After the assessment
You have the roadmap and the 90-day plan; now someone has to own the execution, keep priorities honest and report to the board.
A fractional AI lead — <span class="text-accent dark:text-white">senior AI leadership, without the full-time hire</span>
Most mid-market organisations cannot justify a full-time Chief AI Officer — and the advice they get instead comes from vendors with something to sell. A fractional AI lead gives you independent, senior ownership of your AI direction, a few days a month, with the EU AI Act watched as standard.
Who it is for
Three situations where it fits
No internal AI leadership
IT is busy running IT; the business experiments alone. Decisions on tools, vendors and risks are being made by default instead of by design.
Boards & leadership teams
You want AI fluency in the room where decisions are made — and an independent voice to challenge vendor promises and internal enthusiasm alike.
The gap
A roadmap without an owner is a document
Strategy decays without ownership: vendors reframe it around their product, pilots drift, the AI Act calendar advances regardless, and a year later the board asks what came of it. The fractional model closes that gap with senior time — not a bench, not a body shop: the same person, a steady rhythm, accountability for the direction.
What it covers
Six responsibilities, one owner
Strategy & roadmap ownership
The use-case portfolio kept alive, priorities re-scored as reality changes, quick wins shipped.
Governance & AI Act watch
The register maintained, new systems classified, deadlines anticipated — compliance as a rhythm, not a scramble.
Project & vendor oversight
Scopes challenged, demos stress-tested, delivery steered — the questions vendors hope nobody asks.
Board & leadership advisory
Board-ready updates, decision memos, an honest answer in the room when it matters.
Team coaching & capability
Your people levelled up along the way, so the dependence on us decreases by design.
Architecture & make-or-buy challenge
Reference choices, sovereignty questions, build-versus-buy calls — grounded in what we run ourselves.
How it works
A steady rhythm, shaped around you
Advisory rhythm
A fixed number of days per month: leadership meetings, roadmap and register upkeep, board preparation, ad-hoc counsel in between.
Delivery oversight
The advisory rhythm plus steering of running projects and vendors: reviews, milestones, escalations — until your own owner can take over.
What you keep
- A maintained AI roadmap and AI Act register
- Decision memos and board-ready updates
- Vendor and architecture assessments
- A team that needs us less every quarter
Questions
How is this different from the AI Readiness Assessment?
The Assessment is a fixed four-week diagnostic that produces the picture and the plan. The fractional lead is what comes after: ongoing ownership of executing it. Many clients chain the two; neither requires the other.
Who do we actually get?
Mohamed Ben Haddou — founder, PhD in AI, Independent AI Expert for the European Commission — supported by the Mentis senior team where depth is needed. Not a rotating bench.
How many days a month?
Shaped around your needs — typically from one to a few days a month, agreed as a fixed monthly retainer and reviewed quarterly. We tell you honestly when you need less.
Does it replace hiring someone?
It postpones that decision until it is obvious. When you are ready for an internal owner, we help hire them and hand over — reducing your dependence on us is part of the job.
After the assessment
A roadmap without an owner is a document
The fractional AI lead keeps the plan honest: a few senior days a month owning strategy, governance and vendor oversight.
Next step
Put a senior owner on your AI direction
Tell us where you stand in a 30-minute debrief; if a fractional rhythm fits, you get a proposal with a fixed monthly retainer within one business day.