Bantam Digital LLC · Fractional Chief AI Officer
Your AI strategy
needs an owner.
Most leadership teams know AI matters. Very few have someone whose actual job it is to decide what to do about it. That decision belongs with whoever already owns your technology direction, which is why we treat this as one role and not two.
The Situation
Most growing businesses are running on AI anxiety, not AI strategy.
Your team is using ChatGPT to draft emails. Someone in operations tried to automate a spreadsheet. A few people attended a webinar. And you, the CEO, know that this isn't good enough, but you're not sure what good looks like.
The companies pulling ahead right now aren't the ones with the best AI tools. They're the ones with someone who owns the question: how does AI make this business harder to compete with?
A full-time Chief AI Officer is an enterprise-scale hire, and for a $10M–$100M business it does not pencil out. But doing nothing does not pencil out either. It just costs you differently, and more slowly.
The Bantam Digital Fractional CAIO engagement is the answer in the middle.
The Engagement Model
Three things every business needs.
One engagement that delivers them.
The Fractional CAIO engagement is built around three interlocking responsibilities. Every month, we're working in all three, because AI strategy without systems is a presentation deck, and systems without a trained team don't stick.
You need someone watching how AI is reshaping your industry, and translating that intelligence into decisions your business can act on this quarter, not next year.
- Competitive AI landscape monitoring
- Quarterly AI roadmap, updated monthly
- CEO briefings on emerging risks and opportunities
- Build vs. buy decisions for AI tooling
Manual processes don't scale. The goal isn't to automate everything. It's to identify the highest-cost, highest-friction work in your business and eliminate it systematically.
- Process assessment before any automation is built
- AI workflow builds: n8n, Make.com, custom agents
- CEO intelligence dashboard, built and maintained
- ROI tracking on every system installed
The goal is never dependency on Bantam Digital. The goal is a team that thinks differently: one that sees AI as a tool they reach for naturally, not a project they wait for IT to handle.
- Team AI fluency training (all levels)
- Coaching your operators to build their own tools
- AI adoption playbook for onboarding new staff
- Monthly capability check-in and skill advancement
The First 30 Days
Every engagement starts with one deliverable: your CEO intelligence dashboard.
Abstract AI strategy isn't a business outcome. Within 30 days of engagement, we build and connect a live CEO dashboard, pulling from the systems you already run, so you have a single place to see your business, ask questions of your data, and act on what you find. It's the first proof of concept, and it sets the foundation for every automation that follows.
Connected to your real data
We integrate into your existing systems (CRM, ERP, QuickBooks, whatever you run) via API. No manual exports, no spreadsheet gymnastics.
Interactive, not static
Ask your dashboard a question in plain language. It understands context and can generate reports, flag anomalies, and surface decisions you need to make.
Built in days, not months
Enterprise-quality business intelligence used to cost six figures and six months. We build your version in the first two weeks of engagement.
Maintained and evolved
The dashboard isn't a one-time deliverable. It's a living system we update as your business changes and expand as new data sources become relevant.
"Is your technology working for you, or just working?"
The question Bantam Digital asks at the start of every engagementInvestment
One retainer, three levels of presence
AI leadership is not a separate engagement from technology leadership. At your size it is the same person making the same calls, so it is the same retainer: Fractional CIO / CTO. Every level includes all three pillars above. What changes is cadence, build capacity, and how many active systems we run on your behalf.
| Level | Monthly Investment | What's Included | When It Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advisor | $4,500 / month |
Monthly strategy session on what to build, buy, or stop · AI opportunity scan · Decision support on vendor, architecture, and budget questions · Quarterly roadmap tied to your business goals · Async access | You have a capable team. You need a strategic brain on call. |
| Operating Partner Most Common | $7,500 / month |
Everything in Advisor at a bi-weekly working cadence · Vendor and project oversight, so initiatives actually land · A standing seat in your leadership meetings as the technology voice · Direction for your engineers, so their work ties back to the business | You need someone to own technology, not just advise on it. |
| Embedded Lead | $12,000 / month |
Everything in Operating Partner at full weekly presence · Ownership of the full roadmap and multiple workstreams at once · Hands-on oversight through a transformation, migration, or build · Priority access | You are in the middle of real change and need a hand on the wheel. |
Most engagements begin with the AI Readiness Assessment: three weeks, $5,000, credited in full toward your first month. It establishes where AI pays in your operation, what would block each opportunity, and the sequence to work in. No assessment is required to begin, but clients who complete one arrive at month one with a running start.
Getting Started
From first conversation to active engagement in under three weeks.
45 minutes. We learn your business: where time is being lost, what hires you're considering, and where your competitors are moving on AI.
Day 1–3Where AI pays in your operation, what would block each opportunity, and the sequence to work in. This becomes month one's strategy document.
Three weeksWe agree on tier, scope, and the first 30-day build priorities. You get a dedicated Slack channel and we get to work on the CEO dashboard.
Day 11–14CEO dashboard is live. First automation is in review. Your team has completed its initial AI orientation. The flywheel is moving.
Day 30Fit
This engagement works for a specific kind of business.
- ✓ $10M–$100M revenue, privately held
- ✓ No dedicated CTO or technology leader on staff
- ✓ CEO is making technology decisions themselves, or avoiding them
- ✓ Manual processes in sales, operations, or finance are a known drain
- ✓ Hiring plans that AI systems could partially or fully replace
- ✓ Industries: financial services, professional services, manufacturing, member organizations
- ✓ Leadership team that wants to understand AI, not just deploy it
- – Businesses under $10M revenue. The ROI math doesn't work at this stage
- – Companies that already have a functioning CTO and AI roadmap in place
- – Organizations looking for an IT help desk or managed services provider
- – Businesses that want tools installed but no strategy attached to them
- – Leaders who want someone to hand off AI entirely and never engage with it
"We don't automate your business for you. We install a capability inside it, one that keeps getting stronger over time."
Start Here
The question isn't whether AI will change your business.
It already is.
The conversation takes 45 minutes. We'll tell you exactly where you stand, what the highest-leverage opportunities are, and what it would take to capture them. No pitch deck. No commitment required.
Michael DeLucia · Bantam Digital LLC · Pasadena, CA