Fractional CAIO

About this opportunity

CXOwork clients are looking for experienced Chief AI Officer (CAIO)-level advisors who can help define and execute AI strategy, GenAI adoption, automation, and data-driven transformation across the organization.

This is a fractional leadership role designed for senior AI leaders who combine strategic vision with practical execution — helping businesses unlock measurable ROI from AI while keeping the program scalable and responsibly run.

We are building a CAIO bench that spans both regulated and non-regulated industries — Fintech, Insurance, Healthcare, Cybersecurity, Manufacturing, Logistics, Climate-tech, Consumer goods, eCommerce, B2B SaaS, Marketplaces, and Public sector are all in active rotation. Whether your AI wins have been recommendation systems, generative copilots, demand forecasting, or workflow automation, what we care about is depth — operators who can pick the right use cases and ship them.

Core responsibilities

• Advise founders and leadership teams on enterprise AI strategy and transformation roadmap — phased from POCs to pilots to scaled deployment
• Identify high-impact AI opportunities aligned with the business goals that matter most (growth, efficiency, cost reduction, customer experience)
• Prioritize AI/ML and GenAI use cases across functions — sales, operations, finance, HR, product — and lead solution design (automation, copilots, predictive analytics, intelligent workflows)
• Guide build vs. buy vs. partner decisions on AI capabilities, models, and vendor contracts
• Oversee execution of AI initiatives across data, engineering, and business teams — and the integration of AI into existing systems (CRM, ERP, SaaS platforms, workflows)
• Establish the right delivery model for AI projects — internal teams, vendors, or a hybrid
• Define the enterprise data strategy, architecture, and data readiness that AI actually needs to work
• Guide selection of tools and platforms — cloud AI, LLMs, data pipelines, analytics — with scalability, security, and performance baked in
• Stand up a pragmatic AI governance and responsible-AI framework — model monitoring, risk mitigation, and policies that fit the company's footprint
• Define the KPIs and dashboards that prove AI is driving real business outcomes (cost savings, revenue growth, productivity) — not just experiments

Required qualifications

• Former or current Chief AI Officer, Head of AI, VP AI / ML, or AI Strategy Leader
• 10+ years in AI, ML, data engineering, or data science — with senior leadership experience running an AI or AI-adjacent function
• Proven track record leading AI transformation, GenAI adoption, or data-driven initiatives that shipped to production and moved a business metric
• Strong background in AI / ML, analytics, automation, and enterprise data strategy
• Deep technical fluency — enough to evaluate teams, vendors, and architecture without needing a translator
• Hands-on familiarity with modern ML / LLM stacks (model serving, RAG, evaluation) and modern data stacks (warehouse / lakehouse, pipelines, analytics)
• Executive communication — translates AI strategy into business outcomes for boards, investors, and non-technical operators

Nice to have

Not required — but will strengthen your match quality.

• Prior fractional CAIO / Head of AI experience at multiple organizations
• Hands-on LLM productionization — RAG, fine-tuning, agentic workflows — at scale
• Track record of AI-driven ROI in a non-regulated industry, or applied governance experience in a regulated one
• Published research, patents, or recognized AI / data domain expertise
• Board advisory or investor relationships in the AI ecosystem

Application process

1. 01Application with one AI transformation case study — the use case, the call you made, and the business impact
2. 0245-minute panel — AI strategy review and a use-case prioritisation walk-through
3. 03Profile approved and matched to active companies
4. 04Founder intro call — AI maturity, data readiness, and roadmap assessment
5. 05Kick-off within 2 weeks