Fractional CTO/CIO leadership for mid-market

Get senior CTO/CIO judgment before your next expensive technology decision.

George Huene helps mid-market companies clarify Salesforce, ERP, data, AI, cybersecurity, reporting, and vendor decisions — without hiring a full-time CTO or CIO before the business is ready.

  • 90-day technology roadmap
  • Salesforce, CRM, ERP, data, AI, cybersecurity, and vendor alignment
  • Executive leadership without full-time executive cost

Best fit: $10M-$300M revenue · 100-1,500 employees · founder-led, family-owned, or PE-backed operating companies

Agentic AI: Beyond ChatGPT Prompts and Into Real Business Workflows

25+ yearsTechnology, CRM, delivery, and executive advisory experience
Business-firstStrategy, operations, finance, IT, and vendors aligned
Assessment from $5KA fixed-scope way to start before committing to ongoing support
George + teamSenior advisory backed by implementation depth

The common leadership gap

You have technology activity, but no senior owner.

Most mid-market companies do not fail because nobody is working hard. They struggle because no senior business-facing leader owns the roadmap across systems, vendors, reporting, risk, AI, and execution.

Talk through your current friction →

Systems do not talk to each other

CRM, ERP, finance, operations, service, and reporting tools create competing versions of the truth.

IT is busy but not strategic

The team handles tickets and projects, but leadership still lacks prioritization, visibility, and decision support.

Vendors are everywhere

Spend keeps growing while architecture, accountability, and ROI remain unclear.

AI pressure is rising

Ownership wants action, but you need practical use cases, guardrails, data readiness, and a sane sequence.

What leadership gets quickly

A practical first 90 days, not an open-ended consulting project.

The goal is to create executive clarity fast: what is broken, what matters most, who owns it, what should stop, and what should happen next.

First 30 days

Assess the current state

Interview leadership and review systems, vendors, reporting, risks, active projects, and ownership gaps.

Outcome: clear risk visibility.
Days 31-60

Find the leverage points

Identify priority gaps, duplicate spend, reporting problems, project bottlenecks, and decision friction.

Outcome: leadership sees where technology is helping, hurting, or drifting.
Days 61-90

Build the action roadmap

Create the roadmap with owners, sequence, budget logic, governance, and next-step recommendations.

Outcome: a plan the CEO, COO, CFO, IT team, and vendors can execute.

Book directly with George

Schedule your free 30-minute CTO/CIO advisory call.

Use this call to talk through the technology friction creating the most business risk now: reporting, ERP, CRM, AI, cybersecurity, vendor sprawl, operations, or lack of executive ownership.

Good topics for the call

  • We do not trust our reporting.
  • Our systems do not talk to each other.
  • We need an AI roadmap, but not hype.
  • We are considering ERP or CRM modernization.
  • Our vendors are hard to manage.
  • We need a technology leader, but not full-time yet.

No obligation. No generic pitch. If there is not a fit, George will tell you directly.

Who this helps

Different executives feel the technology problem differently.

The same systems issue can look like growth friction to the CEO, execution friction to the COO, spend risk to the CFO, and value-creation risk to the board.

CEO / President

We are making bigger technology decisions, but I do not have one senior owner.

Creates: executive roadmap and decision cadence.

COO

Our systems, teams, and vendors are slowing operations down.

Creates: better process visibility and clearer execution priorities.

CFO

Technology spend is rising, but I cannot clearly see ROI, risk, or accountability.

Creates: better spend discipline and budget sequencing.

PE Operating Partner

This company needs technology maturity without waiting a year to recruit a CIO.

Creates: a practical value-creation roadmap.

IT Director

Leadership wants strategy, but my team is overloaded.

Creates: executive air cover and fewer conflicting demands.

Best-fit companies

Built for mid-market companies at an inflection point.

George is a strong fit when technology now affects margin, speed, risk, and growth, but the company is not yet ready to recruit a full-time CTO/CIO.

Company profile

$10M-$300M in revenue, typically 100-1,500 employees, often founder-led, family-owned, or PE-backed.

Operating reality

Multiple locations, legacy systems, manual reporting, vendor sprawl, operational complexity, or post-acquisition integration.

Buyer titles

CEO, President, Owner, COO, CFO, PE operating partner, board member, or senior operator accountable for growth.

Trigger events

ERP/CRM initiative, AI pressure, cybersecurity concern, reporting failure, acquisition, vendor dispute, stalled modernization, or margin pressure.

ManufacturingIndustrial servicesDistributionMulti-location servicesHealthcare servicesConstruction & field servicesLogistics
Mid-market operating leaders reviewing performance in a modern manufacturing and distribution environment

Salesforce consulting bridge

When the CTO issue is also a Salesforce execution issue, strategy and delivery need to stay connected.

Many mid-market technology problems show up inside Salesforce: unreliable pipeline reporting, weak adoption, disconnected service workflows, duplicate data, stalled integrations, or a CRM project that no longer matches how the business actually operates. George can help leadership decide what Salesforce should own, what should integrate with it, and which changes should be sequenced first.

Salesforce roadmap

Clarify whether the next move should be optimization, implementation recovery, integration, reporting, Marketing Cloud, Service Cloud, or user adoption.

CRM + ERP integration

Define which system owns customer, order, finance, service, and operational data so leadership can trust the numbers.

Executive dashboards

Translate CEO, COO, CFO, sales, and service needs into practical reporting requirements and governance.

Implementation leadership

Use Able.Digital's Salesforce delivery depth when the roadmap requires configuration, development, integration, data cleanup, or managed support.

What this is and is not

Senior CTO/CIO judgment, not another disconnected vendor.

George does not replace valuable IT teams, MSPs, software partners, or vendors. He helps leadership decide what should happen, why it matters, who owns it, and how it should be sequenced.

Comparison of MSPs, IT consultants, software agencies, AI advisors, full-time CTOs and Able.Digital Fractional CTO/CIO leadership.
OptionWhat they usually doWhere George fits
MSPHandles infrastructure, devices, support tickets, and day-to-day IT operations.Helps executives decide what technology should do for the business.
IT consultantSolves a defined technical problem or project.Owns the cross-functional roadmap across leadership, IT, vendors, systems, and operations.
Software agencyBuilds applications or integrations.Helps determine what should be built, bought, fixed, stopped, or sequenced.
AI advisorOften focuses on tools, pilots, or broad AI strategy.Prioritizes AI use cases based on workflow, data readiness, ROI, governance, and risk.
Full-time CTO/CIOSenior executive hire with ongoing salary, benefits, and recruiting risk.Provides senior judgment fractionally until the business is ready for a permanent executive.

Technology Leadership Assessment

A fixed-scope diagnostic before you make another expensive technology decision.

The assessment gives leadership a practical picture of where the business is exposed, where momentum is being lost, and what the next 90 days should look like. It is designed for leadership teams that need a decision document, not a generic technology audit.

Leadership team reviewing a 90-day technology roadmap with priorities, owners, timing, and next steps

What George reviews

  • CRM, ERP, finance, operations, reporting, data, AI, cybersecurity, and custom tools
  • Active vendors, contracts, responsibilities, and gaps in accountability
  • Current technology projects and where they are stalled
  • Reporting quality and decision visibility
  • Security, access, governance, and risk exposure
  • AI readiness, practical use cases, and data limitations

What you receive

  • Executive summary of the highest-risk and highest-value issues
  • 90-day priority roadmap
  • Vendor and systems ownership map
  • Recommended decision sequence
  • Budget and execution considerations
  • Clear next-step options: fix internally, use vendors, or engage Able.Digital fractionally

Works with your current team

This should strengthen your IT team, not undermine it.

George gives leadership a senior technology owner across business priorities, vendors, systems, data, risk, and execution. In most engagements, the internal IT team remains essential. The difference is that they get clearer priorities, better executive alignment, and fewer conflicting demands.

  • Clarifies what leadership actually needs from IT.
  • Translates business priorities into a practical roadmap.
  • Gives IT better executive air cover.
  • Reduces random requests and vendor confusion.
  • Identifies where outside vendors should support the internal team.
Portrait of a calm, experienced senior technology advisor in a professional office

Representative outcome snapshots

The work is practical: clarify ownership, reduce waste, improve visibility, and move faster.

Use approved client metrics or named references when available. Until then, these snapshots show the situations this service is designed to address.

Disconnected Salesforce, CRM, ERP, and reporting

Clarifies: which systems own which data, where manual workarounds exist, and what reporting leadership can trust.

Value: better decisions and less time debating numbers.

Vendor sprawl

Clarifies: which vendors are strategic, duplicative, underperforming, or missing ownership.

Value: lower waste and clearer accountability.

AI pressure from ownership or board

Clarifies: which use cases are worth pursuing, what data is required, and what governance is needed.

Value: practical AI roadmap without distraction.

Stalled modernization project

Clarifies: why the project is stuck, who owns decisions, and what sequence gets progress moving.

Value: faster execution and reduced project risk.

PE-backed growth or acquisition

Clarifies: which systems, data, and security issues could slow integration or value creation.

Value: cleaner operating visibility and faster post-close alignment.

Why George

Senior, business-first CTO/CIO guidance backed by a delivery team.

George is positioned for companies that need more than infrastructure management and more than advice. The value is in translating business goals into a technology roadmap that leadership, operations, finance, IT, and vendors can actually execute.

Business-facing, not gadget-facing

Focused on growth, productivity, reporting, governance, and decision quality.

CRM, customer operations, and data credibility

Useful when customer lifecycle, service operations, reporting, and executive dashboards all matter at once.

Architecture + delivery + executive communication

Bridges strategy, systems, vendors, and execution without losing the business context.

Leadership team organizing fragmented business systems into a clear executive technology roadmap

FAQ

Questions clients usually ask before they reach out.

How do I know if we need a Fractional CTO or CIO?

If technology is affecting growth, reporting, operations, AI decisions, cybersecurity, customer experience, or vendor spend and no one at the executive level fully owns the roadmap, you are likely in the right zone.

How is this different from an MSP, IT director, or consultant?

MSPs and IT teams are often valuable, but they usually do not own executive prioritization across finance, operations, systems, vendors, risk, and business outcomes. This work is senior CTO/CIO governance and executive prioritization.

Will this replace our internal IT leader?

Usually no. A good Fractional CTO/CIO should make the internal team more effective by clarifying priorities, improving executive communication, and reducing conflicting demands.

Should we start with ongoing support or an assessment?

Most companies should start with the Technology Leadership Assessment. It creates a practical, low-risk way to define priorities before committing to ongoing support.

Can this lead into Salesforce consulting or implementation?

Yes. If Salesforce is part of the problem or opportunity, the assessment can define the roadmap, integration priorities, data model gaps, adoption issues, reporting needs, and implementation sequence before Able.Digital or another delivery partner executes the work.

What companies are not a good fit?

Tiny companies looking only for low-cost IT execution, startups needing a product-only CTO, and businesses that already have a strong full-time CTO/CIO with clear authority are usually not the best fit.

Tell George what is creating the most technology friction.

Use this form if you want to ask about the Technology Leadership Assessment, share context before booking, or request a follow-up from George.

Able Digital NA LLC

Email: cto@able.digital

Phone: +1 (312) 625-8490

Address: 680 N Lake Shore Dr Ste 110, Chicago IL 60611

After you submit the form, you can choose a meeting time on George's calendar.