Fractional AI Office
AI needs leadership. Even without a new full-time role.
When AI starts in many places, it needs a shared direction. We guide the work for a defined period and help you build internal ownership.
The short answer
AI SHIFT’s Fractional AI Office provides an interim chief AI officer role. It connects leadership, business teams and IT, guides priorities and governance, and oversees implementation by existing partners or the expert network. The engagement starts with an AI & Change Audit; handover to internal owners is planned from the outset.
Many initiatives. Who connects them?
Leadership expects business impact, departments seek quick solutions and IT must ensure reliable operations. A Fractional AI Office brings these interests together in a shared decision framework.
- Who prioritises AI initiatives across departments?
- How do we connect business cases, architecture and governance?
- How do we build ownership that stays with us after the engagement?
Assessment criteria
Four responsibilities under shared direction.
Priorities & portfolio
Align initiatives with business goals, clarify dependencies and prepare deliberate decisions to continue or stop work.
Architecture & partners
Align business teams, IT and delivery partners around a shared target model. Consider interfaces and operational ownership early.
Governance & decisions
Clarify roles, approvals and escalation paths. Decisions remain with the agreed owners in your company.
Capability & handover
Involve internal contacts, transfer knowledge and gradually reduce external support.
Deliverables
Direction that takes root internally.
- An aligned AI portfolio with priorities and owners
- A decision framework for architecture, governance and delivery partners
- A jointly managed roadmap with verifiable phase objectives
- A planned transition to internal owners
Approach
Lead for a time. Build lasting capability.
Start with the audit
The AI & Change Audit establishes a shared view of your starting point, opportunities and required foundations.
Define the mandate
We agree responsibilities, decision paths and collaboration with leadership, IT and business teams.
Guide implementation
We support priorities and partners along the roadmap, reviewing progress, dependencies and necessary adjustments.
Anchor internally
Knowledge and responsibility are handed over deliberately. Our involvement is designed to decrease from the outset.
Common questions
What is a fractional chief AI officer?
A fractional chief AI officer assumes strategic AI responsibilities through a defined external engagement rather than a permanent full-time position. At AI SHIFT, this includes guiding priorities, architecture, governance and internal capability building.
How is this different from an AI project manager?
A project manager typically owns a particular initiative. The AI Office considers the interplay between multiple initiatives and their organisational and technical prerequisites. The exact boundaries are agreed in the mandate.
Who develops the technical solutions?
Implementation is handled by your existing partners or the expert network. AI SHIFT provides architecture, audits and oversight. We coordinate with your IT team and business owners.
How do we avoid lasting dependency?
Internal owners, knowledge transfer and handover are part of the mandate from the start. Our involvement should decrease as internal capability grows. Handover timing and scope follow the prerequisites actually achieved.
Who leads your AI transformation?
In an introduction, we discuss where direction is missing and what ownership already exists internally. That helps establish whether a temporary role fits your situation.