Should I hire a full-time Chief AI Officer or a Fractional Chief AI Officer?

Decide once you have a dollar figure on what the unfixed work is already costing you. At Versantly, that figure comes from the 45-minute diagnostic. I have already defined a Fractional Chief AI Officer in an earlier article. This piece is about the choice: start part-time, hire later, or create no new role at all.

What is the difference between a Fractional Chief AI Officer and a full-time Chief AI Officer?

The practical difference, for a CEO deciding what to do next, is how long the person is in the business and what you still have if the arrangement ends. I have already defined a Fractional Chief AI Officer in What is a Fractional Chief AI Officer?. This article is about the choice, not a repeat of that definition.

A project consultant is a third option some CEOs have in mind. That work is usually a fixed project, and it often ends with a report. If you want senior help that stays with the work long enough for your team to run the fix, that is closer to a Fractional Chief AI Officer than to a one-off plan.

When does a full-time Chief AI Officer make more sense?

A full-time hire makes more sense when the AI work is already large enough to justify a permanent executive, and you want that person on staff every day. A licence in the building is not that test. You are in a better position to decide once you have a dollar figure on what the unfixed work is costing you.

A licence in the building is still not evidence that the work is large enough for a full-time hire. I set that out, with the official figures, in What is a Fractional Chief AI Officer?.

The National AI Centre's foundations guidance, published on 5 May 2026, tells organisations to assign a senior leader as the overall AI governance owner. That is about accountability. It does not, on its own, tell you to create a new full-time Chief AI Officer role. The owner can be you, or another senior person already in the business, if they have the authority to oversee how AI is used.

Can I start with a Fractional Chief AI Officer and hire later?

Yes. Starting with a Fractional Chief AI Officer does not stop you hiring a full-time Chief AI Officer later. The early work should leave you with a clearer number, and a team that can keep running what has been fixed. You can make the hire when the work justifies it, not to make the arrangement look more official.

In my brokerage, I did not start by creating a new executive role. I started by putting a number on the work that was already there. That is still the order I would want a CEO to follow.

We will not talk you into a full-time appointment to make the work look larger than it is.

Who does a Fractional Chief AI Officer work with?

The Fractional Chief AI Officer works with you, the CEO, and, if it helps, whoever runs operations. They build the AI roadmap with you. They are not a full-time executive, and you stay accountable for the business. Day to day, the work should sit with your people once they can run the fix.

That is why the first meeting is not a pitch for a hire. It is a look at your numbers, so you can decide whether a new role is even justified.

The Fractional Chief AI Officer advisory is the work that can follow the diagnostic, if you want to go further.

How should I decide which one I need?

Start by putting a dollar figure on where your business already loses time and money, before you create a role or buy more tools. At Versantly, that figure comes from the 45-minute diagnostic. Once you have the number, you can decide whether a Fractional Chief AI Officer, a full-time hire, or no extra role at all is the right next step.

Before you create a role, these are the questions I would work through with you. They are not a new test. They are the same points already in this article, and in the official guidance cited above.

1. Do you have a dollar figure on what the unfixed work is already costing you? If you do not, start there. At Versantly, that figure comes from the 45-minute diagnostic.
2. Is the work already large enough to justify a permanent executive on staff every day, or do you want senior help without creating that role yet?
3. Would a one-off report be enough, or do you need help that stays long enough for your team to run the fix?
4. Have you assigned a senior leader as the overall AI governance owner, as the National AI Centre's foundations guidance, published on 5 May 2026, asks organisations to do? That owner can already be in the business. The guidance is about accountability. It is not, on its own, a reason to create a new full-time Chief AI Officer role.
5. If you start part-time, will the early work leave you with a clearer number and a team that can keep running what has been fixed, so a later hire happens only if the work justifies it?

The 45-minute diagnostic is the first meeting. We work through your numbers with you and, if it helps, whoever runs operations. You leave with a dollar figure on what the leak is costing you. We don't talk price until you have that figure.

Put a dollar figure on the problem

Book the 45-minute diagnostic and leave with a dollar figure on the leak, before you create a role or spend more on AI.

Author

I'm Johnny Sukkar, founder of Versantly, which is operated by Lycaon Media Pty Limited (ABN 22 671 975 983). I've been in lending since 1990 and in broking since 2008, and I've been building and running AI workflows inside my own brokerage since 2023.