Fractional Chief AI Officer

AI processes that actually save work in mid-sized businesses.

One accountable owner for the full chain: strategy, team, systems, results. 50+ organizations advised at C-level.

Prefer not to book a call yet? or email [email protected]

Capacity: 2-3 retainer clients at a time. Direct work with Dr. Struve, no delegation.
Dr. Achim Struve
Dr. Achim Struve
Founder, Agenovation
PhD, Summa Cum Laude (KIT) Ex Head of AI, Outlier Ventures 50+ orgs advised 30+ systems shipped
50+
Organizations advised at C-level
30+
Systems designed & deployed
80%+
Conservative floor in documented DD workflows: hours to minutes
6-figure
Annual cost savings delivered
Proof, not promises

Case Studies

Real engagements. Measurable outcomes. No hypotheticals.

78-88k EUR p.a.
Manufacturing

Regulated Manufacturing AI Diagnostic

  • 2-week diagnostic across workflows, data, and compliance constraints
  • 6/8 target workflows required local data residency
  • Decision-ready roadmap with quantified annual upside
Read case study →
3 systems live
Enterprise

Enterprise AI Strategy

  • 3 production AI systems shipped in 12 months
  • 15+ use cases audited, top 3 prioritized
  • Company-wide AI activation across all departments
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80%+ eval time saved
Investment

Investment Due Diligence Automation

  • 80%+ conservative floor; raw reduction is ~94-96%
  • 4-6 hours → ~15 minutes processing time
  • Standardized 7-dimension scoring framework
Read case study →
239 companies
Monitoring

Real-Time Portfolio Monitoring

  • 239 companies monitored simultaneously
  • Response time: days → minutes
  • 3-tier priority filtering with automated Slack routing
Read case study →
Where engagements start

Typical entry points

Agenovation works with profitable businesses: manufacturing, professional services, financial services, technology, and family-owned companies where leadership knows AI matters, but no one yet owns it end-to-end. Most engagements start with one concrete bottleneck.

AI Agent Systems

Multi-agent workflows that take over repetitive knowledge work: research, reporting, document processing, and routing.

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Data Consolidation & Automation

Scattered data in ERP, Excel, email, and documents consolidated into one reliable automated flow.

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Revenue & Cost Diagnosis

Quantify where AI creates measurable value in your operations before committing budget to tools or hiring.

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Due Diligence Automation

Standardized, AI-assisted evaluation pipelines for investment teams. Proven: more than 80% less evaluation time per deal.

See the case →

Portfolio & Ops Monitoring

Real-time monitoring across hundreds of entities with automated prioritization and alert routing.

See the case →

Private & Sovereign AI

Local or EU-hosted AI deployments for IP-sensitive operations, with deployment choices tied to EU AI Act risk tiers and ISO/IEC 42001-aligned governance. Benchmark-driven model selection included.

Explore models →
References

What Others Say

It is quite amazing. I had embarked on trying a dynamic agent loading and tool stitching system with poor luck, but your suggestion and repo was a breakthrough for me in getting off the ground.

DM
Daniel Myung
Director AI/ML, Takeda · on the multi-agent framework

Achim is one of the most capable and reliable people I have worked with at Outlier Ventures.

DC
Dimitrios Chatzianagnostou
CIO, Outlier Ventures

This is really strong. This will save me hours.

JB
Jamie Burke
Founder & Chairman, Outlier Ventures · on the Portfolio-Monitoring AI Agent

Thank you for putting this together, super helpful.

JP
Creator of Base (Coinbase L2) · on the BASE Token Design Proposal

The assistant takes work out of the practice that used to sit in my head or land after hours: inquiries, waiting list follow-up, documentation drafts, handouts, and daily open tasks. It gives me structure, prepares the repetitive parts, and helps me keep the practice moving without losing track of details.

EA
Elisabeth Aster
Occupational therapy practice owner · on the practice AI assistant

Map where AI stands in your organization.

30 minutes. Identify what is blocking progress and decide together on the right next step. No pitch, no obligation.

Senior buyers who prefer writing first: or email [email protected]

Currently taking on 2-3 retainer clients at a time
One accountable owner

Your Fractional Chief AI Officer

Dr. Achim Struve

Dr. Achim Struve serves as Fractional Chief AI Officer for technology-driven organizations. PhD in Engineering (Summa Cum Laude, KIT), 3+ years as Head of AI & Token Engineering at Outlier Ventures, 50+ organizations advised at C-level, 30+ systems designed and deployed. AI transformations stall at the human layer: misaligned leadership, teams that resist, implementations that don't survive contact with real workflows. The work combines structured change management (Kotter, ADKAR) with Lean Six Sigma process discipline, so adoption is managed as part of delivery, not left to chance. As your Fractional CAIO, he takes ownership of the full AI function: from leadership alignment to shipped production systems with measurable results.

AI Strategy & Leadership Alignment

Your CAIO translates "AI-first" from a direction into a concrete operational plan. Aligns leadership on priorities, ownership, and what not to automate.

AI Transformation Diagnostic

Structured assessment of organizational AI readiness, a prioritized opportunity map with quantified value, and a concrete 90-day action plan. Fixed scope.

Fractional CAIO Retainer

A named Chief AI Officer for your organization without the full-time cost. Strategy, team leadership, cross-departmental coordination, KPI accountability. From 3 months.

AI Team Leadership

Your CAIO leads or builds out the AI function. Defining priorities, establishing working processes, managing cross-departmental interfaces, and driving adoption.

Production System Oversight

Your CAIO owns the design and delivery of AI systems tied directly to business KPIs. From data structuring and architecture to production deployment and measurement.

Vendor & Build Decisions

Your CAIO evaluates build vs. buy, manages AI vendor relationships, and ensures technical decisions align with business strategy, not the other way around.

A clear, staged path

How We Work

Good questions

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it cost?
The AI Opportunity Diagnostic starts at EUR 3,500 as a fixed-scope engagement. A first production AI project typically runs EUR 8,000-15,000 as a fixed-price engagement. The Fractional CAIO Retainer runs EUR 7,000-12,000/month depending on scope and commitment level.
Do we need an existing AI team?
No. That's exactly the gap a Fractional CAIO fills. I lead or build out the AI function within your organization: defining priorities, coordinating cross-functional work, and managing external vendors where needed.
How quickly do we see results?
The Diagnostic delivers a prioritized action plan within 2-3 weeks. Under a CAIO retainer, first production systems typically go live within 6-8 weeks, with measurable improvements from the first month.
Does it work with our existing systems?
Yes. AI systems are designed to integrate with your existing infrastructure, whether that's cloud platforms, SaaS tools, APIs, or legacy systems. Part of the Diagnostic is mapping integration requirements.
Is it GDPR-compliant?
Yes. All implementations follow data protection requirements. Depending on your needs, we can use European hosting, local processing, or customer-managed infrastructure. For regulated or sensitive use cases, the Diagnostic also classifies EU AI Act risk tiers and defines ISO/IEC 42001-aligned governance before implementation.
Free resources

Tools for AI model selection

For businesses considering local AI, private deployment, or data-compliant model hosting, benchmarks are a useful starting point. Workflow-specific testing still decides the model.

Open-weight LLM Benchmark Dashboard

Compare open-weight language models across reasoning, math, instruction-following, and professional knowledge benchmarks. Useful for CTOs and business owners who need a shortlist before testing local or private AI deployments.

Explore the dashboard →

AI Opportunity Scorecard

Estimate where AI can create measurable value in your workflows before committing budget to tools, vendors, or internal hiring.

Open the scorecard →