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Cobia & AssociatesFractional CTO · AI · Atlanta

Approach

You can inspect the work early. Not a kickoff show.

If the fit is wrong, that becomes obvious before anyone talks about a retainer. That is true whether the worry is AI, a competitor, or IT that has no owner.

  1. Systems audit

    Access the environment. Talk to the people who live in it. Get it running. If it will not run, that is finding number one. If AI is the question, we look at the actual work, not the pitch deck.

  2. What to do next

    Ranked risks, what to ignore, and goals at three horizons. Short-term wins are recommended when they build the long-term goal. We do not buy speed by creating work that has to be undone.

  3. Leadership and delivery

    A regular leadership cadence plus shipped work. Architecture calls get written down. The same principal who set the plan opens the work.

  4. You own the work

    The client owns the code, the accounts, and the reasoning from day one. We document and walk through so the work is not trapped in our heads.

Outside the scope

  • A volume development agency.
  • A rented bench of unused developers.
  • A model bolted onto a process that needs ordinary software.
  • The technology seat without anyone to execute the plan.

Questions we hear first

Do I need AI in my business?
Most owner-led companies need a plan before they need a model. Some work should be ordinary software you never had time to build. Some work is a real opening for a competitor. We separate those, write it down, and build what is worth building.
What if competitors use AI to leapfrog us?
That is a leadership problem before it is a tools problem. We sit in the technology seat, look at where a competitor could actually pass you, and build the software that closes the gap. Waiting for a perfect AI strategy is how companies get leapfrogged.
Where do I start with AI?
Start with the work, not a tool. A conversation, then usually a written diagnostic: what to do this quarter, what to ignore, and whether the next step is a fractional CTO retainer, a build, or both. You are not buying a science project. You are buying the person who will ship it.
What does AI strategy look like for an owner-led company?
For an owner-led, non-tech company, AI strategy is not a lab and not a vendor tour. It is an honest read of the operation you already run: where a model would change a real process, where ordinary software is enough, and what to build this quarter so a competitor cannot leapfrog you.
Who should run IT at my company?
Someone senior still has to own IT. If you do not have a full-time CTO, a fractional CTO is that seat without a full-time executive search. At Cobia & Associates the same principal who owns IT also writes the software, including the AI work, so the plan does not wait on a second vendor.
What is a fractional CTO?
A fractional CTO is senior technology leadership on a part-time retainer: roadmap, architecture, hiring, IT, and the technology seat at the leadership table, without a full-time executive hire. At Cobia & Associates the role also includes writing production software, not only advising.
Who is Cobia & Associates?
Cobia & Associates is a fractional CTO practice for owner-led companies. You work with Frank Cobia, the principal. It is leadership and delivery in one engagement, not a staffed agency, and not a résumé on a domain.
Who actually does the work?
You work with the principal who will do the work. When a specialist is genuinely required, we say so and help you find one.
Do you only advise, or do you write code?
Both, usually in the same engagement. The technology seat and the production work sit with the same principal, so the plan does not wait on a second vendor.
How do engagements start?
A conversation, then usually a time-boxed diagnostic. If there is a fit, we agree a fractional CTO cadence, a build, or both. Pricing is scoped to the work.
How is a fractional CTO different from a software agency?
An agency takes a spec and staffs a project. A fractional CTO sits in the leadership cadence, decides what should be built, and is accountable for the technology function. This practice can also ship the work, but the owner is buying judgment and ownership, not a bench of unused developers.
When should a company hire a full-time CTO instead?
When the technology function is large enough to occupy a full-time executive, typically a steady engineering organization that needs a dedicated leader every day. Until then, a search is a long, expensive hire for a part-time need.
Who owns the work?
The client. Accounts, domains, and intellectual property stay in your name from day one. Architecture decisions are written down so they survive the engagement.
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