03 · We lead, month to month
AI leadership on a monthly agreement, with a ledger to show for it.
For organizations that want a standing AI lead without a full-time hire. We own the roadmap, make the vendor and policy calls, keep what has been built running, and report what it returned every month. Month to month, two weeks’ notice.
- Monthly
- one agreement, two weeks’ notice
- Roadmap
- what to automate next, and why
- Ledger
- hours and dollars returned, every month
- Yours
- accounts, data, and code stay in your name
01What the role covers
Six things somebody has to own.
In most organizations they are spread across an owner, an office manager, and whichever vendor called last. Here they sit with one person.
The roadmap
Which process gets automated next, in what order, and why. Sequenced by the baseline, not by whichever vendor called last.
Vendors and tools
Which to trust, which to drop, and the contract terms that matter, starting with a ban on training on your data.
Policy and governance
The acceptable use policy, change control for what gets built, and who is allowed to use what.
Running what was built
Hosting, monitoring, and small changes as your process shifts, on infrastructure you can take with you.
The ledger
Every month: the baseline, the runs, the hours returned, the dollars returned. Valued at your staff rate, and you can check it.
Leadership and the board
A standing voice in the room, a quarterly review with whoever owns the number, and plain answers when the board asks about AI.
02How it runs
A baseline, a monthly rhythm, a quarterly review.
The work is paced by the ledger. Nothing gets recommended that cannot be measured.
Step 01: Start where you are
A systems assessment or a first CoBuild project sets the baseline and the first roadmap. If something is already live, we start by reading its numbers.
Step 02: A monthly rhythm
A working session with leadership each month, the ledger, and advisory time in between for the decisions that come up. New builds run as CoBuild projects with their own short scoping sprint.
Step 03: A quarterly review
With whoever owns the number: what returned, what is next, and what to stop doing.
Step 04: It ends cleanly
Two weeks’ notice, a documented handover, and the ledger stays yours. Nothing to migrate, because it was in your name all along.
03 · The monthly agreement
What the monthly fee covers, what it does not, and how it ends.
A flat monthly fee, stated in the agreement before work starts. When we have built something you sell, part of it can be a share of collected revenue instead.
Curious what the role looks like week to week? What a fractional CAIO does
Included
- Advisory time: vendors, policy, and what to automate next
- Hosting and monitoring of what we built, on infrastructure you can take with you
- Small changes and fixes as your process shifts
- The monthly ledger: baseline, runs, hours returned, dollars returned
- A quarterly review with whoever owns the number
Scoped separately
- A new build runs as a CoBuild project, with its own short scoping sprint and a written scope
- A cohort for your staff is scoped separately
- Onsite days are quoted separately when they help
How it ends
- Month to month, two weeks’ notice
- You own the code, the data, and the accounts from day one
- A documented handover, and the ledger stays yours
04Who it is for
Three situations that keep coming up.
The owner who needs a decider
Vendors are calling, the team is experimenting, and nobody owns the answer. You want one person accountable for the roadmap and the policy who will also do the work.
The client with something live
We built it together in CoBuild. Now it needs to be run, extended, and measured, and the next build needs someone to scope it.
The team that finished a cohort
Your people can build. What they need is someone to pace the next round, review the architecture, and hold the number.
05Recent work
Built in CoBuild, kept running here.
Client names withheld; references on a call.
Fractional CAIO
Grants platform for a nonprofit advisory firm
A multi-tenant, white-label platform: AI-matched funding, funder research with citations, go/no-go scoring, a pipeline, and a client portal. Built as a CoBuild with the firm’s partners defining requirements; live in production and run under the monthly agreement.
LiveCoBuild
Registration and learning platform for a leadership program
Replaces a WordPress and LearnDash stack. Built with the program’s director defining requirements and testing each release. Registration records the actual fee per seat, so revenue can be verified against the platform instead of a spreadsheet. The first cohort runs on it this month.
Launching September 2026CoBuild
Operations platform for a three-person government contractor
Their operations lead builds. We review the architecture, set weekly milestones, and keep the pace. A fixed-fee scoping sprint first, then month to month.
In progress
Common questions
What does a fractional chief AI officer actually do?
Owns the AI roadmap and the decisions around it: what to automate next, which vendors to trust, what the policy says, and whether what was built is still returning hours a year later. At Civic Dialog the same person also builds, so the advice comes with a ledger.
How is this different from a consultant on retainer?
A retainer buys hours. This buys accountability for a number. The ledger arrives every month, the roadmap is sequenced by the baseline, and new builds get done as CoBuild projects rather than recommended and left.
How much of our time does it take?
A monthly working session with leadership, a point person for a few hours a month, and a quarterly review. Decision-heavy weeks take more; most weeks take none.
Do we need to have built something first?
No. A systems assessment or a first CoBuild project is the usual start, because the roadmap needs a baseline. If you already have automations running, we begin by reading their numbers.
What does it cost?
A flat monthly fee stated before work starts, with no long contract. New builds are scoped separately with their own number. When we have built something you sell, part of the fee can be a share of collected revenue.
What about security and AI vendors?
AI providers are used under terms that prohibit training on your data. Access is least-privilege, credentials are yours, and the agreement includes a 72-hour breach notice. Constraints like NIST SP 800-171 are designed for, not around.
Can we take it over later?
Yes. The documentation and the accounts are yours from day one, and CoBuild and the Cohort exist to move the capability in-house. Two weeks’ notice ends the agreement.
What if we are a nonprofit?
Start at 501 Labs. Its Blocks are free, and the Lab takes on pro bono builds. When a nonprofit needs paid leadership or a build on a timeline, Civic Dialog does the work and the measured savings are reported to the 501 Labs scoreboard.
Ask about a fractional CAIO.
Thirty minutes. We will tell you what the monthly agreement would cover for your organization, what it costs, and what the first ledger would measure.
Prefer email? erik@civic-dialog.com