AI CTO: AI-Native Engineering Teams & Self-Improving Agentic Systems
3× founder/CTO. 20 years building software; the last four entirely on GenAI. I help founders and engineering leaders turn AI strategy into running systems, and turn their engineering teams AI-native. Based in New York / New Jersey.
About Me
I've co-founded three startups as CTO and spent 20 years building software: 20+ products shipped and 100+ engineers hired, including a 20-person product and engineering team built from zero across the UK, Ukraine and India. Today agents write the code; I architect it, govern it, and own what ships.
I advise CXOs and boards on AI strategy. I recommend what I have built on the ground, and I build what I recommend. My GenAI work combines a year of research into how foundation and reasoning models work with hands-on building: self-improving agentic systems and multi-agent systems running in production, with evals and guardrails. As co-founder and CTO of a deepfake-detection startup, I took the product from MVP into three enterprise pilots. So the roadmaps I draw up are ones your team can execute. The same experience goes into the software factories I build: a self-improving system of agents, designed for one organization, then handed over running. And for large organizations whose data can't leave the building, I have designed private and fully air-gapped AI.
The work I do best is the early, uncertain stretch of a hard, unscoped problem: sit with the people who own it, shape the work, build the running system alongside their team, and hand it over with the engineering culture to keep it running.
Core Competencies
AI Strategy & Execution Roadmaps
AI-Native Engineering Teams
Self-Improving Agentic Systems
Private & Air-Gapped AI
0-to-1 AI-Native Product Building
Building Teams from Zero
Leadership Philosophy
I lead from inside the team. I keep teams small and accountable, give people real ownership, and mentor them. I run teams on Extreme Programming: small releases, the customer on the team, continuous integration, and tests and evals first. And I communicate plainly, upward to boards and downward to individual engineers.
Quantifiable Achievements
AI-native program a listed defense company is executing on my roadmap
Efficiency gains for clients across Gaming, Fintech, Travel, and Mental Health
First cheque investment into a consumer app
As an investment committee member @ VC funds
Services
Four ways to work together, from a board-level AI strategy to an AI-native engineering organization.
AI Strategy & Roadmaps
Decide which AI initiatives are worth funding, and leave with an execution roadmap your team can run: priorities, architecture, build-vs-buy calls and the delivery plan. For boards, founders and CXOs.
AI-Native Engineering Transformation
Turn your software engineering team AI-native: agents write the code; your engineers architect, govern and own it. It starts with a live build on your own codebase, moves to a measured one-squad pilot, then rolls out across the organization, with the governance that makes it safe.
Software Factory Build-Operate-Transfer
I design and build a self-improving AI software factory bespoke to your organization, operate it until it's proven, then hand the running factory over to your team.
Fractional AI CTO & Advisory
Senior AI and technology leadership without a full-time hire: a fractional AI CTO, or an advisory retainer for founders and leadership teams.
What I build with
Selected Work Since 2023
Every engagement below is from the last three years, all of it GenAI.
AI-Native Transformation Roadmap for a Listed Defense Company
Steered the board's decision to become an AI-native organization, prioritized 40 AI initiatives from 180+ proposals, and architected the roadmap and implementation plan. Also designed and planned an air-gapped LLM platform for 200+ users.
Outcome: $60M committed and now executing · projected savings of $500K a month · training enabled for 300+ staff in GenAI and data practices
AI-Native Engineering Transformation
Re-engineered SDLC systems and processes around parallel agents, and established the governance that lets engineers hand real work to agents safely.
Outcome: 4–10× engineering throughput
0-to-1 Venture for a US Election-Tech Startup: Built, Operated, Handed Over
Validated the problem by hand in five months, then built the platform solo with AI agents: a two-sided marketplace matching volunteers to campaigns on 32+ data points, with agentic lead qualification, AI outreach and voice analysis of volunteer calls. The company now runs it.
Outcome: in the first three months after launch, 1,000+ volunteers and ~30 US campaigns, including a state governor's race and two congressional campaigns; three revenue streams validated
Self-Improving GTM Sales-Intelligence Platform
A multi-agent system that scans an idea-stage client's leads for fresh signals, drafts tailored outreach for human approval, and learns from which signals and messages users choose and how they edit them.
Outcome: 0 to 4 customers within a week of launch
AI Strategy and Roadmap for EdTech Founders
A clear AI strategy and implementation roadmap that gave the founders decision clarity.
Outcome: $400K committed to AI-native product building, with a second $1.6M tranche to follow
Tech Strategy and Roadmap for a GenAI Vertical CRM Startup
Tech strategy, roadmap and AI systems architecture for an AI-first vertical CRM for financial advisors.
Outcome: 4x dev team efficiency, 10x improvement in AI response quality (accuracy, relevance, completeness)