Two Named Fractional CTOs. One 160+ Engineer Bench.

A fractional CTO is a senior technical leader engaged part-time on a monthly retainer — typically 10 to 25 hours per month — rather than as a full-time employee. Founders engage one when they have not yet justified the $300K-$500K annual cost of a full-time CTO but still need strategic technology leadership, AI roadmap definition, engineering hiring support, vendor selection, or Series A diligence preparation. Most engagements run for 6 to 18 months, transitioning to a full-time CTO once the founder hits product-market fit or closes Series A.

You work directly with one (or both) of two named leaders: Ravi Maniyar, Full Stack Director, who leads the delivery muscle and the engineering bench depth at AddWeb; or Avinash Zala, Head of Department, Full Stack & AI Engineering, who architects production-ready AI systems and Series-A-defensible code. Ravi is the right fractional CTO when your gap is shipping, team scale-up, or delivery oversight. Avinash is the right fractional CTO when your gap is AI architecture, production systems judgment, or diligence preparation. On the strategy call we pick the right archetype for your stage — or pair both under the Combo tier.

Our standard fractional CTO engagement runs $3,000 to $8,000 per month for 10 to 25 hours per month of senior CTO time. The Strategy-Only tier ($3,000 per month) covers 10 hours and works for pre-seed founders needing roadmap, hiring direction, and vendor selection. The Standard tier ($5,000 per month) covers 15 to 18 hours and adds architecture review, AI roadmap, and Series A diligence prep. The Premium tier ($8,000 per month) covers 20 to 25 hours and includes board-level reporting and hands-on technical work. For founders who also need engineering execution, our Combo tier pairs fractional CTO oversight with the Startup Solution engineering bench at custom monthly pricing.

Three differences. First, bench depth — solo consultants give you their 10 to 20 hours per month and nothing else; AddWeb’s fractional CTO comes with a 160+ engineer team behind them for surge capacity, specialized stack work, or full engineering teams via the Startup Solution companion offering. Second, AI-native experience — Avinash Zala leads the team that operates four production AI products. Most solo consultants are still learning what production AI engineering actually requires in 2026. Third, legal entity — AddWeb is US-registered with ISO 9001 and 27001 certification. Many founders need their fractional CTO engagement to pass enterprise procurement reviews from their first enterprise customer.

Optionally. Some founders engage only the fractional CTO for strategy, hiring support, and diligence prep — and use their in-house engineers or another vendor for execution. Other founders want the combo package: fractional CTO oversight plus AddWeb’s Startup Solution engineering bench (2 to 8 dedicated engineers) shipping the actual product. The combo is our most common engagement because the strategic decisions a fractional CTO makes only have impact if execution happens. See our Startup Solution page for the engineering-bench side of the offering.

Yes. Series A diligence preparation is one of the highest-value engagements we run. We have prepared founder codebases for Series A and Series B diligence — including remediation on inherited codebases that previously failed diligence. The engagement typically covers: code audit and remediation plan, documentation gap analysis, test coverage uplift (target 80 percent business logic / 95 percent payment and security paths), CI/CD setup, observability dashboards, architecture decision record creation, security scan results with remediation, and IP ownership chain verification. We also do mock VC technical diligence calls so the founder is rehearsed before the real one.

Yes — this is core to the Standard and Premium tiers. We help define the role and seniority needed (often founders over-hire seniority or under-hire it), write the job descriptions, screen applicants technically, conduct senior technical interviews, evaluate compensation packages against current market, and structure compensation including equity. We have helped founders hire their first 1 to 3 engineers (typically a Founding Engineer or Tech Lead) and their first manager (typically a VP of Engineering or Engineering Manager). We do not place candidates from a bench — we screen the open market on your behalf.

Avinash Zala leads the AI engineering practice that operates AddWeb AI (LLM platform), La Liga Score Predictor (open-source ML on Hugging Face and Kaggle), EcomSupport360 (eCommerce AI automation), and WeWP (AI-driven WordPress hosting). When your fractional CTO defines your AI roadmap, the recommendations come from someone who has shipped and operated production AI for years. The AI roadmap covers: model selection (OpenAI, Anthropic, open-source), build-vs-buy decisions, MLOps requirements, cost modeling, observability, AI safety and governance, and the integration path into your existing product.

Monthly retainer at the tier you select (Strategy-Only, Standard, Premium, or Combo). Hours are flexible within the monthly cap — some months you may use 5 hours in a heavy week and other months use the full allotment for board prep. We hold a weekly 60-minute strategic check-in with you. We are reachable via Slack during US business hours for unblock-the-team questions and have a 24-hour written response SLA on async issues. We are not on-call after hours by default, but on-call coverage can be added as a Premium-tier upgrade for fundraising windows or production crises.

Yes, as a Premium tier deliverable. Board prep includes: technical metrics dashboard, AI and product roadmap update, engineering team health report, technical risk register, and pre-board strategic alignment call with the founder. We attend the technical portion of the board meeting (typically 20 to 30 minutes), answer board questions directly, and follow up with written board materials within 48 hours. Many founders use this as a way to give VC board members the senior technical voice they expect without committing to a full-time CTO hire mid-round.

Most engagements transition to a full-time CTO at one of three trigger points: product-market fit (you have enough revenue to justify the hire), Series A close (the round funds the hire), or scale crossover (your in-house engineering team needs full-time leadership). We support the transition actively: defining the full-time CTO job description, screening candidates, conducting senior technical interviews, structuring compensation, and onboarding the new CTO for 30 to 60 days post-hire. We do not lock founders into multi-year retainers — the engagement is month-to-month after the first quarter.

Honest answer: most founders outgrow a fractional CTO at one of these moments — (1) your in-house engineering team exceeds 10 people and needs full-time leadership presence, (2) you close Series A with a round size of $8M or more (the round funds the hire and the cap table dilution is justified), (3) you ship into a regulated vertical (FinTech, HealthTech, FedTech) where compliance ownership requires full-time CTO accountability, or (4) the founder is no longer the primary technical voice and the company needs a permanent CTO presence in customer and partner conversations. We tell you when you have reached one of these points — typically before you ask.

Yes. NDA before discovery if your product requires confidentiality. Full IP and code ownership transfer to you upon payment. Our master services agreement is investor-friendly and has been reviewed by multiple Series A diligence counsels without amendment. Any code, documentation, or deliverable produced during the fractional CTO engagement is assigned to your entity.

Four ways. First, meet both fractional CTOs on AddWeb’s About Us page — Ravi Maniyar (Full Stack Director) and Avinash Zala (HOD, Full Stack & AI Engineering). Second, see the four AI products AddWeb operates in production (AddWeb AI, La Liga Score Predictor, EcomSupport360, WeWP) — most fractional CTO services cannot point to a single product their CTO has shipped. Third, read our 74+ verified Clutch reviews and G2 recognition. Fourth, book a 30-minute strategy call directly with Ravi or Avinash — not a salesperson. You leave with a written technical perspective on your roadmap whether or not you hire us. Most decisions get made off that call.