Fractional AI Lead
Turn AI product ideas into working systems
I help early-stage teams turn AI product ideas into working systems — without wasting months on the wrong architecture.
Who this is for
Best fit
Best fit: pre-seed / seed startups and small revenue-generating teams under ~20 people.
Typical situation
You are adding AI to a product or workflow, but the hard questions are still open: what is feasible, what to build first, and how to avoid a fragile demo that cannot become production.
- Founders adding AI to an existing product and unsure what is actually feasible
- Startups that need a first prototype, internal AI tool, or agent workflow shipped properly
- Small teams that need senior technical direction before hiring a full-time AI lead
- Teams in technically ambiguous domains where product, architecture, and execution are tightly coupled
Why early technical judgment matters
Why teams bring me in early
The goal is to de-risk architecture before expensive implementation starts.
Avoid months of wrong architecture
Most delays come from starting implementation before use-case prioritization, retrieval strategy, and evaluation are clear.
Move from research to production
I bring 6+ years of AI experience across LLM systems, agents, workflow orchestration, and technical ML products.
Make senior decisions without a full-time hire
You get technical judgment on architecture, tooling, and sequencing while keeping your team lean at early stage.
Engagement formats
How I help
Focused offers for different stages of AI product execution.
01 / Roadmap & Architecture
AI Roadmap / Architecture Sprint
For founders who need clarity before building.
Output: prioritized use cases, recommended system architecture and tooling, evaluation approach, and a 4–8 week execution plan.
You leave with a concrete technical roadmap, a clearer product direction, and fewer expensive mistakes.
02 / Prototype
Prototype Sprint
For teams that need a real first version, not just advice.
Output: working prototype or proof of concept, core AI workflow / agent / document-intelligence feature, and next-step production plan.
You get a usable first system that reduces uncertainty and accelerates product decisions.
03 / Lead
Fractional AI Lead
For teams that need ongoing senior technical support without a full-time hire.
Output: technical direction, architecture decisions, implementation review, hands-on help.
You get senior AI product and technical leadership while keeping the team lean.
First 7 days
How engagements start
Simple, fast onboarding with clear deliverables.
Intro call
20 minutes to figure out whether a roadmap sprint, prototype sprint, or ongoing fractional support makes sense.
Scoped recommendation
You get a concise proposal with format, outcomes, timeline, and range.
Execution kickoff
Start with roadmap, prototype, or fractional support within days.
Proof
Selected work
Examples from AI-native product, scientific ML, and research-heavy delivery work.
AI-native scientific workflow platform
- Built
- Natural-language requests into executable computational workflows with agent orchestration, cloud infrastructure, logging, auditability, and deployment.
- Result
- Turned complex scientific pipelines into a usable AI-native platform and helped bridge research tooling, product design, and production execution.
Applied ML workflow for scientific optimization
- Built
- Antibody optimization pipeline combining established protein-engineering methods with additional tooling and workflow improvements.
- Result
- Helped move antibody optimization from fragmented expert-driven analysis toward a repeatable in silico workflow for identifying stronger candidates.
Research-heavy ML from idea to deliverable systems
- Built
- Led a 5-person team on a topic modeling project, from problem research and approach development through validation and company delivery.
- Result
- Delivered the project in 6 months and contributed to research accepted at Findings of NAACL 2024.
Investment range
Typical engagements
Clear scopes, concrete outputs, no open-ended consulting.
Sprint · 1–2 weeks
Roadmap / Architecture Sprint
$2.5k–$5k
For teams deciding what to build or how to structure an AI system.
You get
- Prioritized AI use cases
- System architecture recommendation
- Model, tooling, and build-vs-buy choices
- Evaluation and reliability plan
- 4–8 week execution roadmap
Build · 2–6 weeks
Prototype / MVP Sprint
$7.5k–$20k
For teams that need a usable first version, not just advice.
You get
- Working LLM, agent, RAG, or workflow prototype
- Core implementation your team can extend
- Architecture notes and technical tradeoffs
- Evaluation approach
- Production next-step plan
Retainer · ongoing
Fractional AI Lead
$4k–$10k/month
For teams that need senior AI direction without a full-time hire.
You get
- Weekly technical direction
- Architecture and implementation reviews
- Roadmap and prioritization support
- Hands-on help on critical AI pieces
- Support hiring or managing AI contractors
Have a special request or a scope that doesn’t fit these formats?
Email about a custom scopeObjection handling
Founder FAQs
Answers to common pre-engagement concerns.
We do not have clean data yet. Is it too early?
No. Early architecture should account for imperfect data and staged reliability targets. Waiting for perfect data usually delays learning.
Can you work with our current engineering team?
Yes. I typically work directly with founders and engineers, helping with design decisions, implementation review, and production handoff.
Do we need a long commitment?
No. Many teams start with a sprint and continue only if there is clear delivery value.
Can this work in regulated or high-risk domains?
Yes. The approach emphasizes auditability, evaluation, reliability thresholds, and explicit failure-mode handling.
Next step
If you are building an AI-heavy product and need senior technical judgment before hiring full-time, let’s talk.
Not ready to book yet? Email a short description of what you are building, and I will tell you which format is the best fit.
Email Aleksei