Senior technical judgment for companies adopting AI — without hiring a full-time CTO.
Prototype projects, fractional CTO advisory, and hands-on AI mentoring for founders, engineering leaders, and small teams. Twenty years of building systems, now focused on helping you ship real work with modern AI tools.
Services
Prototype Projects
Fixed-bid MVP engagements from $30,000, scoped to your goals and timeline.
A fixed-bid MVP engagement for teams that need speed without guesswork. We align on scope and outcomes first, then deliver a production-ready pilot in 8–12 weeks with clean handoff materials and a clear path to scale.
Fractional CTO
Senior technical leadership, two tiers — an Advisor tier for ongoing judgment and a Working CTO tier for deeper involvement when a specific initiative is live.
From $2,400/mo.
AI Mentoring
Hands-on guidance for engineers and teams adopting modern AI coding tools. Individual sessions, plus The AI Adoption Cadence — a weekly retainer for small teams.
From $150/hr.
What clients say
Starting as a senior IT professional at a small company, I was navigating major skill gaps across our existing portfolio. Bas at SSA showed me a practical path to integrating AI into my daily workflows. Building a solid foundation in context and artifact best practices early made everything that followed easier. Today, I use these approaches every day and no longer feel overwhelmed by the scale of work in front of our team.
Rob Brock · Senior IT Professional
Within the first few weeks, we had a repeatable AI workflow that reduced handoff friction, improved delivery speed, and gave the team a shared operating model we could scale.
Client outcome snapshot
How We Work
Our philosophy centers on understanding your business first, then building technology solutions that serve it. No cookie-cutter approaches—just honest assessment and practical guidance.
Listen & Learn
We invest time understanding your business context, goals, and constraints. Expect straightforward questions and visual diagrams to confirm we’re aligned.
Define Success
Before proposing solutions, we establish clear metrics for success. How will we know this worked? What does better look like?
Start Lean, Learn Fast
We favor minimum viable solutions over extensive planning. Real-world use teaches lessons no amount of preparation can provide.
Smart Resourcing
We handle what makes sense directly and partner with specialists for defined work outside our expertise. Our goal is delivering value at the lowest reasonable cost.
From the blog
- The Self-Funded Searcher’s Guide: When a Fractional CTO Beats a Full-Time Hire
- Why Fractional CTOs Are the Secret Weapon for Post-Acquisition Technology Transitions
- Bridging the Gap: Translating Technical Findings for Non-Technical Searchers
- How Technical Dependencies Impact Post-Acquisition Transition Plans
Systems Sense Advisory 