01
The room goes quiet
Someone asks “so, what are we doing about AI?” and everyone turns to the youngest person in the room. It happens a lot, and it’s very fixable.
Fractional Chief AI Officer
Everyone’s talking about AI.But where to start?
I’m Mark Caulfield. I’ve been building with AI since 2019, for early startups and for platforms used by some of the UK’s biggest financial firms. For up to two days a month, I’ll sit down with you, help you work out what’s worth doing, and then help you get it done.
From £2,750 a month. I have room for two new clients this quarter.
Sound familiar?
Most businesses I talk to are stuck in the same spot.
02
Suppliers can smell budget
Everyone selling AI sounds confident at the moment, and a lot of it is sales talk. It helps to have someone on your side who can tell the difference and isn’t earning commission on the answer.
03
A full-time hire is the wrong size
A full-time Chief AI Officer costs upwards of £120k and can take six months to find. Most businesses only need a couple of days a month from the right person.
What you get
What I’ll do for your business.
Hands-on building
I build with AI myself, so you can try a working demo before you spend money on the real thing.
Straight advice
I’ll tell you what I’d do if it were my business and my money. Good conversations and short notes, with no slide decks to wade through.
AI in your product
AI can do a lot more than tidy up admin. Where it fits, I’ll help you build it into the thing you actually sell.
The right tools
I help you pick tools that suit the job, and spot the subscriptions you’re paying for but hardly using.
Keeping it safe
A data policy that stands up to UK GDPR, and clear rules for how AI is used with your customers, so everyone can get on with it safely.
In it with you
I’m there every month to keep things moving, and on the end of the phone when something goes sideways.
If you’d like a proper look under the bonnet before committing, I also run a fixed-fee, two-week audit. Just ask about it on the call.
The first month
We get started straight away.
The first day
I listen
I spend a day with the people who run the business, learning how the work gets done and where time and money get wasted. By the end you’ll have my first thoughts on where AI could help.
Between sessions
The plan
I write up a short plan for you to sign off, with the bigger picture for the year and the next steps for this quarter. Everything is costed and easy to read.
The second day
Making a start
We pick the quickest win and get it moving, with someone in charge of it and a date to aim for.
About Mark
I’ve always been obsessed with finding better ways to do things, and AI is the best tool for that I’ve ever come across. I’ll talk to you in plain English, and if I don’t know something, I’ll say so.
Mark has spent over twenty years building products and companies, in everything from banking to government, in the UK and abroad. He’s worked with universities on applied AI research, and more than once he’s stepped into a business in real trouble and helped turn it round. He does his best thinking up a Highland hill with his two dogs, and he answers his own email.
AI since 2019Banking to governmentUniversity researchNo supplier commissions
Track record
Companies Mark has co-founded or rescued have raised more than £50m in the past three years.
AI platforms Mark built are used by some of the UK’s largest financial institutions.
Questions
The things people usually ask.
The same job as a full-time one, for a couple of days a month and without the salary. I help you decide where AI is worth using, and I build things myself so you can see them working before you commit. Whether it’s two founders round a kitchen table or a full board meeting, I fit in with whoever’s in the room.
I work with solo founders and with large, established companies. If AI clearly matters to your business but nobody inside has the time or the know-how to lead on it, you’re the right size.
Yes, I build. I’ll put together a working demo myself, or help get AI into your product where it makes sense. For bigger projects I’ll scope the work and either build it or give your team a clear spec to run with. Whatever gets made belongs to you, and there’s no lock-in.
None. I don’t take commissions from anyone and I have no favourite supplier. I’ll recommend whatever pays back fastest for you, which is sometimes boring old software and now and then no AI at all.
I work to UK GDPR from the start and prefer setups that keep your data private by default. I’m happy to talk it through with your lawyer or IT provider, and nothing of yours gets used to train anyone’s AI models.
You could, and some of them are very good. Often, though, you get a long report and a junior team learning on your time. With me you get one experienced person who has built these systems, for less than most consultancies charge to scope the work.
Get in touch
Tell me a bit about your business.
I read every message myself and usually reply within a working day.
Or email info@ginger.land