Senior technical leadership, without the full-time hire.
A fractional CTO engagement gives mid-market operators a senior technical peer in the leadership team — someone who owns the technology strategy, leads the engineers and vendors, and sits at the board with the CEO and CFO. Without the salary, the equity dilution, or the eighteen-month search.
The CTO role, scoped to the work that actually matters.
Technology strategy and roadmap.
A pragmatic 12–24 month plan tied to commercial outcomes. Where to invest, where to defer, and where to retire. Updated quarterly as the business changes.
Architecture and build-vs-buy decisions.
Independent review of the systems you have and the systems you're considering. SaaS evaluation, integration approach, ERP modernisation, data platform strategy, AI and automation positioning.
Engineering team and vendor leadership.
Direct technical management of in-house engineers, outsourced development partners, and managed service providers. Hiring, structure, performance, and contractual posture.
AI and data strategy.
Where AI fits, where it does not, and how to deploy it without burning credibility. Agentic systems, sovereign and on-prem options, model selection, and the operational changes that adoption requires.
Security, compliance, and risk posture.
Practical security and compliance leadership — Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001 readiness, GDPR, sector-specific frameworks. Threat modelling, incident response, and the controls a board can actually evidence.
Board and investor communication.
Translating technical reality into board language. Quarterly updates, due diligence support, technology sections of investor decks, and credible answers to acquirer or auditor technical questionnaires.
Built for the band between "the CEO decides" and "we have a CTO".
- Mid-market operators (€5M–€500M) with a growing technology surface but no full-time CTO.
- Founder-led businesses where the CEO is making technology decisions without a senior technical peer.
- Companies through a transition — ERP replacement, AI adoption, acquisition, scale-up, or post-incident remediation.
- Boards that need an independent technical voice in the room without committing to a full-time hire.
- PE-backed portfolio companies where the sponsor wants technical oversight without footing a CTO salary.
A predictable cadence, with outcomes you can put on a board pack.
Two-week orientation.
We meet your leadership, walk the operation, audit the technology estate, and review the commercial plan. You leave with an honest read on where things stand and a draft mandate for the engagement.
A defined monthly cadence.
Typically one to four days per month, depending on company size and pace. Fixed days for leadership meetings, vendor reviews, and one-to-ones. Async availability between sessions for decisions that cannot wait.
Outcomes, not hours.
Every quarter has a small number of defined outcomes — a roadmap delivered, a vendor renegotiated, a team restructured, a platform decision made. Reviewed openly with the CEO and the board.
A clean handover when the time comes.
Most engagements run 12–36 months. We help you scope, hire, and onboard a full-time CTO when the business is ready — with documentation, relationships, and roadmap intact.
Engagements are led personally by Richard Stafford.
Richard Stafford
Thirty years in software engineering and analytical systems, across finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and professional services. Early career at Oracle in Silicon Valley. Founded Apridata in 2014 and has since served as the de-facto technology lead for a portfolio of mid-market operators across Ireland, the UK, and Europe. Fluent across the modern stack — cloud and on-prem, ERP and bespoke, classical software and agentic AI — and equally comfortable on a factory floor, in a finance team off-site, or in a board room.