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Cobia & AssociatesFractional CTO · AI · Atlanta

Services

Leadership and delivery are usually the same engagement.

A technical diagnostic, the technology seat (IT and AI), and hands-on engineering. Named at a high level here. Scoped to the company after we have read the system.

Cobia & Associates is a fractional CTO practice for owner-led companies. Fractional means part-time senior technology leadership. We sit in that seat, make the roadmap, and write the software the roadmap requires. The same principal who sets the plan writes the software.

Fractional CTO and hands-on engineering are commonly one engagement. The diagnostic is the usual first step when the problem is not yet scoped, including when the problem is AI and nobody owns it.

Technical diagnostic

A written assessment of the systems, the risks, and what to do next, before anyone talks about a retainer. Includes a straight answer on AI: what to build, what to skip.

We read the system, talk to the people who live in it, and return ranked risks plus goals at three horizons: short-term, medium-term, and long-term. Short-term wins are in the plan. They are chosen so they build the long-term destination, not extra work that has to be thrown away later. If AI is on the table, the report says where it belongs and where a normal system would do a better job.

Where this helps

An owner who wants a second set of senior eyes before a longer engagement, a rebuild, or an AI project the company does not yet know how to scope.

What we produce

  • A written report a CEO can forward
  • Ranked risks, including which ones to ignore
  • Short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals, written so the early work is a step toward the later work
  • A clear recommendation: fractional CTO, a build, or both

What it is not. A sales workshop. If we are not a fit, the report still has to be useful.

Fractional CTO

The technology seat at the leadership table, including IT and AI, without a full-time executive search.

Roadmap, architecture, hiring, vendor and build-vs-buy calls, and reporting a CEO can take to a board or a lender, in the cadence the company already runs. That includes the AI questions the leadership table is already asking. Often paired with hands-on engineering in the same engagement.

Where this helps

Owner-led companies that need senior judgment every week, not a visitor with a deck. Especially when IT has no owner, or AI is a worry without a plan.

What we produce

  • Priorities tied to business milestones
  • What to adopt, what to ignore, and what to build
  • Architecture decisions, with the alternatives considered
  • A second voice on vendors, hiring, and offers
  • Updates a non-technical owner can use

What it is not. A standing meeting that exists to justify a retainer. If the work is only advice, we will say so and keep the engagement small.

Hands-on engineering

Production software in your accounts: the rebuild, the missing internal system, or the AI-assisted work the backlog never funded.

Production software in the client's accounts: platform rebuilds, internal tools, and the systems the backlog never funded. We use modern tools, including AI, to build that missing software quickly. A model goes into a process only where the work actually needs judgment.

Where this helps

Companies with stalled internals, a vendor stack that no longer makes sense, or an AI idea that still needs someone to write the software.

What we produce

  • Working software the client owns from day one
  • Rewrites, migrations, and production hardening
  • Internal tools for operations that still live in spreadsheets
  • AI features only where they earn a place in the process

What it is not. A staffed bench or a volume agency. The principal does the work.

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