Services / Outsourced Chief AI Officer
A Chief AI Officer, without the full-time hire.
Fractional AI leadership for organisations that need a reputable partner on call, not a full-time executive on payroll.
What it is
Most of the organisations we work with could use a Chief AI Officer. Someone accountable for the AI strategy, the policy, the committee, the partnerships, and the hard calls. Few of them can justify a full-time hire for it.
Outsourced CAIO is our answer. You get a named partner from Knowello embedded in your organisation as your AI leader. They sit in your leadership meetings, chair your AI committee, write your policy, guide your projects, represent AI at your board, and handle the hundred smaller decisions that would otherwise sit on your COO's desk.
Think of it as outsourced IT, twenty years later. You wouldn't run your technology function without expert leadership. AI is heading the same way.
What you get
Strategic leadership
An AI strategy for your organisation, kept current.
Policy and governance
The policy written, the committee chaired, the board briefings prepared.
Project oversight
AI projects planned, guided, and sanity-checked. We bring delivery partners into projects where appropriate.
Crisis response
When something goes wrong or almost does, you have someone who knows your organisation and can respond.
AI currency
We keep you current as the technology moves. What's changing, what it means for your organisation, what to do about it. Briefed monthly.
Who it's for
Outsourced CAIO fits organisations that:
- —Take AI seriously enough to want leadership, not just consulting.
- —Aren't yet big enough, or aren't yet sure enough, to hire a full-time CAIO.
- —Work in sectors where the cost of getting AI wrong is higher than the cost of leadership.
We work mostly with education, government, associations, and finance. These sectors share a common pattern: governance isn't optional.
How it works
Engagements are typically 12 months, reviewed quarterly. Time commitment varies by organisation, from a half-day a week up to multiple days a week at peak. Commercial terms are bespoke and we're happy to discuss them in a first conversation.
A recent example
A national not-for-profit engaged us as their Outsourced CAIO for 12 months. We wrote their AI policy, chaired their AI committee, and briefed their board each quarter. Four projects were approved during the engagement, three of which shipped. The organisation has since extended the engagement for a further year.
Next step
Want to talk through what this would look like for you?
Every engagement looks a little different. A 30-minute conversation is usually enough to work out whether it's the right fit.
Let's talk→