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AI & Automation

Fractional Chief AI Officer

Fractional Chief AI Officer (CAIO)

A fractional Chief AI Officer gives you senior AI leadership part-time. They own the strategy, the guardrails, and the roadmap, then oversee the build so your AI spend actually earns its place. At GME that leader is an ACA-qualified chartered accountant who builds the AI as well as advises on it, so the strategy never stalls at a slide deck.

Who it's for

Growing businesses that know AI matters but don't have anyone senior to own it. You might be a founder fielding AI ideas from every direction, a finance lead worried about the controls and data risk, or a team that has tried a few tools and wants a real plan. If you need the judgement of an AI executive without the full-time cost, and you want governance taken seriously, this is for you.

What you get

  • An AI roadmap tied to outcomes. Where AI and automation actually pay off in your business, prioritised by value and effort, not hype.
  • Governance and guardrails. Usage policies, data-handling rules, human-in-the-loop checkpoints, and an audit trail, drawn from real controls experience.
  • Build oversight. Review of what gets built, by you or by us, so the spend is justified and the risk is managed.
  • A translation layer. Someone who speaks both finance and technology, so the board, the finance team, and whoever builds are all working from the same plan.
  • The build itself when you want it. Because GME also delivers, the high-value items don't sit on a roadmap, they ship.

How it works

  1. 1. Diagnose

    We start with how your business actually runs: the data flows, the decisions you're trying to make, and where AI is already creeping in. Only then do we recommend anything.

  2. 2. Design

    We set the AI strategy, the roadmap, and the guardrails. It's commercially grounded and sized to your business, with governance built in from the start.

  3. 3. Deliver

    We act as your fractional CAIO: overseeing the work, reviewing what gets built, and building the high-value pieces ourselves where that's the fastest route to value.

  4. 4. Evolve

    AI moves fast. We stay close to what we've advised and built so the roadmap and the guardrails keep pace as your business and the technology change.

Engagements run as an ongoing retainer for the strategic oversight, with fixed-price build sprints when there's something to deliver. Everything starts with a short call and a free Finance & Automation Health Check.

Frequently asked questions

What is a fractional Chief AI Officer?

A fractional Chief AI Officer (CAIO) is a senior leader who owns your AI strategy, governance, and roadmap on a part-time basis, without the cost of a full-time executive hire. You get the judgement of someone who has decided where AI pays off, set the guardrails, and overseen the build, brought in for the days you actually need it.

Why hire a chartered accountant as your AI officer?

Because AI in a business is a controls problem before it is a technology problem. Greg East is an ACA-qualified chartered accountant with five years in financial-services audit, latterly leading audits of regulated insurers, brokers, and MGAs. He grounds every AI decision in governance, data handling, and an audit trail a reviewer can trace, not just in what is technically possible.

What does a fractional CAIO actually deliver?

A prioritised AI roadmap tied to commercial outcomes, governance and usage guardrails, and oversight of what gets built so the spend is justified and the risk is managed. Because GME also builds, the roadmap doesn't stop at a slide deck. The high-value items get scoped, delivered, and kept running.

Is a fractional CAIO worth it for a small business?

Yes, often more so, because a small business can't afford to waste budget on AI that doesn't land. You get a clear roadmap, sensible governance, and the build itself from one person, so there's no gap between the strategy and the thing that actually ships.

How is this different from a generic AI consultant?

Most AI consultants have never closed a month-end or sat through a controls review. GME pairs hands-on AI build experience, on Claude, n8n, Supabase, Next.js, and Vercel, with chartered-accounting rigour, so the advice is commercially grounded and the controls are right from day one.

Related

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Ready to set your AI direction?

Tell us what you're trying to do with AI and what systems you use today. We'll come back on whether a fractional CAIO is a fit and what a sensible first step looks like.

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