Fractional AI Lead Retainer

A senior AI consultant who works as your part-time Head of AI on a monthly retainer. Covers strategic direction, vendor evaluation, implementation oversight, team upskilling, and direct hands-on execution on high-leverage work. The fractional model fills the gap between 'too small for a $250K full-time hire' and 'big enough to need ongoing senior AI judgment'.

The strategy session is a single 90-minute deep dive plus written roadmap — useful for specific decisions or initial planning. The fractional retainer is ongoing — weekly working sessions, async access, monthly written updates, and direct execution access. Many clients start with a strategy session, identify they need ongoing support, and convert to a retainer. The strategy session fee can credit toward the first month of the retainer.

Three tiers. Starter ($2,000/mo): weekly 60-min sessions + async access + monthly written update + 5 hours hands-on work/month. Growth ($3,500/mo): all of Starter + bi-weekly office hours for your team + vendor evaluation calls + 10 hours hands-on work/month. Executive ($5,000/mo): all of Growth + weekly office hours + 15 hours hands-on work/month + 15% discount on full builds. Quoted after discovery call based on your specific needs.

3 months. The first 30 days is genuine onboarding — auditing your stack, establishing baselines, learning your business. Strategic work shows results across 60–90 day cycles, so a 3-month minimum lets the retainer actually deliver before being evaluated. After 3 months, the retainer continues month-to-month with 30 days notice to pause or end.

Yes. Many clients start at the Starter tier and scale up as AI work expands. Others start at Executive during a heavy implementation quarter and scale back to Starter once steady state. Quarterly reviews are when these adjustments happen. No penalty for scaling either direction at quarterly review points.

Yes — three scenarios. First, businesses under $500K annual revenue or pre-product-market fit (you do not need a Head of AI yet; book a strategy session instead). Second, businesses that already have a full-time AI lead (no need to layer fractional on top). Third, businesses with a single AI initiative that needs execution, not strategy (book the build directly). I will tell you honestly during the discovery call which path fits your situation.

We design the retainer to make this transition smooth. Around month 12–18, several clients are ready to bring AI in-house. The retainer helps with: defining the hiring criteria, screening candidates, onboarding the new hire, and continuing as advisor for the first 90–180 days as the new hire ramps up. Most retainer engagements wrap into successful full-time hires by month 18–24.

Book a free 30-minute discovery and scoping call through the contact page. Share your business context (revenue range, current AI initiatives, team size). I will assess fit honestly and propose the right retainer tier — or recommend a different engagement if a retainer is not the best fit yet. First retainer month starts within 7 days of agreement.