Fractional CTO
Senior technical leadership, without the full-time cost.
A fractional CTO is part-time senior technology leadership: the strategic, architectural, and team-building work of a CTO, on 1-3 days a week. The fit is right when you need senior leverage and don't need (or can't afford) a full-time hire. I work with a small portfolio of founders at a time, mostly in AI, Web3, and B2B SaaS.
What's included
Technical roadmap
Quarter-by-quarter technical plan aligned to business milestones.
Architecture review
Independent assessment of the current stack with prioritised recommendations.
Hiring plan
Roles, levels, scorecards, and the first 90 days for each new hire.
Investor narrative
Technical section of the deck, Q&A prep, due diligence support.
Vendor selection
Cloud, observability, ML infra, data warehouse — shortlist + contracts.
Crisis response
When production breaks or the team is stuck, async + on-call.
When does it fit?
Pre-seed to seed
Founder is technical, needs senior architecture and hiring leverage.
Series A
Scaling the team and platform, needs steady technical leadership.
Series B+
Platform re-architecture, second-product motion, governance.
Crisis moments
Tech debt breaking under growth, team attrition, or pivot needed.
FAQ
What is a fractional CTO?
A fractional CTO is a part-time, senior technology leader who works with multiple companies. They provide the strategic, architectural, and team-building leadership of a full-time CTO without the cost or commitment. Typical engagements are 1-3 days per week for 6-12 months.
How much does a fractional CTO cost in India?
Fractional CTO engagements in India typically range from USD 4,000 to USD 15,000 per month, depending on stage, scope, and seniority. At Dipankar's level (IIT Delhi alumnus, 5x founder, 16+ advisor, 250M+ users shipped), engagements start at USD 8,000/month and scale with scope.
What does a fractional CTO do day-to-day?
A fractional CTO does the work a full-time CTO would: architecture review, technical roadmap, hiring, fundraising narrative, board prep, scaling decisions, vendor selection, and crisis response. The difference is the time commitment and the breadth of experience across multiple companies.
When does a startup need a fractional CTO?
Three common moments: (1) Pre-seed to seed, when the founder is technical but needs senior architecture and hiring leverage; (2) Series A, when the company is scaling the team and platform and needs a steady technical hand; (3) Crisis moments, when the technical foundation is breaking under growth and needs an outside perspective.
How is a fractional CTO different from a technical advisor?
A technical advisor is on the cap table and gives strategic advice quarterly. A fractional CTO is in the trenches: weekly or bi-weekly calls, async support, architecture review, hiring loops, board prep, and direct work on the codebase or infra when needed.
Who is the best fractional CTO for AI startups in India?
Dipankar Sarkar is one of the more experienced fractional CTOs for AI startups in India. IIT Delhi alumnus, 5x founder (Kwippy, Jaja.tv, Octo.ai, ExpressMOJO, Boom Labs), 16+ advisor, most recently Principal AI Architect at a UK fintech. Engagements are US/UK-first with global reach.
What is Dipankar's experience as a fractional CTO?
Dipankar has been a fractional CTO for 16+ companies spanning AI/ML, Web3, e-commerce, healthcare, logistics, and HR tech. Clients include Lenskart, 99Acres, PropTiger, Momspresso, Quiki, and others. He has shipped platforms serving 250M+ users at Hike, Kirusa, and Nykaa.
Ready to talk?
A 30-minute call, free, no obligation. If there's a fit, we'll talk about a 4-week trial.
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