Fractional Consulting

Senior cloud & AI leadership, on tap.

Get the strategic firepower of a seasoned cloud or AI leader embedded in your team, to set direction, take the risk out of big decisions and ship, at a fraction of the cost and commitment of a full time hire.

Days, not monthsTo get started
FlexibleScale up or down anytime
Hands onStrategy and delivery
The roles

Plug in the leader you're missing

Engage one expert or a blend, by the day or the week, whatever your stage demands.

For founders & scaleups

Fractional CTO

Technical leadership for companies that need direction without a full time exec. We own the roadmap, hiring bar and architecture so you can move with confidence.

  • Tech strategy & roadmap
  • Team building & mentoring
  • Investor & board support
For teams scaling on AWS

Cloud Architect

Deep AWS expertise to design, review and harden your infrastructure. We make the architecture calls that keep you fast, secure and cost efficient as you grow.

  • Architecture & migration
  • Well-Architected reviews
  • Cost & security optimisation
For AI curious businesses

AI Lead

Cut through the hype and find where AI actually pays off. We identify the highest value use cases, then lead the build, evaluation and safe rollout to production.

  • AI strategy & use case discovery
  • Build, evaluation & guardrails
  • Responsible, safe rollout
How it works

Embedded in your team, fast

1

Intro call

A quick conversation to understand your goals, stage and the gap you need to fill.

2

Scope & cadence

We agree the right person, the days per week and a clear set of outcomes, and no lock in.

3

Embed

Your fractional leader joins your standups, tools and Slack and starts adding value week one.

4

Flex

Scale up for a big push or down once you’re steady. Adjust as your needs change.

The first 90 days

What happens, and what you keep

Fixed scope, fixed cost, agreed dates. No surprises while it runs, and no loose ends when it finishes.

01

Days 1 to 30: Assess

We establish what is actually true: architecture, delivery, people and spend, reviewed line by line with your team. Ends with a written assessment, risks ranked and quick wins costed.

02

Days 31 to 60: Decide

We fix what is cheap and dangerous, then close the decisions that have been circling: build or buy, rewrite or extend, hire or outsource. Ends with a decision record and a costed roadmap.

03

Days 61 to 90: Embed

We set an operating cadence your team owns, define the hiring bar and hand everything over in your language, in your repository. Ends with a rhythm that runs without us.

04

Day 90 and beyond

Carry on at lower intensity, step down to advisory, or convert to a permanent hire we help you recruit. Every exit is planned from day one, so nothing ends in a scramble.

Who it's for

Built for teams in motion

Fractional works best when you need senior judgement and momentum, but a permanent hire is too slow, too expensive, or simply too much for where you are right now.

Founders without a CTOYou need technical leadership but aren’t ready to hire a full time exec.
Scaleups under pressureGrowth is outpacing your architecture and you need an expert to steady it.
Teams exploring AIYou want to act on AI but need someone to separate signal from hype.
Stretched engineering leadsYour team is strong but needs senior backup on the big calls.
Why fractional

The expertise, without the overhead

 
Full time hire
Cloudlabs fractional
Time to start
2 to 4 months
Days
Cost
Six figure salary + equity
Pay for the days you need
Flexibility
Fixed commitment
Scale up or down anytime
Breadth of experience
One person’s background
A whole team behind them
Straight answers

When fractional is not the answer

It is not right for everyone, and we would rather tell you on the first call than bill you for three months first.

Nothing built yet

No engineers and no product means you need a build, not governance. That is exactly what our MVP and product builds are for.

No one free to engage

A fractional leader with no counterpart produces documents nobody acts on. If nobody internal has a few hours a week, wait until they do.

A decision already made

If you want a confident voice to confirm a choice you have already made, there are cheaper ways to hear yes. We will tell you what we actually think.

A five day a week need

If the gap is daily leadership, you need an interim or a permanent hire, not a fractional one. We will tell you that on the first call.

Not sure which role you need?

That's exactly what the first call is for. Tell us where you are and we'll tell you straight whether fractional is the right fit.

Book a callhello@thecloudlabs.uk