Fractional Chief AI Officer: one person who owns AI at your company
Your team already uses AI. Nobody owns it. NetWebMedia gives small and mid-sized businesses a fractional Chief AI Officer (CAIO): one named owner for AI strategy, usage rules, tools and results, 8 to 20 hours a month. It starts with a 3-week AI Audit that ends in a 90-day roadmap.
What is a fractional CAIO?
A fractional Chief AI Officer (CAIO) is a senior leader who owns a company’s AI agenda part-time, on a monthly retainer, instead of as a full-time executive. They work out which AI use cases are worth doing, write the rules for how staff use AI and company data, recommend the tools, and report on what AI actually delivers. The owner approves every decision.
NetWebMedia’s version is built for owner-led companies of 10 to 250 people. It starts with a paid audit instead of a sales deck, and when the roadmap calls for building, the same team ships it: AI agents, automations and the AI Receptionist.
Why now
Organizations are naming an AI owner. Smaller companies need one too.
of organizations in IBM’s 2026 CEO Study report having a Chief AI Officer, up from 26% in 2025. Self-reported by 2,000 CEOs in 33 geographies.
Source: IBM newsroom, 4 May 2026
Chile’s new data protection law, Ley 21.719, is scheduled to take effect (a bill pending in Congress would move it to 1 December 2027). It gives people the right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing, including profiling.
Sources: Ley 21.719, BCN Ley Chile · Bill, Boletín 18.623-07
named owner for AI strategy, rules, tools and results at your company, accountable to you every month. That is the job a fractional CAIO does.
What the service includes
One AI owner. Clear rules. Results you can measure.
Most AI consultants hand you a report. A fractional CAIO stays and runs the plan with you, month after month. This is what the function covers at NetWebMedia; what each plan includes is below.
AI strategy and the 90-day roadmap
Every AI use case in your business scored by impact and effort, so you know what to do first, what to do later and what to skip.
AI use policy and data rules
A written policy your team can follow: which tools are approved, what data never goes into them, and who reviews AI output. We write it in plain language; your lawyer validates it.
Tool and vendor decisions
Build, buy or skip, decided against your numbers. We take no referral fees, and when a recommendation is one of our own products we say so in writing.
Implementation sprints
On the Embedded plan, your CAIO runs one implementation sprint at a time within the plan hours: AI agents, workflow automations, the AI Receptionist or an internal knowledge assistant. Anything beyond the plan hours is quoted before work starts.
Team training
Monthly workshops so your people use the approved tools well, not just more often.
Monthly AI scorecard and quarterly report
One page: what is live, what it saves or earns, what changed in risk and what comes next. A quarterly version for your board, bank or investors.
Plans and pricing
Start with the audit. Keep the owner.
Fixed prices in US dollars. No hourly billing, no surprise invoices.
AI Audit
3 weeks · about 10 hours
- Interviews with you and up to 3 team leads
- Inventory of AI tools in use and the data they touch
- Use cases scored by impact × effort
- Risk and policy gap check
- Your 90-day roadmap, yours to keep
CAIO Advisory
3-month minimum · about 8 hours a month
- Two 60-minute strategy sessions a month
- AI use policy and data rules
- Tool and vendor decisions
- Monthly AI scorecard
- Async questions answered within 2 business days
- Quarterly owner or board report
CAIO Embedded
3-month minimum · about 20 hours a month
- Everything in Advisory
- Weekly sessions
- One implementation sprint at a time, within the plan hours
- Monthly team workshop
- KPI dashboard and vendor management
The audit fee is credited in full to your first month if you start a retainer within 30 days. Retainers have a 3-month minimum, then run month to month. Work beyond the plan hours, third-party tool licences, the AI Receptionist subscription and NetWebMedia marketing plans are billed separately and quoted before work starts.
How it works
From first call to quarterly review in four steps
Free 20-minute strategy call
We ask where AI already shows up in your business and whether a CAIO makes sense at your size. If it doesn’t, we say so.
AI Audit (weeks 1 to 3)
Interviews, tool and data inventory, use cases scored, risk check. You approve the 90-day roadmap.
Foundations and builds (months 1 to 3)
Policy signed off, approved tool stack, a first quick win live, then the first build sprints.
Scorecard and quarterly review
A one-page monthly scorecard and a day-90 review: continue, adjust, or hand the plan to an in-house hire.
How the options compare
Fractional CAIO vs. full-time CAIO vs. AI consultancy vs. everyone on their own
The question is not which tool to buy. It is who owns the decision, the rules and the result.
| Option | Who owns AI decisions | Who builds | Commitment | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time CAIO | The CAIO | An in-house AI team you also hire | Executive salary, months to recruit | Companies where AI is the product or a core cost line |
| AI consultancy | You, after the report | Separate vendors | Project fee, then it ends | A single, well-defined project |
| Everyone on their own | Nobody | Whoever finds a tool | None, until something goes wrong | Experimenting, as long as no customer data is involved |
| NetWebMedia fractional CAIO | You decide; our CAIO recommends and runs the plan | Your CAIO, within the Embedded plan hours | 3-month minimum, then monthly | Owner-led companies of 10 to 250 people whose team already uses AI |
| The Owner’s CAIO workbook | You | You | One-time purchase | Owners who want to set it up themselves |
Is it right for you?
Who a fractional CAIO is for, and who it is not
A good fit
- You have 10 to 250 people and staff already use ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini at work.
- You bought AI tools that nobody ended up using.
- A board member, investor or bank asked for your AI plan.
- In Chile, you run chatbots, lead scoring or customer profiling, and Ley 21.719 is scheduled to take effect on 1 December 2026 (a bill pending in Congress would move it to 1 December 2027).
- You operate in one of our fourteen industries, in the US or LATAM, in English or Spanish.
Not yet
- Fewer than 10 people: start with The Owner’s CAIO workbook.
- You need custom machine-learning models or a data-science team.
- You need a legal opinion. We work alongside your lawyer, not instead of them.
- You already have a full-time head of AI. We would step on their toes.
Questions
Fractional CAIO FAQ
What is a fractional CAIO?
A fractional Chief AI Officer is a senior leader who owns your company's AI agenda part-time, on a monthly retainer, instead of as a full-time hire. They set the AI strategy, the rules for using AI and company data, the tool choices and the reporting. At NetWebMedia the CAIO also comes with a team that builds what the roadmap calls for.
How is a fractional CAIO different from a fractional CMO?
A fractional CMO owns growth: positioning, channels and pipeline. A fractional CAIO owns how the whole company uses AI: operations, customer service, sales, finance, and the rules that apply to all of them. They are separate plans; some companies need one, some need both. See fractional CMO services.
How much does a fractional CAIO cost?
At NetWebMedia the AI Audit is US$1,490 one-time, CAIO Advisory is US$1,990 a month and CAIO Embedded is US$3,990 a month, both with a 3-month minimum. The audit fee is credited to your first month if you continue within 30 days. Work beyond the plan hours is quoted before it starts.
Is the fractional CAIO an officer of my company?
No. The CAIO works as an independent advisor under a services agreement. Every decision stays with you, and NetWebMedia does not act as a corporate officer, director or employee of your company.
Will this make us compliant with Ley 21.719?
No vendor can promise that on its own. We map where AI touches personal data, write the operational rules and give your lawyer a clear list to review. Legal sign-off stays with your counsel.
Which AI tools do you recommend?
Whatever fits your numbers: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot or a specialist tool. We take no referral fees. NetWebMedia itself runs on Claude, and when a recommendation is one of our own products, such as the AI Receptionist or FracMO CRM, we disclose it in writing.
Do you work in Spanish and with US companies?
Both. NetWebMedia is based in Chile and works with US and LATAM companies in English and Spanish, async-first across time zones.
What happens after 90 days?
At the day-90 review you choose: continue, move between Advisory and Embedded, or hand the roadmap, policy and scorecard to an in-house hire. Everything we produce for you is yours.
Find out who should own AI at your company in 20 minutes.
Bring one question: where is AI already showing up in your business? We will tell you whether a CAIO makes sense at your size and, if it doesn’t, what to do instead.
NetWebMedia provides advisory and implementation services. It does not provide legal advice and does not act as an officer of client companies.