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Portfolio Chief Technology OfficerFractional chief AI officer · hiring brief
Hire a Fractional Chief AI Officer
Hire a Fractional Chief AI Officer: give an experienced AI leader a recurring part-week mandate to decide where AI earns its place, how it is governed and who owns the risk, before the company needs a full-time chief AI officer.
Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 23 October 2026 · 4 sources linked below
- 3–5on every shortlist
- 5stages of vetting
- IR35set out on every brief
In the press
- Financial TimesThe executives going ‘fractional’, not freelance
- International FinanceRenting the C-suite, and why the fractional executive era has arrived
The brief
Hire a Fractional Chief AI Officer: what must the role own?
Name the decisions: which uses go ahead, which stop and what each must show.
- 01Where AI earns its placeName the decisions: which uses go ahead, which stop and what each must show.
- 02GovernanceSet the policy the chief AI officer writes and who signs it off.
- 03Data and riskSay who owns the data protection impact of each AI use.
- 04Between daysName who can pause an AI use when the officer is not working.
Role reference: GOV.UK: AI Playbook for the UK Government. The playbook sets ten principles for using AI and explains how to select, buy and deploy it; a public reference for what an AI leader is accountable for.
On the board · last 90 days
Which chief AI officer roles are on the board?
Fractional chief AI officer roles first, then the seat in any engagement and the wider function when the board runs short.
- Reg Advantage LtdSyndicatedFractionalProduction Lead and Fractional CTO
- Flat IronSyndicatedFractionalFractional IT Director – Technology & AI (FTC)
- Flat IronSyndicatedFractionalFractional IT Director – Technology & AI
- Green Orbit LtdSyndicatedFractionalFractional CTO Wanted | Green Orbit | Initially Equity Only | UK-Based
- Maxima Opus Ltd | Cloud, Cyber & CTO ConsultingSyndicatedFractionalFractional CTO
Every fractional role in the UK is on the fractional jobs board.
The working pattern
What changes when the chief AI officer is fractional?
The fractional chief AI officer owns AI decisions and governance on agreed days rather than building models. The board must say which AI uses need their approval and who owns data protection between days.
The illustrative brief: a company with AI tools spreading team by team. Three teams use different AI tools on customer data, nobody has assessed them and the board has asked who is accountable.
The appointment owns: The fractional chief AI officer reviews each use, writes the policy and reports to the board on two days a week.
Another owner retains: The data protection officer keeps the statutory duties; the CTO keeps the architecture.
The case is illustrative; it does not describe a Fractional Quest placement.
From brief to start
How do you hire a Fractional Chief AI Officer, step by step?
The first three steps are ours; the last four are what has to be true before the first day. We don’t promise a shortlist by a date.
- Day 001The 15-minute callWhat the chief AI officer must own, the working pattern, the start date and the budget.You and us
- Week 102Scope agreed in writingThe outcome the seat exists for, the days, and how the engagement will run for IR35.Us
- Weeks 1–303Search, references, shortlistWe approach people who aren’t looking, verify tenure, take references ourselves and return three to five.Us
- Week 404InventoryList every AI use and the data it touches before day one.You
- Before day one · 205DaysAgree the recurring days and the escalation route.You
- Before day one · 306PolicyAgree when the first policy goes to the board.You
- Before day one · 407ReviewReview the first go or stop decision.You
Assessment
How should you assess chief AI officer candidates?
Put the same work and evidence in front of each candidate before comparing answers.
- Decisions, not demosAsk for an AI use the candidate stopped and why.
- GovernanceAsk how the candidate would apply a public framework such as the government’s AI Playbook to your uses.
- Data protectionAsk how the candidate works with the ICO’s guidance on AI and data protection.
- Board workAsk how the candidate reported AI risk to a board.
Acas recommends a consistent, fair selection process: choosing who to interview.
Vetting
What happens before anyone reaches your shortlist?
Five stages before a candidate 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.
The right pattern
Does this hiring pattern fit the work?
Test the amount of the week, the expected end and the continuity needed before writing the contract.
Questions
Hire a Fractional Chief AI Officer: questions, answered
Hire a Fractional Chief AI Officer begins with where ai earns its place: Name the decisions: which uses go ahead, which stop and what each must show. Then a stated working pattern and the evidence you will ask every candidate to show.
The fractional chief AI officer owns AI decisions and governance on agreed days rather than building models. The board must say which AI uses need their approval and who owns data protection between days.
Decisions, not demos. Ask for an AI use the candidate stopped and why. Governance. Ask how the candidate would apply a public framework such as the government’s AI Playbook to your uses. Data protection. Ask how the candidate works with the ICO’s guidance on AI and data protection. Board work. Ask how the candidate reported AI risk to a board.
Inventory. List every AI use and the data it touches before day one. Days. Agree the recurring days and the escalation route. Policy. Agree when the first policy goes to the board. Review. Review the first go or stop decision.
Brief us on what the role must own, how it will work and when it must start. We come back with a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.
Sources
Where does every reference on this page come from?
- gov.uk
- HMRC
- legislation.gov.uk
- 1
- 2Understanding off-payroll working (IR35) HMRCStatus depends on how the engagement runs; medium and large clients make the determination.
- 3
- 4Employment Agencies Act 1973 legislation.gov.ukThe law a recruitment agency works under; no fee to a work-seeker.