Fractional Chief AI Officer
Your firm needs C-suite AI leadership. You don't need a $400K full-time hire. Vectis embeds as your ongoing strategic AI leader — not a consultant delivering a project, but the person who owns your AI strategy month over month.
The problem
Mid-market firms in regulated industries are under pressure to adopt AI — from clients, from competitors, from regulators. But hiring a full-time Chief AI Officer is a $350K–$500K commitment with a 6-month search timeline. Meanwhile, vendors are selling tools without anyone in your organization qualified to evaluate them, govern them, or connect them to business outcomes.
What you get
AI strategy & roadmap
Quarterly AI strategy aligned with your firm's goals, compliance requirements, and competitive position. Not a slide deck — a working plan with milestones.
Vendor evaluation & selection
Independent evaluation of AI tools and vendors. We don't resell software — we recommend what's right and negotiate terms on your behalf.
AI governance & policy
Acceptable use policies, data classification frameworks, risk controls, and audit trails. Built for your regulatory environment.
Team training & enablement
Hands-on training for staff on approved AI tools. Not theoretical workshops — practical sessions with your actual workflows and data.
Implementation oversight
Technical oversight of every AI deployment. Confidence thresholds, human-in-the-loop approvals, exception queues, and decision logging.
Board & leadership reporting
Monthly executive briefings on AI progress, risk posture, and ROI. Formatted for partners, boards, and compliance committees.
How the retainer works
Discovery & audit
We assess your current AI usage, data posture, compliance gaps, and organizational readiness. Typically 2–3 weeks.
Strategy & governance
We deliver your AI roadmap, governance framework, and policies. You approve the plan, we begin executing.
Ongoing leadership
Monthly retainer. Weekly check-ins. Quarterly strategy reviews. We're your AI leader — available when decisions need to be made.
Best fit clients
- Mid-market law firms (25–200 attorneys)
- Regional title company groups
- Multi-location CPA and accounting firms
- Auto dealer groups (multi-rooftop)
- PE-backed professional services firms
- Any regulated firm with 50–500 employees evaluating AI
Pricing
Includes all strategic, governance, and oversight functions listed above. Implementation work (building automations, deploying systems) is scoped separately or bundled at a reduced rate for retainer clients.
Common questions
How is this different from hiring an AI consultant?
A consultant delivers a project and leaves. A fractional CAIO stays. We're accountable for long-term outcomes, not just deliverables. We attend your leadership meetings, evaluate every vendor pitch, and own the AI governance framework as it evolves.
What if we eventually want to hire a full-time CAIO?
That's the goal for some clients. We'll help you define the role, build the job description, evaluate candidates, and ensure a clean handoff. Many clients find the fractional model is sufficient long-term.
Do you sell or resell AI software?
No. We're vendor-independent. We evaluate and recommend tools based on your needs, not our margins. This keeps our advice clean.
How much of your time do we get?
Retainer clients get dedicated weekly availability, same-day response on urgent matters, and monthly executive reporting. The exact hours depend on the retainer tier, but you're not buying hours — you're buying outcomes.