes and operations; governance, risk and ethics; and value and performance.

Build a clear picture of existing AI activity, tools, suppliers, data use and controls. Identify opportunities, dependencies and constraints, making evidence gaps, uncertainty and conflicting views visible.

07PRIORITISE — Focus investment on credible opportunities

Identify AI opportunities grounded in business priorities, customer needs and operational challenges. Define the problem, accountable owner, intended outcome, dependencies and risks.

Work with finance and business owners to challenge value assumptions and balance strategic fit, commercial value, feasibility, readiness and governance. Recommend which opportunities should proceed, be deferred, require further work or be rejected.

MOBILISE — Put the conditions for delivery in place

Help establish the governance, ownership, policies, controls, resources and review cadence needed for execution. Translate agreed priorities into clear responsibilities, success measures and delivery decisions.

Coordinate client teams, technology owners, vendors, implementation partners and specialists around the agreed outcomes and controls.

08DELIVER — Lead execution at executive level

Oversee pilots and operational delivery, remove leadership blockers and keep work aligned with the agreed business case.

Address adoption, communication, workforce and operating-model implications. Monitor delivery progress, dependencies and risks, and intervene when weak ownership or organisational barriers prevent progress.

MEASURE & OPTIMISE — Demonstrate value and improve performance

Establish regular reviews of benefits, performance, adoption, risk and the wider AI portfolio. Assess whether initiatives are producing the intended commercial, operational, customer or risk outcomes.

Use evidence to recommend improvement, scaling, remediation or stopping, keeping leadership attention and investment focused on work that continues to justify them.

09How you will lead

Act as the day-to-day executive lead for each assigned engagement, maintaining strong relationships with the sponsor and leadership team.

Lead executive discussions, steering reviews and decision meetings, with clear recommendations and accountable actions.

Manage scope, expectations, dependencies and unresolved decisions openly.

Embed proportionate governance and human oversight, recognising when legal, privacy, cybersecurity, employment, regulatory, technical or model-risk specialists are needed.

Maintain clear evidence, decision, risk and exception records, distinguishing facts, assumptions, professional judgement and specialist advice.

Certify readiness to progress between methodology stages only when the evidence and mandatory conditions support it, subject to required independent quality assurance and authorised client approval.

Use approved environments for client information and review AI-assisted work for factual errors, missing context and inappropriate disclosure.

Work with the Regional AI Director on capacity, material concerns and any proposed changes to scope or commercial arrangements.

Client leaders retain authority for their business, investment and risk decisions. Your role is to improve the quality of those decisions and lead the engagement with clear recommendations, constructive challenge and disciplined follow-through.

10About you

• You will bring:
• Credible senior leadership experience and the confidence to work with CEOs, boards and functional executives.
• Evidence of leading business transformation, strategic change, commercial improvement or complex programmes across business functions.
• Strong commercial judgement and the ability to connect AI decisions to growth, margin, productivity, customer outcomes, resilience and strategic advantage.
• A strong practical understanding of AI opportunities, limitations and the conditions required for responsible adoption.
• The ability to lead conversations across strategy, data, technology, people, processes, governance and value, drawing on specialist expertise where needed.
• Working knowledge of AI governance and risk, with sound judgement about when to seek specialist review.
• Strong facilitation, analysis and executive communication skills, including the ability to turn complex evidence into clear choices.
• The confidence to challenge senior stakeholders, question unsupported vendor claims and make recommendations under uncertainty.
• The ability to earn trust while maintaining independent professional judgement.
• Strong organisation, follow-through, discretion and personal accountability.

11How success will be measured

• Clear executive alignment, sustained sponsorship and better-informed decisions.
• Credible prioritisation and measurable commercial, operational, customer or risk value.
• Effective governance, visible risks and appropriate controls.
• Adoption, capability and changes to ways of working that sustain results.
• Strong evidence quality, constructive independent review and reliable client outputs.
• Client confidence, healthy engagements and delivery within agreed scope and capacity.
• Contributions to improving The AI Centre’s methodology, tools and collective capability.

12What the opportunity offers

• Senior executive work with business leaders shaping their organisations’ approach to AI.
• A structured methodology spanning strategy, delivery and ongoing value measurement.
• Support, coaching and professional challenge from a Regional AI Director, with independent quality assurance where required.
• The opportunity to contribute your experience to the development of The AI Centre’s approach and standards.

13Engagement arrangements and fees

You will receive 60% of the agreed client day rate for the days you deliver as a fractional Chief AI Officer.

You will work within The AI Centre’s structured methodology platform, with regional leadership support and independent quality assurance where required. Client allocation, expected availability and full commercial terms will be agreed in advance.

Client allocation and capacity will be agreed with the Regional AI Director, taking account of each engagement’s complexity, stage and risk. Commitments must allow sufficient time for preparation, responsiveness, evidence quality and effective executive leadership.

Material scope changes, additional days and commercial commitments will be coordinated with the Regional AI Director.

Interested?

Please share your CV or LinkedIn profile or email us at careers@theaicentre.com with a brief summary of your experience in senior leadership, business transformation and AI adoption, including examples of the business outcomes you have helped deliver.