Fractional CTO

Technology Leadership.

I step in as a fractional CTO, or as an independent voice on your board. Fourteen years building and scaling software companies, focused on the decisions that are expensive to get wrong.

When founders bring me in

You probably know the feeling

  • Your roadmap and your engineering reality have drifted apart.
  • You are raising, and investors want to see real technical leadership.
  • AI is reshaping your space and you need a plan, not hype.
  • A big build-or-buy or architecture decision is coming, and it is expensive to get wrong.
  • Your team is shipping slowly and you cannot tell if it is people, process, or technology.

How we work together

Two ways to work together

Same senior judgment, shaped to where you are. We pick the one that fits on the first call.

Fractional CTO

Ongoing, a few days a month.

I own your technology direction and work alongside your team, so you get senior leadership without a full-time hire.

Best for: You have product and traction but no senior technical leader.

Board & technical adviser

Periodic, at the leadership level.

I translate technology into board-level decisions and keep leadership honest on engineering and AI.

Best for: A board that needs an independent technical voice it can trust.

Format

How it works

  1. A conversation

    Understand where you are and whether I can actually help.

    A short call. You tell me what you are dealing with. No prep, no pressure. If it is not a fit, I will say so.

  2. A focused start

    Agree on the shape and the first outcomes that matter.

    We decide together whether this is fractional or advisory work, and what the first wins look like.

  3. Leadership that sticks

    Own the decisions, then leave you stronger.

    I plug into your team and own the technology calls that matter, building the judgment to carry on without me.

About me

Val Kamenski

Val Kamenski

I founded Klika Tech and served as Co-CEO for roughly fourteen years before a successful exit. Along the way I hired and led hundreds of engineers and delivered technical projects for clients around the world, across AI, robotics, IoT, and cloud.

Now I help founders and executives make better technology decisions as a fractional CTO and board adviser.

Connect on LinkedIn

Where I dig into this

When Code Needs a Captain

My first recommendation to non-technical founders is simple: find someone with strong IT expertise to join your team as a Chief Technical Officer (CTO). The right person in this position can guide you through all those tricky technical decisions, and together you will turn the idea into reality.

AI Adoption for Dev Teams

Most dev teams go through three stages of AI adoption. Here is what each one looks like and why stage two is where the real unlock happens.

How to Hire an AI-Native Developer

How to hire an AI-native developer: interview questions, coding transcript ideas, and red/green flags for evaluating real AI-assisted coding skills.

Questions

Common questions

How hands-on are you?
As hands-on as the situation needs. I have written code and led hundreds of engineers, so I can go deep on architecture or stay at strategy, depending on what moves the needle.
How do engagements start, and what do they cost?
Every engagement starts with a short call. Cost depends on scope and time, so we work that out once I understand what you need.
Can this turn into board advisory?
Often. Many engagements begin as fractional leadership and continue as an ongoing advisory relationship.

Let's talk

Let's find out if I can help.

A short, honest call. If I am not the right fit, I will tell you.