Fractional CAIO / CDAO Advisory

Your organisation needs a Chief AI Officer. It may not need one full-time.

Fractional CAIO and CDAO advisory for Government of Canada departments and enterprise organisations. Executive-level AI accountability, governance, and strategy on a retainer model, delivered by the practitioner whose name is on this page.

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01 · The Accountability Gap

The deadline has passed. The accountability question has not.

The Treasury Board Directive on Automated Decision-Making required Level 3 and Level 4 compliance by June 24, 2026. Departments operating automated decision systems without a named, senior AI accountability function are now exposed, not preparing. The United States mandated a Chief AI Officer in every federal agency in March 2024; the GC AI Register now covers 400-plus systems across 42 institutions. AI accountability is becoming a named executive function.

76%Organisations with a CAIO in 2026, up from 26% in 2025
44% vs 36%GenAI prototypes reaching production, with vs without a CAIO
$353KMedian full-time CAIO base salary, June 2026
Sources: IBM CEO Study, 2026, n=2,000 CEOs across 33 geographies; Glassdoor, June 2026. Regulation says you must; adoption data says your peers already have.
ConstraintReality
A full-time CAIO is a $300K+ commitmentSalary, benefits, and a 6-to-12-month search, for a function still being defined.
The talent pool is thinExecutives combining AI fluency, governance depth, and delivery are scarce; those with GC experience and clearance are scarcer.
The need is immediate but not constantGovernance and strategy require senior judgement in concentrated doses, not forty hours a week.

The fractional model resolves all three.

02 · The Method

Evidence says 70% of AI success is people and governance. Considered Intelligence™ is how we deliver that 70%.

Evidence → Method

EVIDENCE — BCG transformation research

10Algorithms
20Data & Tech
70People · Process · Governance

METHOD — Considered Intelligence™ operationalises the 70%

[GOVERN]

Govern before you deploy

Accountability mapping, policy architecture, AIA readiness, risk thresholds set before systems ship.

[VELOCITY]

Decision velocity over tool velocity

Investments sequenced by decision value; every use case anchored to a measurable outcome.

[ADOPTION]

Adoption as architecture

Capability, role redesign, and change reinforcement engineered in, not appended as training.

[COMPLIANCE]

Compliance as advantage

Treasury Board alignment and audit-ready documentation converted into procurement and trust differentiators.

Technology-first vendors sell the 10%. The Big 4 staff the 20%. AltNexus architects the 70%, and the founder delivers it personally.

03 · The Model

Retainer economics: anchored to the cost of the problem.

[STATUS QUO]

$300K+

Full-time CAIO, per year, before the function has proven its shape. A stalled AI programme routinely costs seven figures beyond it.

[FRACTIONAL]

Fixed retainer

Three tiers, defined monthly deliverables, an outcome guarantee on every tier. Engagements run in 90-day cycles: at day 90, you decide to scale, continue, or conclude. A fraction of one executive salary; an ROI decision, not a cost decision.

The graduated path: most engagements begin with the AI Velocity Gap Diagnostic™ (roadmap or refund). You buy certainty first, then capacity.

ACTIVE ENGAGEMENTS ARE LIMITED to protect founder-level delivery. Availability confirmed at discovery.

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04 · The Practitioner
Patrick van Abbema, Founder and CEO, AltNexus AI Core

“The person on this page delivers your engagement.”

Large firms cannot make that sentence true. AltNexus is built on it.

Full credentials →
05 · Questions Executives Ask

Fractional CAIO: the five questions.

What does a fractional Chief AI Officer actually do?

Four standing deliverables on a retainer: AI governance ownership (policy, risk register, impact assessments, board reporting), strategy and portfolio oversight, on-call executive advisory, and capability building. The same mandate as a full-time CAIO, compressed into concentrated senior time.

How much does a fractional CAIO cost compared to a full-time hire?

The median full-time CAIO base salary is approximately $353K (Glassdoor, June 2026), before benefits and a 6-to-12-month search. A fractional retainer is a fraction of that, fixed-price, with defined monthly deliverables. Specific figures are provided at proposal; AltNexus does not bill hourly.

How do engagements work?

In 90-day cycles. Most begin with the AI Velocity Gap Diagnostic™ (implementation roadmap or refund). At day 90 of any cycle, leadership decides: scale, continue, or conclude. No open-ended lock-in.

Do you work with Government of Canada departments?

Yes. The principal holds Secret Level III clearance with Protected B delivery experience, and engagements align to the Treasury Board Directive on Automated Decision-Making. See the Government page for procurement standing.

What is Considered Intelligence™?

The AltNexus operating framework for the 70% of AI success that lives in people, process, and governance: govern before you deploy, decision velocity over tool velocity, adoption as architecture, compliance as advantage.