CTO / Solution AI Architect needed on a new project

We are starting a new AI-driven software product and are looking for a senior Fractional CTO / AI Solution Architect who can help us turn the initial business concept into a clear, scalable technical product. This is not a pure coding role. We need someone who can understand the business problem, challenge assumptions, make architecture decisions, define the AI strategy, choose the right technologies, estimate the implementation effort, and help guide the product from idea to production. What You Will Own You will work directly with the founders and take responsibility for the technical direction of the project. Key areas include: Analyze the business idea, requirements, constraints, and product risks Translate business goals into a practical technical architecture Design the overall system, services, APIs, databases, integrations, and infrastructure Define the AI/LLM architecture and determine where AI actually creates value Select appropriate LLM providers, models, RAG/vector database architecture, agents, workflows, and AI infrastructure Define MVP scope and separate critical functionality from features that can wait Estimate development effort, infrastructure costs, team composition, and delivery stages Identify technical risks before development begins Recommend build-vs-buy decisions and appropriate third-party services Design for scalability, security, reliability, observability, and maintainability Review prototypes and implementation decisions Help select and guide developers if a larger engineering team is required Establish engineering standards and development processes Remain involved during implementation as a technical decision-maker when necessary Expected Deliverables During the initial engagement, we expect to produce: Technical discovery / architecture assessment Proposed system architecture AI architecture and model strategy Recommended technology stack Data architecture Infrastructure/cloud architecture Integration strategy Security and scalability considerations MVP scope Development roadmap High-level estimates Team composition recommendation Technical risks and mitigation plan Depending on the fit, the engagement may continue into implementation and ongoing Fractional CTO leadership. Ideal Background We are looking for someone with significant experience designing and delivering real-world software products. Strong candidates will have experience with several of the following: CTO, Fractional CTO, Principal Engineer, or Solution Architect responsibilities Designing SaaS or complex web platforms from scratch AI/LLM product architecture OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini or similar LLM platforms RAG, vector databases, embeddings, AI agents, tool calling, structured generation Node.js / TypeScript / NestJS Python React / Next.js PostgreSQL Redis and background processing AWS, GCP or similar cloud platforms Docker / Kubernetes / serverless architecture Microservices and distributed systems API and third-party integration architecture Security, authentication and RBAC CI/CD, monitoring and production infrastructure Experience building 0→1 products, MVPs, AI SaaS platforms, or rescuing/re-architecting existing products is highly valuable. What We Are NOT Looking For We are not looking for someone who simply waits for detailed development tickets. We want a senior technical partner who can say: what should be built, what should not be built, how it should be architected, where AI makes sense, what the main risks are, how much it should realistically cost, and how to get the product into production efficiently. You should be comfortable challenging requirements and proposing better technical or product approaches when appropriate. Engagement Initial engagement: Technical discovery + architecture phase If the collaboration works well, this can expand into: Fractional CTO involvement Architecture leadership Technical team leadership Developer selection Code/architecture reviews MVP implementation oversight Hands-on development of critical parts of the system When applying, please briefly describe: A product you architected from an early stage. Your experience designing AI/LLM systems. An example where you changed the original technical approach because you found a better solution. Whether you are comfortable combining architecture/leadership with hands-on engineering when required. Please avoid generic AI-generated applications. We are mainly interested in your reasoning, architecture experience, and ability to take technical ownership.