Fractional CTO
Part-time technology leadership for software companies. A fractional CTO from LogicX works with you usually 1 or 2 days a week on architecture, the engineering team and the roadmap, for a fixed monthly fee.
At a glance
What is a fractional CTO?
A fractional CTO, also called a part-time CTO or CTO as a service, is an experienced technology leader who works for your company usually 1 or 2 days a week, usually for 6 months or longer. They own the architecture, lead the engineering team and shape the product roadmap. It is an ongoing role with agreed decision rights and a fixed rhythm.
Who it is for
UK and EU software companies, SaaS businesses and scale-ups where the technology is growing faster than the leadership over it.
- Your engineering team is growing, but nobody owns the architecture.
- You work with an external or offshore team and want control over quality and delivery.
- Investors or customers are asking about technology, security or scalability.
- Your technical founder has left, or wants to get back to building.
- You are raising a round or preparing for due diligence and need someone to stand behind the technical story.
How a fractional CTO differs from an interim CTO
An interim CTO takes the helm full-time for a while and leaves at handover. A fractional CTO holds an ongoing role with agreed decision rights and a fixed rhythm, and takes the decisions a team cannot take for itself: architecture, priorities, and the agreements with management and investors.
What sits outside the role
A fractional CTO is not an extra engineer. On usually 1 or 2 days a week they do not clear the backlog, fix incidents or sit in every stand-up. If your team needs hands, that is a separate conversation; see the note further down.
What you get
Architecture and technical choices
An architecture that grows with you, and decisions you will not have to undo later. Written down, so the team knows why.
Leading the engineering team
In-house, external or remote: clear agreements on quality, planning and delivery, and someone who holds the team to them.
Product roadmap
Deciding with management what gets built first and why, weighed against customers, cost and technology.
Investor and customer questions
Technical due diligence prepared, and questions on security and scalability answered.
For founders and investors
Founders and CEOs
You get a technology leader who takes the architecture and team decisions off your desk without hiring a full-time CTO. If a founder wants to go back to building, the fractional CTO holds the leadership role in the meantime.
Investors and boards
Technical due diligence prepared, and questions on security, scalability and delivery answered in plain language, so the board hears one consistent technical story.
A typical month
The rhythm is agreed at the start; this is what it usually looks like.
Learn the code and the team
Architecture, agreements and ways of working mapped. Then the first decisions on paper.
Fixed days
Architecture decisions, reviews with the team, and the calls that otherwise stay open.
Roadmap with management
What gets built first and why, and what moves later as a result.
Investors and customers
Due diligence prepared and technical questions answered before they hold up a round or a contract.
Not for
Your CTO has left and someone must take over full-time tomorrow
That is interim: usually 4 to 5 days a week, until the successor starts.
SeeIT supports your business but is not your product
That calls for a fractional CIO: IT strategy, budget and suppliers.
SeeHands, not leadership
A LogicX team builds, tests and delivers software, managed and checked by us.
SeeFrequently asked questions
What does a fractional CTO cost in the UK?
A fixed monthly fee, agreed up front and set by the number of days a week: from €3,450 a month for 1 day a week, excluding VAT. The exact figure is in the proposal. After a 30-minute call you get a proposal with scope, start date and the figure.
How is a fractional CTO different from an interim CTO?
An interim CTO fills a full-time gap for a while, usually 4 to 5 days a week, and stops at handover. A fractional CTO stays, usually 1 or 2 days a week, and does not take over day-to-day engineering.
Fractional CTO or fractional CIO?
If software is your product, a CTO. If IT supports your business, a CIO. When in doubt, we settle it together on the first call.
Do you work on site or remotely?
Mostly remotely. If on-site work is needed, in the UK or elsewhere, we agree it up front and the client covers travel.
How does it end?
When you hire a full-time CTO or the role is no longer needed. We onboard the successor; architecture decisions and the roadmap are documented and handed over to you. The documents we make for you are yours. Our own templates and methods stay ours. The notice period is in the proposal.