fractional cto · ai engineering
One partner who ships
like a whole team.
Senior technical leadership, hands-on delivery, and AI-native engineering. Brought into your business exactly when you need it, and only for as long as you do.
Currently accepting 2 new clients · replies within a business day
You're building something real. You just need the right technical partner.
Three kinds of teams I work with most. If you don't see yourself here, the call is still free.
Early-stage startups
Seed → Series A — You have a vision and momentum but no CTO. I set the technical foundation right the first time: architecture, stack, the first hires, and the early code everything else gets built on.
SMBs modernizing their stack
Growth stage — Your systems slow the business down and the backlog only grows. You need someone who thinks about the business, writes the roadmap, and then actually ships against it.
AI & automation adopters
Any stage — You know AI should be reshaping your operations. You're just not sure where to start, or who to trust. I've shipped agentic systems in production, not in a demo.
I build it, not just plan it.
I advise and I build, usually in the same week. Nothing gets lost between deciding something and shipping it.
Technical strategy & roadmap
Clear architectural direction and a build sequence that prioritizes business outcomes over engineering vanity. A plan you can actually ship against.
AI & automation integration
AI work isn't about prompting. It's about context. I build the pipelines and retrieval systems that make AI outputs reliable enough for real customers.
Agentic OS design & implementation
A foundational layer that coordinates multiple AI agents to plan, execute, and monitor multi-step business goals: orchestration, memory, and governance for complex workflows, with human oversight kept firmly in the loop.
Full-stack development
Astro, React, Node, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, infrastructure. Hands-on the moment you need hands. Not a deck handed off to someone else.
Agentic engineering
Multi-step agents that reason, plan, and act through tools, running as production systems inside your workflows. Not weekend experiments.
Engineering leadership
Hiring support, code-review culture, technical interviews, and process that fits your stage, plus ramping your team on agentic workflows.
Infrastructure & performance
Migrations, deployment pipelines, cost reduction. Consistently 70–90% improvements across platforms. Speed is a feature; so is a calmer bill.
the 70 / 30 difference
One engineer who ships like a team. Here's why that's possible now.
Most fractional CTOs give you judgment or hands, rarely both. I deliver both, through a way of working I call 70/30 Engineering. AI agents handle roughly 70% of the mechanical work: scaffolding, boilerplate, test coverage, the first draft of nearly everything. Senior human judgment owns the 30% that decides whether software is any good: architecture, edge cases, security, and knowing what not to build.
It isn't vibe-coding and it isn't hype. It's a disciplined practice that turns one senior engineer into the output of a full team. The proof is in what it ships.
Anthropic Certified Architect — building AI systems to the standard the model-makers recommend.
Work with me the way that fits.
Three ways to work together. Every engagement starts with the same free 30-minute call.
Advisory
Monthly retainer · min. 3 months
You have engineers. You need someone senior enough to catch the decisions they don't know they're making. A CTO on speed dial who actually picks up.
- Weekly strategy & architecture calls
- Same-day async Q&A between sessions
- Roadmap & technology reviews
- Code and architecture audits on request
Best for: teams that want senior judgment in the room.
Embedded Partner
Monthly retainer · min. 3 months · ★ Most popular
Everything in Advisory, plus I'm actually building with you. I sit inside your team and own real deliverables. One engagement, no handoff lag.
- Active development alongside your team
- Ownership of architecture & PR reviews
- Hiring support & technical interviews
- Mentorship on agentic workflows
Best for: scaling teams that need a builder and a strategist in one.
Project Sprint
Fixed scope · fixed fee
You have a specific, defined problem: a migration, an AI system, a performance overhaul. We scope it, agree on the outcome, and I deliver it.
- Clear deliverable agreed upfront
- AI pipeline & automation builds
- Platform & database migrations
- Performance & infrastructure overhauls
Best for: a well-defined challenge that needs doing properly, once.
the person behind it
I'm Roger Stringer, a product engineer and full-stack developer with 27+ years of building software that ships and scales. Data McFly is how I work with startups and businesses that need senior technical leadership without the cost of a full-time executive hire.
My background spans the whole stack: frontend to infrastructure, database design to agentic AI pipelines. Past roles include senior engineering at Directus and Crowdcast, and leading product engineering for AI-native products. What separates me from most fractional CTOs is simple. I build. With AI-augmented workflows in my toolkit, a single engagement reliably delivers the output of a full team.
The right engineer doesn't just solve the problem in front of you — they prevent the next three you didn't see coming.
I take on a small number of clients at a time, intentionally, so every engagement gets the attention it deserves.
Stack: Astro · React · Node.js · TypeScript · PostgreSQL · Directus · n8n · Drizzle · Vercel AI SDK · Fly.io · Agentic AI
— Roger
let's talk
Ready to build something that ships?
A 30-minute conversation about where you're headed and whether I'm the right fit to help you get there. No pitch, no pressure.
Currently accepting 2 new clients · replies within a business day