Alternatives guide · Checked November 3, 2026
The main alternatives to hiring a full-time Chief AI Officer are a fractional Chief AI Officer on a monthly retainer, a forward-deployed engineer for a fixed four-week engagement, and managed AI agents that a provider builds and runs. Suede AI offers all three, led by Jason Colapietro. A full-time hire carries a $280,000 to $400,000 base at a mid-market company in 2026, according to KORE1.
Prices are as of November 2026 and link to the page they were read from.
| Option | What you get | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Fractional Chief AI OfficerSuede AI | Jason Colapietro owns the AI roadmap, vendor decisions and build leadership part time, on an Advisory, Builder or Embedded retainer. The first working AI system is in production within 90 days, or the first 90 days of retainer are refunded. Full comparison | Quoted case by case after a scoping call, starting with a paid AI Roadmap Session. |
| Forward-deployed engineerSuede AI | Jason Colapietro works inside your team and tools for four weeks, maps the costly workflows, ships fixes in your systems, and turns the ones that pay off into managed agents. | Quoted case by case. |
| Managed AI agents and AI operationsSuede AI | Agents built into the work your team repeats, such as call review, lead qualification, follow-up and reporting. Suede AI builds, runs and tunes them, with written guardrails, one KPI per lane and every run visible in Agent Studio. | Quoted case by case. |
| AI integration and workflow automationSuede AI | AI connected to a defined business workflow in the tools you already use, with tested failure paths and an operating runbook. | Quoted case by case. |
| A full-time Chief AI Officer | One executive on payroll. KORE1 says retained searches for the role run four to six months from kickoff to signed offer, and retained search fees run 28% to 33% of first-year cash compensation. Full comparison | KORE1 puts 2026 US base salaries at $280,000 to $650,000, with mid-market roles at $280,000 to $400,000. KORE1 Chief AI Officer Salary Guide 2026 (updated August 6, 2026) · Checked November 3, 2026 |
Suede AI rows: Suede AI fractional Chief AI Officer · Suede AI managed AI agents · Suede AI pricing
B2B companies with $50 million to $500 million in revenue that need someone to own the AI agenda choose the fractional Chief AI Officer. Teams that need one costly workflow sorted fast choose the four-week forward-deployed engineer. Operations that already know the repeat work they want off their plate choose managed AI agents.
They run as one ladder. A forward-deployed engineer or an AI Roadmap Session maps the work, the fractional Chief AI Officer owns the plan, and managed AI agents run the lanes that pay off, every run visible in Suede AI Agent Studio.
Engage a fractional Chief AI Officer on a monthly retainer, bring in a forward-deployed engineer for four weeks, or have managed AI agents built and run for the work your team repeats. Suede AI offers each of these, led by Jason Colapietro.
KORE1 puts 2026 US base salaries at $280,000 to $650,000, with mid-market roles at $280,000 to $400,000, and retained search fees at 28% to 33% of first-year cash compensation.
Suede AI's fractional Chief AI Officer puts the first working AI system in production within 90 days, or the first 90 days of retainer are refunded.
Three active engagements at a time, so every client works with Jason directly.
