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.
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.
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.
-
First Technology Hire
Support for founders making their first technology appointment.
-
Turnaround
Brought in when technology has already gone wrong.
-
Scaling Technology and Teams
Support through the stretch between an early-stage team and one built to scale.
-
Independent Technology Assessment
A fixed-fee, two-week independent assessment answering three questions in writing.
£4,925 fixed.
-
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. Fractional counsel to the CTO and CEO on data infrastructure, engineering governance and delivery lifecycle maturity during a period of rapid scaling.
HealthSpree, healthcare. Technology strategy and digital transformation advisory.
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.