From R30k/month
Advisory
A few hours a week
Sounding board, architecture reviews, hiring support, and clear senior input when the team needs a sharper technical lens.
FRACTIONAL CTO
Senior technical leadership, part-time
For South African businesses that need stronger technical decision-making, sharper delivery, and a credible technical voice in the room, but are not ready to hire a full-time CTO.
WHAT A FRACTIONAL CTO DOES
The work, in the language a founder or board actually cares about
Six core responsibilities, scaled up or down depending on the engagement.
Strategy and roadmap
Own the technical direction and translate it into a roadmap the business can actually execute.
Engineering leadership
Hire, coach, and manage engineers and external partners. Raise the standard of what "done" means.
Founder and board interface
Represent the technology function to founders, boards, and investors in language they can act on.
Architecture trade-offs
Make the build-vs-buy, vendor, and architecture calls that compound over time.
Delivery under strain
Stabilize teams, products, and platforms when delivery is slipping or a rewrite is in trouble.
Fundraising and diligence
Bring a senior technical view to fundraising, due diligence, and post-deal integration.
WHAT I BRING
Technical depth, operating judgment, and founder-facing clarity
Why this practice exists and where it pulls its weight.
- Senior, scarred, and useful
Three decades of software experience and more than a decade leading engineering through startup, growth-stage, and operationally complex environments.
- AI and automation when it earns its place
Strong AI and automation capability, used as a lever for the business problem rather than a slide in a sales deck.
- Pattern-matching across companies
Worked across startups, SMEs, and companies navigating change, so familiar problems get recognised early instead of relearned the hard way.
- South African operating context
POPIA, local hiring realities, payment constraints, and infrastructure trade-offs are part of the default mental model, not bolted on afterwards.
- Psychology-informed leadership
A psychology-informed lens on team dynamics, founder relationships, and the people side of technical leadership.
Most technical problems inside a business are not actually technical. They are decision problems, communication problems, or hiring problems wearing a technical costume.The Ithrekhi view
ENGAGEMENT TIERS
Advisory, fractional, or embedded
Pick the level of involvement the business actually needs. The cadence can move up or down as the situation changes.
From R45k/month
Fractional CTO
1-2 days a week
Embedded leadership for roadmap ownership, engineering management, delivery oversight, hiring, and board-level technical input.
From R80k/month
Embedded
2-3 days a week
For transitions, crises, fundraising prep, or periods where the business needs heavier senior involvement for a defined window.
HOW IT WORKS
A structured start, then a practical operating rhythm
Four steps from first conversation to a working monthly cadence.
Intro call (30 min, free)
A short, no-cost call to understand the situation and whether there is a real fit before any commitment.
Scoping conversation
Define the mandate, cadence, decision rights, and the immediate priorities for the first weeks.
Two-week paid trial
A fixed two-week engagement, billed at the agreed retainer rate, so both sides can confirm the working relationship before committing further.
Rolling monthly retainer
Settle into a monthly cadence with clear priorities, communication rhythm, and a regular review.