Fractional and interim CTO for startups, founders, MDs and PE-backed businesses
The right technology decisions, before they get expensive.
Senior technology leadership without the cost of a full-time CTO. I build and scale engineering teams, run platforms that carry serious revenue, put AI into production and prepare businesses for due diligence. I have done every one of these as an operator, and the numbers are below.
No pitch deck. A conversation about the problem.
- Founders. The first hire, a team that scales, a platform that holds up.
- MDs. Delivery you can see, costs you can defend, AI that pays for itself.
- PE. Cover from day one, integration owned, an asset in diligence. For PE sponsors
Value created
- PremiumPE-backed exit. I was the buyer's sole technology counterpart in due diligence.
- £100M+Annual revenue on platforms I built and ran, 24/7.
- £100KA year off cost to serve before exit, from one platform decision.
- ~25Engineers across three countries, scaled from an early-stage team.
- 45%Fewer sales requests to engineering, from one production AI tool.
- 26Countries integrated onto one auditable platform after the deal.
Where I have built, led and advised on technology
When this is the right call
The brief is rarely "we need a CTO". It is usually one of these.
- You are a non-technical founder, and you cannot tell whether your developers or agency are building the right thing.
- You are about to make your first technology hire and cannot judge the candidates.
- There is no technology leader, and the board keeps asking technology questions nobody in the room can answer.
- The CTO has gone. The business is not ready to hire a permanent replacement.
- A PE sponsor wants confidence in the technology before due diligence starts, or while it is running.
- There is an AI ambition and a pilot. There is nothing in production that pays for itself.
- The business has just been acquired and nobody owns the technology integration.
- Engineering is growing fast and nobody senior governs how it delivers.
Who I work with
Startups and founders
Senior technology judgement before you can justify, or find, a full-time CTO.
PE sponsors and portfolio companies
Operator experience of a premium exit, from the side being audited.
Fractional CTO Services
I build and scale engineering teams and technology foundations for founders, at whichever point they need it.
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First Technology Hire
Support for founders making their first technology appointment.
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Turnaround
Brought in when technology has already gone wrong.
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Scaling Technology and Teams
Support through the stretch between an early-stage team and one built to scale.
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Technology and AI Assessment
A fixed-fee, two-week independent assessment answering three questions in writing.
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Exit Readiness
Working with founders in the 18 to 24 months before an exit so technology reads as an asset in diligence rather than a risk a buyer discounts for.
Four ways to work together
- Fractional CTO.
- Board-level technology leadership on a part-time retained basis.
- Interim CTO.
- Full-time or close to it, for a defined period, with day-one accountability.
- Advisory.
- Defined scope. Governance, AI strategy, vendor selection, due diligence support.
- Board advisory.
- Technology, AI and cyber governance at board level.
Fix the ceiling first. No AI theatre.
Every technology estate has one constraint that caps everything built above it. I find it, fix it and then build. In a regulated, 26-country business the governed data platform came before the AI. Three production systems followed, and AI agents went into the engineering function itself.
In their words
Gwyn joined [us] to lead our Digital Transformation strategy. … Gwyn not only developed a great team but executed his plan over a 4 year window which has a lasting and positive impact to our business.
Spark Intel, fintech. Advisor to the CEO and CTO for several years, on strategic planning, development best practice and recruitment.
HealthSpree, healthcare. AI and technology strategy and product advisory for the founders.
Start with the problem, not a job title.
Tell me what is happening, what is coming and what nobody in the business can currently answer.