1
Strategy you can defend
A living data and AI strategy for your business. Updated quarterly, written for your board, owned by you. The kind of plan an investor will ask to see.
Offering · 10 to 20 hours per month · 6 to 12 months
Fractional Data Leadership.
A senior data leader on your team for 10 to 20 hours per month. Strategy, vendor reviews, board briefings, hiring help. Built to graduate to a full-time hire when you're ready.
1 · Who this is for
A great fit if you're…
- An SMB doing $5M to $50M in revenue, typically post-Series A through Series C, that needs senior data thinking but isn't ready to hire a head of data full-time
- Already running data and AI projects, but the strategy is being made in pieces by people who weren't hired to set it
- Evaluating data vendors or platforms and want a senior advisor in the room who isn't being paid by the vendor
- Planning to hire a full-time data leader within 12 to 18 months and want help building the role and the runway
Probably not a fit if…
- • You're looking for hands-on engineering work, like building dashboards or writing pipelines. Look at the Rapid AI Pilot instead
- • You don't yet have a clear picture of your data landscape. Start with the AI Readiness Audit
- • You want a permanent fixture. We'll work to make ourselves replaceable
- • You need 24/7 on-call support. The fractional model doesn't fit emergency response work
Not sure? Take our free 2-minute AI assessment. You'll get a clear read on whether fractional leadership is the right next step.
2 · What you get
A senior data leader on your team. Without the full-time hire.
What that actually looks like, in practice, every month.
2
Vendor and platform calls made well
Sit in on vendor evaluations and pitches with you. Read the contracts. Spot the bait-and-switch. Tell you when the right-sized option is genuinely the right one, even when the bigger contract is more impressive.
3
Board and investor briefings
Quarterly written summaries your CEO can take to the board or use in fundraising. Plain language, on the metrics that matter, with the recommended decision teed up.
4
Coaching for your team
The ops, product, or engineering lead carrying data work today gets a senior thought partner. Office hours, code reviews, vendor reviews, career growth conversations.
5
A graduation plan
From day one, we're working on the conditions that let you replace us with a full-time hire when you're ready. Job description, interview rubric, onboarding plan, comp benchmarks. We don't want this engagement to last forever, and we'll tell you when it's time.
3 · Timeline
6 to 12 months. Reviewed every quarter.
We don't sell long contracts you can't get out of. The engagement is structured around quarterly reviews, with renewal as a deliberate decision, not a default.
Engagement rhythm
From kickoff to graduation
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1
Month 1 · Onboarding
Meet your team, inventory your work in flight, set the first quarter's priorities, draft the data and AI strategy.
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2
Months 2–3 · Operating
Strategy in motion. Vendor reviews, board briefings, coaching for your data lead. First quarterly review.
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3
Months 4–9 · Compounding
Strategy refined each quarter. Internal capability builds. Graduation plan written and reviewed with your CEO.
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4
Months 10–12 · Handoff
Hire the full-time leader, with our help. Transition the strategy, the relationships, and the operating rhythm. Engagement ends.
4 · Price
Fixed monthly fee. Senior data leadership, on retainer.
We don't bill by the hour and we don't pad scope. You'll know the monthly number before you sign.
Fractional Data Leadership
$5,000 to $10,000 / month
Fixed monthly fee. Tier set by hours per month and engagement length. Includes the strategy, briefings, vendor support, and team coaching above.
- › Final price set after a 30-minute scoping call
- › Reviewed every quarter; either party can step out at a quarterly review.
- › No hourly billing, no scope creep, no surprises
5 · What happens after
We work to make ourselves replaceable.
Most consulting retainers are designed to last. This one is designed to end well. Here's what graduation actually looks like.
A full-time hire, with our help
By the end of the engagement we've co-written the job description, scoped the role to your budget, helped run the interview process, and supported onboarding. You hire someone who can take it from here.
Documented operating rhythm
The strategy doc, the quarterly review template, the vendor evaluation checklist, the board briefing format. Everything we built is yours to keep using. Editable, plain-English, no proprietary tools.
A 90-day handoff window
Once your full-time hire starts, we stay available for a 90-day handoff at a sharply reduced cadence to support the transition. Then the engagement closes for good.
FAQ
Common questions.
Who actually serves as the fractional leader? +
A senior principal at Balboa Insights with at least 15 years of data leadership experience. The same person owns the engagement from day one through graduation. No bench, no rotating staff.
What if we never hire a full-time leader? +
That's a real conversation. We'll have it openly with your CEO at the second quarterly review. If a full-time hire isn't realistic, we'll either renew the engagement or transition you to a less-intensive advisory cadence. We won't quietly let the retainer continue without a reason.
How is this different from the AI Readiness Audit? +
The audit is a one-time diagnostic. Fractional Leadership is ongoing senior presence in your business. Many SMB clients do the audit first, then bring us back as fractional leaders if the roadmap calls for it.
Can our investors or board talk to you directly? +
Yes. Many of our SMB clients introduce us to their board and investors as their fractional data leader. Investors increasingly expect to see one named, accountable data leader in the room. We're happy to be that person.
Senior data leadership, on retainer.
Book a 30-minute scoping call with a senior principal. We'll know in the first 15 minutes whether fractional leadership is the right shape for your business.