Fractional Chief AI Officer
The board is asking about AI. Staff are using it. Nobody owns it. A fractional Chief AI Officer (CAIO) provides board-level governance leadership on a retained monthly basis, without the cost or commitment of a permanent executive appointment.
The control model
Audit and review
People oversight
Policy and process
Technical controls
Your AI use case
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30-minute call. No obligation.
Staff are using ChatGPT and Copilot. A client has sent a procurement questionnaire asking about AI governance. The board has asked for an AI position paper. And nobody in the organisation has a clear mandate to answer any of those questions.
The service covers strategy oversight, governance documentation, regulatory monitoring, supplier review, and board reporting. Delivered by Ben Sefton, co-founder of Insightful AI. From £1,500 per month ex VAT, three-month minimum.
This service sits above technical delivery. A fractional CAIO does not build AI systems, manage engineers, or run implementation projects. The role is governance and strategy at board level: setting direction, documenting risk, monitoring regulation, and ensuring leadership can answer governance questions with confidence.
Where a client needs training to build staff capability, that is scoped and priced separately through our training team. The CAIO service advises on what training is needed and how it fits the governance plan. It does not deliver training sessions.
Engagements operate on a monthly retainer with a three-month minimum term. Additional days beyond the monthly commitment can be arranged and are priced on request.
| Feature | Foundation | Active | Embedded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Days per month | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Monthly price (ex VAT) | £1,500 | £3,000 | £5,500 |
| Minimum term | 3 months | 3 months | 3 months |
| AI strategy oversight | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Governance documentation review | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Regulatory monitoring and written updates | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Monthly leadership briefing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI project oversight and supplier review | No | Yes | Yes |
| Board-level reporting with ROI metrics | No | Yes | Yes |
| Governance input on active AI initiatives | No | Yes | Yes |
| Weekly working session | No | No | Yes |
| Multiple active governance workstreams | No | No | Yes |
| Board or senior leadership written summary | No | No | Yes |
| Support for AI governance recruitment | No | No | Yes |
For organisations that have already invested in AI and want an independent assessment of whether it is delivering measurable value, our AI Impact and ROI Auditing service provides a standalone audit.
Professional services SMEs. A client has asked about AI governance in a procurement questionnaire. The board wants to know the organisation's AI position. Staff are using ChatGPT and Copilot informally. The business does not have budget for a permanent executive, but the governance gap is generating questions it cannot answer.
Charities and non-profits. Trustees are starting to ask about AI risk. Funders are requesting evidence of responsible AI use. 76% of charities are using AI tools but only 2% strategically (Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, 672 charities). The gap between tool use and governed use is where risk lives.
Public sector teams. A departmental review has flagged AI use as a governance gap. Procurement requires documented evidence of AI policy and oversight. The organisation needs auditable governance that will hold up to scrutiny, without the cost of a permanent role.
| Right for you if | Not right for you if |
|---|---|
| AI is spreading through the organisation without clear board-level ownership | You have a dedicated AI or data governance function already in place |
| Your board or trustees are asking questions you cannot yet answer | You need someone to build AI systems or manage technical delivery |
| You have received client, funder, or regulator questions about AI governance | You need a one-off policy document rather than ongoing oversight |
| You cannot justify the cost of a permanent Chief AI Officer | You are looking for a training provider |
| You want regulatory monitoring as a managed, ongoing service |
Every CAIO engagement starts with an AI readiness scoping workshop (£1,500 ex VAT, full day, on-site or remote). The workshop assesses your organisation's current AI position, regulatory exposure, and active use cases. You leave with a written findings and recommendations report that identifies which tier fits your situation and what the priority actions are in the first 90 days.
Foundation tier: one working day per month, structured around a monthly leadership briefing, governance documentation review, and a written update on regulatory developments relevant to your organisation.
Active tier: two working days per month, adding AI project oversight, supplier review, board-level reporting, and governance input on live AI initiatives.
Embedded tier: four working days per month, with a weekly working session and support across multiple active governance workstreams running in parallel.
A permanent Chief AI Officer in the UK averages £141,000 plus bonus (SalaryExpert, 2026). Robert Half's 2026 salary guide puts the range for a Head of AI at £90,000 to £205,000 nationally and £122,500 to £278,750 in London. Before employer National Insurance and pension contributions, the realistic annual cost of a permanent hire is closer to £170,000.
| Option | Annual cost (ex VAT) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation | £18,000 | Insightful AI |
| Active | £36,000 | Insightful AI |
| Embedded | £66,000 | Insightful AI |
| Permanent hire | £141,000 + | SalaryExpert, 2026 |
Foundation tier at £18,000 per year is less than the cost of one undocumented compliance failure, one AI vendor decision made without proper due diligence, or one board meeting where the leadership team cannot answer a question they should have owned. The work of AI governance for a 50-to-300-person organisation is naturally cadence-based: monthly board papers, quarterly policy reviews, regulatory monitoring, and supplier assessments. That pattern fits a retainer model better than a permanent operational role.
The pressure for AI governance does not approach gradually. It arrives in a procurement questionnaire, a board agenda item, a funder's due diligence process, or a request from a regulator asking what controls are in place.
Adoption is accelerating. Governance is not keeping pace. That gap is where the questions arrive.
This service is led by Ben Sefton, co-founder of Insightful AI. Ben serves as Chief AI Officer at Cheshire Community Foundation and has held AI governance responsibilities in work with the National Emergencies Trust. These are named governance roles at real organisations, with accountability for exactly the outcomes this service proposes for yours.
Ben carries 18 years as a Senior Forensic Investigator with Greater Manchester Police into this work. In that environment, building oversight structures that could withstand legal scrutiny was not optional. AI governance asks a similar question: not whether a policy exists, but whether it would hold up under examination by a client, a funder, a regulator, or a court.
The wider Insightful AI team supports delivery across connected services, including technical implementation through the Fractional Head of AI Operations, AI Ethics and Governance engagements, and training. The CAIO sits above those services and can draw on them where a client engagement requires it.
Whether you're just getting started or looking to scale, we'll help you find the right path, responsibly.