Fractional CTOs and AI automation coaching for $1M to $5M companies

A founder of a $1M to $5M company can hire a fractional CTO or learn the work and keep it in house. This page lists both: 4 firms offering fractional CTO work and 4 programs on AI automation for founders and CEOs.

Updated 21 Oct 2026 Firms 4 Programs 4 Order published rule

Hire: fractional CTO

A fractional CTO owns technical decisions: architecture, build versus buy, the engineering team or dev shop, security basics and the technical side of due diligence.

$2,280per month, median published
  • Hours4 to 20 hours a month
  • Minimum term3 to 6 months
  • Published fees$1,750 to $2,900
  • Month oneReview of the code, architecture, hosting and vendor contracts, a security baseline and a written view of what to fix, what to keep and who to hire
  • Firms for $1M to $5M4 firms
  • Cost guideWhat a CTO costs

Learn: AI automation coaching for founders

You keep the work in house and learn to run it yourself, with a coach, a course or a peer group.

$225per session, from

Hire: fractional CTOs

First on the list are First AI Movers, Leadership Services and Wavect. 3 publish a monthly fee, from $1,750 to $2,900 a month. The other one quotes. Fractional CTO time ranges from 4 to 20 hours a month for advisory work to two days a week for an embedded role. Month one is a review of the code, architecture, hosting and vendor contracts, a security baseline and a written view of what to fix, what to keep and who to hire.

Fractional CTOs for $1M to $5M companies
1

First AI Movers Hire Names $1M to $5M

Firm. CTO, CAIO. $1M to $20M.

Serves EU
$1,750 per month
4

MetaCTO Hire Names $1M to $5M

Firm, US. CTO. SaaS. Pre-revenue to $5M.

4 named clients Serves US
Fee on request monthly retainer, no minimum

Learn: coaching for founders

4 programs on AI automation for founders and CEOs.

AI automation coaching

How this page is built. The firms offer fractional CTO work and say they serve $1M to $5M companies. The programs cover AI automation and name founders or CEOs as their audience. Each list keeps the published order. Full methodology.