Home/Fractional CAIO
Fractional CAIO

A Chief AI Officer —
Without the full-time hire.

Senior AI leadership for companies that need the judgment but can't justify the $300K+ salary.

12 yearsEnterprise AI
Multiple patentsAI & vision
Top 1%Expert Vetted
Your fractional CAIO
Michael Dykier

CEO & founder, DAS Labs. 12 years shipping enterprise AI in surgery, nuclear, military, and operations.

FormatMonthly retainer
CadenceWeekly sessions + on-call
Backed byDAS Labs engineering team
Lock-inNone
What a fractional CAIO does

The judgment your AI strategy needs.

A fractional CAIO gives you seasoned AI leadership — the strategic thinking, governance instincts, and vendor judgment — without the overhead of a full-time executive.

01

AI readiness assessment

Evaluate your organization's data, infrastructure, and team maturity to determine where AI actually fits.

02

Vendor evaluation

Cut through sales pitches. Know which AI tools and platforms are worth your money and which are theater.

03

Governance framework

Establish policies, evaluation criteria, and guardrails before AI decisions become expensive mistakes.

04

Team hiring direction

Know who to hire, what skills actually matter, and when to build versus buy.

05

Board-level AI risk communication

Translate technical AI risk into language your board understands and can act on.

06

Strategic roadmap

A sequenced plan that connects AI investments to business outcomes — not a slide deck that gathers dust.

Who it's for

Companies that need AI leadership now.

You know AI matters. You don't have anyone internally who can separate signal from noise.

Fit 01

$5M–$100M revenue companies

Big enough to benefit from AI, not big enough to justify a $300K+ Chief AI Officer.

Fit 02

Orgs exploring AI without internal leadership

You have engineers but no one with the AI architecture judgment to set direction.

Fit 03

Companies burned by failed AI projects

You spent money. It didn't work. You need someone who knows why before you try again.

Why Michael Dykier

Not a consultant. An engineer who ships.

Your fractional CAIO isn't reading whitepapers — he's built and deployed AI in the most demanding environments on the planet.

Track record

12 years enterprise AI

From startups to nuclear plants. Production systems that run 24/7 in environments where failure isn't an option.

Recognition

CTO, eXeX — TIME Best Inventions 2024

Co-founded a surgical AI platform selected for Apple Vision Pro. Real-time instrument detection in live surgery.

IP

Multiple patents

Real-time object recognition, multi-sensor spatial intelligence, 3D reconstruction. Original research, not licensed tech.

Philosophy

Deterministic-first thesis

AI only where it creates differentiated value. Governance scaffolding governs probabilistic models. No AI for AI's sake.

How it works

Simple engagement. No lock-in.

Senior AI leadership on a monthly retainer. Backed by the full DAS Labs engineering team when you need to move from strategy to execution.

Format
Monthly retainer
Cadence
Weekly sessions + on-call
Backed by
DAS Labs engineering
Lock-in
None
Bold thinking, dynamic solutions

Ready for AI leadership
that actually ships?

15 minutes. No pitch deck. Just an honest conversation about where AI fits in your business and what it would take to get it right.