// FRACTIONAL CTO & CIO · UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2026
You don't need a $250k executive to make sound technology decisions. You need someone who's made them before. We act as your fractional CTO or CIO: the roadmap, the budget, the vendors, the security calls. You run the business. We're a boutique firm, so the CTO you meet is the CTO you get.
// THE ROLE
A fractional CTO is a senior technology executive you hire part time, typically a few days a month. Same judgment, same accountability, a fraction of the cost. And because we're a boutique firm, it's the same person in the seat every month, not a rotating cast. You get someone who owns the technology direction: what to build or buy, what to spend, which vendors to trust, and what risk you're actually carrying.
It fits businesses that have outgrown "the IT guy handles it" but can't justify a full-time executive. Which, in practice, is most companies between ten and two hundred people.
// CTO OR CIO
Short version: a CTO builds, a CIO runs. The CTO side leads product and engineering decisions; the CIO (or vCIO) side owns internal systems, IT budget, vendors, security, and compliance.
At your size you almost certainly need one person wearing both hats, not two executives. That's the service. We cover the full technology brief and flex toward whichever side your quarter demands.
// MONEY
A full-time CTO in Toronto costs $250,000 a year or more once you count salary, bonus, and equity. A fractional CTO covers the same decisions in one to four days a month for a fixed monthly fee, so you're buying roughly a tenth to a fifth of the hours, and only for as long as you need them.
Every engagement is quoted up front after a free consultation and a review of what you run today. No long lock-in. Scale up through a migration, down when things are steady.
// THE BRIEF
// HOW IT WORKS
// WHO IT'S FOR
Growing businesses from ten to two hundred staff. Founders who keep getting pulled into IT decisions they shouldn't have to make. Clinics and care providers facing privacy obligations that outgrew their setup. Companies mid-migration, mid-audit, or mid-"our provider quotes us for everything and we can't tell what's real".
And when the roadmap says build, we build: AI automation, customer-facing AI, custom software, and the IT, cloud and security underneath. One accountable senior lead, no spec handoffs. Need a project-scoped engagement instead? Start with AI consulting.
// QUICK ANSWERS
A senior technology executive you hire part time, typically a few days a month. You get the judgment and direction of a CTO (roadmap, architecture, vendors, security, hiring) without a full-time executive salary.
A CTO builds; a CIO runs. A fractional CTO leads product and engineering decisions: what to build, how, and with whom. A fractional CIO (or vCIO) owns internal systems: IT budget, vendors, security, and operations. Most businesses under 200 staff need one person wearing both hats, which is exactly what we do.
A fraction of a full-time hire. A CTO salary in Toronto runs $250,000 a year or more once you count bonus and equity; a fractional engagement is a fixed monthly fee for one to four days a month, roughly a tenth to a fifth of the hours, and you can scale it up or down. The first consultation is free.
Whatever the work demands, agreed up front. Typical engagements run one to four days a month, heavier during a migration, an audit, or a product push, lighter once things are steady.
No. We lead them. A fractional CTO gives your existing provider and developers clear direction, holds vendors to their contracts, and reports to you in plain English.
Yes. When the roadmap calls for AI automation, customer-facing AI, or custom software, the same senior lead builds it, bringing in trusted partners when the build needs more hands. You're not paying an advisor to write specs for someone else.
We plan for it. The roadmap, vendor history, credentials and the reasons behind decisions live in your systems and are documented as we go, so nothing depends on memory. Response expectations are agreed up front, before the engagement starts.
Because with a boutique firm the executive you meet is the executive you get, month after month, rather than a name on the proposal and a rotation behind it. There's no practice to keep busy behind the roadmap, so the advice is about your business rather than the next engagement. And when the roadmap says build, that same lead builds it, with trusted partners brought in for the parts that need more hands.
Book a free consultation. Bring your invoices, your vendor contracts, or just your doubts. You'll be talking to the senior lead who would sit in the seat, and you'll leave knowing where you stand.