A fractional CTO is a senior technology leader who works with your business part-time, typically half a day to three days a week, and owns architecture, delivery, security and the engineering roadmap. For a company in Ho Chi Minh City, that means senior technical judgement on the decisions that are expensive to reverse, without a full-time salary or an equity grant.
Our fractional CTOs have built and scaled technology at
When a chief technology officer is the right call
A fractional CTO is the right answer at a recognisable moment.
When the roadmap has outgrown the team’s seniority
Capable engineers, no one setting technical direction. The CTO provides the architecture and judgement to scale.
When you are raising or being acquired
Technical diligence, a credible roadmap and an architecture story that holds up under scrutiny.
When the stack is holding back growth
Technical debt, fragile delivery, security gaps. The CTO rationalises the stack and steadies delivery.
When you need to build a function, not just hire
Hiring, standards and ways of working put in place so the engineering team compounds rather than churns.
Where a fractional CTO fits, and where it does not
Best for
- A roadmap that has outgrown the team’s technical seniority
- A raise or acquisition that needs technical diligence to hold up
- A stack held back by technical debt, fragile delivery or security gaps
- Building an engineering function, not just hiring another developer
- Vendor-heavy technology decisions that need independent judgement
Not for
- A single feature or website an agency could build and hand over
- A company with no product or technology to lead yet
- A junior developer or IT support hire for the day-to-day
- Teams unwilling to let the CTO set technical direction
Technical leadership, grounded in delivery
A fractional CTO owns the technology decisions and the delivery that follows from them.
Architecture and roadmap
A technology roadmap and architecture aligned to the business plan and built to scale.
Delivery and engineering practice
Standards, cadence and ways of working that make delivery predictable.
Security, data and resilience
Security posture, data foundations and the resilience growth depends on.
Team and technical hiring
Hiring plans and mentorship so the engineering function strengthens over time.
Senior leadership, on terms that fit the business
Business to business, scaled to the engagement, and free of the cost and liability that come with a permanent hire. One leader embeds, with the whole collective behind them.
A fractional CTO, a full-time hire, or a consultant
Three routes to technical leadership, with very different shapes.
Fractional
Full-time hire
Consultant or agency
Business to business, scaled to the engagement, one month’s notice.
Salary, equity, benefits and severance exposure.
A scoped build or retainer, with a defined end.
Our engagements typically run 30 to 60% less than a full-time hire.
A scarce, expensive package in a competitive market.
Day rates or a build fee, with support billed on top.
Embedded within weeks, with the collective behind them.
A long search for senior technical talent, then onboarding.
Fast to start, but external and rarely owning the outcome.
Owns the architecture and the delivery against it.
Owns technology, but as a permanent fixed cost.
Recommends or builds to spec, then hands back; owning it stays with you.
A technology leadership gap that needs an owner, not a recommendation.
Permanent, full-load engineering leadership you can keep busy.
A defined build or advisory project with a clear finish line.
What a fractional CTO costs
A fractional CTO engagement is priced on time and scope, not on a salary. Most run half a day to three days a week, 4 to 24 hours, over six to twenty-four months, contracted business to business with one month's notice either way. Our engagements typically run 30 to 60% less than a comparable full-time CTO appointment, with no permanent headcount added.
Time
Half a day to three days a week, 4 to 24 hours
Typical term
Six to twenty-four months, with one month's notice either way
Versus full time
Our engagements typically run 30 to 60% less than a comparable full-time CTO
Commitment
A company-to-company services contract, with no permanent headcount added
Figures reviewed October 2026.
From the brief to the match, in weeks
Tell us where you need leadership and we handle the rest. The guided brief takes a couple of minutes and makes the first conversation more useful.
Tell us the moment
Share where you need leadership and what good looks like.
A conversation
We talk through the brief and sharpen the requirement together.
The match
We search our collective of 800+ curated executives for the closest fit.
Deployment
You choose, and your leader embeds within weeks.
The questions founders ask first
Where a fractional CTO makes the difference
The moments this role is most often brought in for. See how the engagement works for each.
One role, or a blended leadership setup
Many engagements start with one executive and grow, and some reach the board, where we match you with non-executive directors from the same collective. See the full range of C-suite practices and specialised appointments, or tell us the moment and we will help you choose.
