Fractional Product Leadership for AI-First Software Teams

Last updated: December 1, 2025

Senior product leadership embedded with your team — typically 10-20 hours per week. We run discovery, align roadmaps, unblock engineering, and ship. Built for teams scaling AI products without the full-time overhead.

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You Need Product Leadership. Not Another Full-Time Hire.

Your team is building AI-powered products. You need someone who can translate business goals into roadmap priorities, run discovery, align stakeholders, and unblock engineering. But you're not ready for — or can't find — a full-time senior product hire.

The reality: hiring a senior product leader takes an average of 4-6 months (LinkedIn Talent Solutions, 2024), with 68% of companies reporting difficulty finding qualified candidates (ProductHired, 2024). Recruiters are expensive. Senior product leaders are scarce, especially those who understand agentic AI. And once you hire, you're committed to $200K-$300K+ in total compensation (Levels.fyi, 2024) plus equity.

Fractional product leadership gives you senior expertise on day one. We embed with your team for 10-20 hours per week, do the work that matters, and scale up or down as your needs change. You get the leadership without the overhead — typically at 30-50% of the cost of a full-time hire.

When Fractional Product Leadership Makes Sense

Companies using fractional executives report 2.3x faster time-to-impact compared to traditional hiring (Harvard Business Review, 2023), with 89% of startups planning to increase use of fractional talent (AngelList, 2024).

You're Building AI Features Without AI Expertise

Your product team is strong, but they haven't built agentic AI before. You need someone who's done it — who knows which patterns work, how to evaluate AI systems, and how to ship AI features that users trust.

You're Between Product Leaders

Your VP of Product left. Or you promoted a PM and they need support. Or you're a founder still doing product yourself. You need experienced product leadership to keep momentum while you figure out the permanent solution.

You're Scaling and Need Senior Leverage

Your team is growing but you can't justify another senior head. You need someone to level up your PMs, establish better processes, and drive strategic initiatives. Fractional gives you senior leverage at a fraction of the cost.

You're Exploring a New Product Direction

You're considering a major pivot, new product line, or AI transformation. You need someone to run discovery, validate the opportunity, and build the case — without pulling your existing team off their roadmap.

How We Work

1

Discovery Call

We start with a 30-minute conversation to understand your team, your challenges, and whether fractional is the right fit. No pitch — just questions.

2

Scoping & Proposal

If there's a fit, we scope an engagement model that matches your needs. Clear deliverables, clear hours, clear outcomes. You review a proposal within a week.

3

Integration Week

We join your Slack, attend your standups, and meet your key stakeholders. By the end of week one, we're operating as a member of your team — not an outside consultant.

4

Ongoing Delivery

We do the work. Discovery, specs, stakeholder alignment, roadmap prioritization, sprint planning support, PM coaching. We adapt to what your team needs most.

Engagement Models

10 hrs/week

Core

Teams with existing PMs who need senior leverage

20 hrs/week

Embedded

Teams without product leadership or in major transition

Variable

Project

Specific initiatives like new product discovery or AI roadmap

Most engagements start at 3 months minimum. This gives us time to integrate, deliver meaningful work, and transfer knowledge. Month-to-month available after initial term.

What We Actually Do

Discovery & Research

  • Customer interviews and synthesis
  • Market and competitive analysis
  • Jobs-to-be-done mapping
  • Opportunity solution trees
  • Assumption testing

Strategy & Roadmap

  • Product vision and strategy documents
  • Quarterly roadmap development
  • Prioritization frameworks
  • Go/no-go recommendations

Execution Support

  • Product specs and PRDs
  • Sprint planning and phases
  • Stakeholder communication
  • Engineering alignment
  • Multi-agent execution

Team Development

  • PM coaching and mentorship
  • Productivity improvement
  • Hiring support
  • Documentation and playbooks

What Clients Say

"Ryan helped us discover and validate Shopify apps built on Cloudinary technology through expert product strategy and customer discovery. We achieved our sign-up goals from brands and agencies, and his AI-powered prototyping approach gave us frameworks we continue to use. His combination of AI fluency, direct customer engagement, and network of personal relationships with relevant partners, accelerated our ecosystem strategy into actionable results. Hiring Ryan was a great decision — he's a self-driven, true expert, that dives into the materials, and delivers results."

— Ran Rubinstein, General Manager, Cloudinary

Read the full case study →

Frequently Asked Questions

We do the work of a senior product leader, part-time. This includes: setting roadmap priorities, running customer discovery, writing product specs, aligning engineering on requirements, communicating with stakeholders, and coaching PMs on the team. We embed with your team and operate as a member of it — not as an outside consultant who delivers reports.

Consultants advise. We do. A typical consultant delivers recommendations in a deck and moves on. We join your Slack, attend your standups, write your specs, and ship alongside you. We're accountable for outcomes, not deliverables.

We work with software companies — primarily B2B SaaS from early stage through enterprise. Our clients include companies like Boeing, Asana, and Cloudinary, as well as startups with $2M-$10M ARR who are scaling product teams.

Pricing depends on engagement model and scope. Contact us for a custom quote. Fractional is typically 30-50% of the cost of a full-time senior product hire when you factor in salary, equity, benefits, and recruiting costs.

We can typically begin within 1-2 weeks of signing. Discovery and integration happen in the first week. We're contributing meaningful work by week two.

Ready to Talk?

Let's discuss your team's situation and whether fractional makes sense. Start with a 30-minute call — we'll ask questions, not pitch.

Discuss Your Needs →