Fractional VP of AI Engineering

AI coding agents made implementation faster but increased error rates and moved the bottlenecks to planning and review. I help engineering teams smooth delivery and improve quality end to end.

I bring decades of experience in AI engineering and software to help companies build the leadership, systems, and engineering teams required to ship great products faster.

Eric Elliott
Adobe Zumba YouTube WSJ
20+ years building products · Led Adobe Firefly platform · Author of Composing Software · Open source: 20M+ weekly downloads

Track Record

Proven across generative AI, engineering leadership, security, and products at scale

Eric Elliott is a software engineering executive, computer scientist, author, security architect, and open-source creator with more than 20 years of experience building products and leading engineering teams.

Eric combines executive leadership with deep technical experience in AI-driven development, architecture, security, developer experience, engineering performance, and team building.

What You Get

What Eric Helps You Build

Capabilities

Services

01

AI Engineering

Turn ad hoc agent conversations into repeatable AI-driven delivery systems with focused context, reusable skills, specialized agents, staged workflows, automated testing, evaluations, and quality gates.

02

Engineering Leadership

Technical strategy, engineering management, delivery performance, executive planning, and leadership coaching.

03

Architecture and Security

Architecture review, technical risk, platform strategy, reliability, application security, and major technical decisions.

04

Team Building

Role design, hiring plans, candidate evaluation, onboarding, and pre-vetted contract-to-hire engineers.

Engagement Options

Engagement Options

Fractional VP

$6,000/month

Approximately one day per week. For companies that need senior technology leadership without a full-time executive.

Book a Discovery Call
  • Technical and AI engineering strategy
  • Architecture and delivery oversight
  • Engineering leadership and planning
  • Coding-agent workflow guidance
  • Team design and candidate evaluation
  • Monthly executive reporting
  • Email and chat access

Three-month minimum commitment.

Interim VP

$24,000/month

Approximately four days per week. For companies that need near-full-time leadership during transitions or VP searches.

Book a Discovery Call

Everything in Embedded Fractional VP, plus:

  • Executive ownership of the engineering organization
  • Direct leadership of managers and teams
  • Board and investor communication
  • Delivery, staffing, and technical risk management
  • Major launch or transformation leadership
  • Permanent VP of Engineering search and transition

Three-month minimum commitment.

Team Building

Contract-to-Hire

Need engineers who can execute your technical strategy? Eric places contract-to-hire engineers tailored to your team. We'll discuss the role, build a job description and vetting rubric, and hire for your company's specific needs.

15% of first-year base salary when the contractor converts to full-time employment.

Process

How It Works

01

Assess

Evaluate your engineering organization, AI workflows, delivery velocity, and technical risk.

02

Prioritize

Identify the highest-leverage opportunities and build a phased action plan.

03

Implement

Execute with your team: workflows, architecture, processes, and leadership aligned to the plan.

04

Measure

Track delivery velocity, quality, and AI leverage to prove ROI and guide next steps.

Best Fit

Ideal Clients

Questions

FAQ

What does a Fractional VP do?

A Fractional VP provides senior technology leadership on a part-time basis: technical strategy, architecture oversight, engineering management, team building, and executive communication without the cost of a full-time hire.

How is this different from AI consulting?

AI consulting focuses on tool selection and use cases. Eric builds the full engineering system: leadership, architecture, testing, security, delivery processes, and AI workflows integrated into your team's daily practice.

Can Eric work with an existing VP?

Yes. Eric complements an existing VP of Engineering with specialized AI engineering expertise, outside perspective on strategy, and hands-on implementation support.

Can Eric support a non-technical founder?

Absolutely. Eric translates technical complexity into clear business decisions, helping founders evaluate risk, hire wisely, and communicate credibly with investors and customers.

How does Eric work with investors?

Eric provides portfolio companies with technical due diligence, engineering assessments, and fractional leadership to de-risk investments and accelerate portfolio growth.

Does Eric provide engineers?

Yes. Through the contract-to-hire program, Eric provides pre-vetted engineers selected for AI-assisted development, testing discipline, and production readiness.

How does contract-to-hire work?

You engage pre-vetted engineers as contractors with no placement fee. If you convert them to full-time, the fee is 15% of first-year base salary.

What happens during the first 30 days?

A full assessment of your engineering organization, AI workflows, architecture, security, and team, followed by a prioritized action plan with clear milestones.

Can Eric help hire a permanent VP?

Yes. As part of Interim VP engagements, Eric leads the search, evaluation, and transition to a permanent VP of Engineering.

What is the minimum commitment?

Fractional, Embedded, and Interim VP engagements require a three-month minimum.

Is the engagement remote?

Yes. All engagements are remote.

Contact Eric

Tell me about your team and what you need.

Experienced engineering guidance for growing teams.

Get the leadership, systems, and team required to deliver better products faster.