Fractional Chief AI Officer for PE portfolio companies.
For sector-focused PE platforms in CPA, law, and construction. We deploy a repeatable AI playbook — embedded leadership, source-of-truth layer, agentic infrastructure — across multiple portcos with shared operating patterns. EBITDA uplift, not AI theater.
Most PE-led AI playbooks fail for a structural reason: a diversified portfolio does not share an operating model. A SaaS portco, a manufacturing portco, and a healthcare portco need three different AI strategies, three different stacks, three different change-management approaches. There is no “portfolio AI playbook” — only individual implementations that look superficially similar.
That changes inside sector-focused PE platforms. A CPA roll-up of 6 portcos shares Karbon, CCH, and Sage Intacct. A law firm platform of 4 portcos shares iManage and Aderant. A construction roll-up shares Procore, Sage 300, and Autodesk. Same stack, same workflows, same operating leverage problem. That is where one playbook compounds across the portfolio — and that is where we work.
Where this fits in the value-creation plan
AI implementation, when it is shipped rather than studied, drives EBITDA in three measurable ways:
- Senior labor leverage. Reducing the hours per dollar of revenue by automating the work that should never reach a partner or senior executive's desk.
- Realization and pricing power. Surfacing under-billing, capturing change orders, accelerating cash conversion.
- Pipeline and growth. AI-driven content and lead generation systems that produce consistent commercial activity rather than dependent on individual heroics.
Each engagement deliverable maps to a dollar number a CFO can defend — and an operating partner can put on a quarterly review slide.
Where we have shipped the most proof
The construction vertical has produced our most concrete results. The same playbook applies to PE-backed construction platforms:
- $1.4M quarterly revenue from an AI Authority Engine deployed at one construction portco.
- 5,000 leads at ~$5 per lead via an AI-generated zoning intelligence funnel — repeatable across geographies for any construction portco.
- 300 leads from a fractional AI CMO module that produced consistent pipeline where the in-house team could not.
The CPA and law verticals are earlier in our case-study build, but the playbook is the same: connect the stack, deploy the agents, ship the work, measure the lift.
How a platform engagement runs
The natural sequence:
- Operating-partner conversation. Confirm vertical fit and platform thesis.
- One-portco AI Readiness Audit. Two-week engagement at the platform's most ready portco. $7,500. Written deliverable usable as the platform-level template.
- Anchor portco retainer. Fractional CAIO + agentic deployment at the audit portco. Build the connectors, the agent templates, and the governance documentation as platform assets.
- Portfolio expansion. Roll the playbook to additional portcos — each subsequent deployment is materially faster because the integrations, templates, and training materials already exist. Per-portco cost drops; speed-to-value accelerates.
The first PE relationship typically takes 4–9 months from initial conversation to anchor portco signature. Once one portco is live and producing measurable lift, the operating partner can introduce us across the rest of the platform with much less friction.
Why sector focus matters
We do not pretend to serve every PE portfolio. Our focus mirrors the verticals we know how to ship into:
- PE-backed CPA and accounting platforms ($20M–$100M portcos)
- PE-backed law firm platforms ($20M–$150M portcos)
- PE-backed construction roll-ups ($50M+ portcos)
Inside these platforms, the playbook is portable. Outside them, it is not — and we will tell you that on the first call rather than burn six months pretending it is.
Frequently asked questions
How does this work across a PE portfolio?
We work best with sector-focused PE platforms — funds whose portfolios concentrate in one of our verticals (CPA roll-ups, law firm platforms, or construction roll-ups). Shared stacks and shared operating playbooks mean one engagement can compound across 5–15 portcos, rather than starting from scratch every time. Generalist diversified portfolios are not a fit.
Do you sell to operating partners or to portfolio company CEOs?
Both, sequentially. Operating partners introduce us across the portfolio; portco CEOs are the buyers and the day-to-day clients. The first PE relationship typically takes 4–9 months from initial conversation to first portco engagement; subsequent portcos move much faster because the playbook, integrations, and governance are already built.
How do you tie AI implementation to value creation?
Every retainer maps to EBITDA-relevant outcomes: senior labor leverage (fewer hours per dollar of revenue), realization rate improvement, working capital and AR acceleration, project margin recovery, and revenue growth via AI-driven lead generation. The audit deliverable includes ROI projections per use case in dollars, in a form an operating partner can put in front of an investment committee.
What size portfolio company is this for?
Mid-market portcos in our three verticals: $20M–$150M CPA roll-ups and law firm platforms, $50M+ construction platform roll-ups. Larger than founder-led shops; smaller than the firms that already have an internal Chief AI Officer or VP of Innovation.
Can you do platform-wide implementations rather than one portco at a time?
Yes. Platform engagements are how this scales. We build the integrations and agent templates once, then deploy them across the portfolio with portco-specific configuration. Pricing reflects the multi-portco scope; the per-portco cost drops materially after the first two engagements.