Fractional / Interim CTO and CDO
for scale-ups and mid-market companies
I shape the stack, build the team, and keep my hands in the code. Your vision becomes a roadmap, then reality.
A few of the companies I have worked with
About
In tech since 1999, in leadership since 2011, freelance since 2018
I have been in tech since 1999. In 2011 I moved into leadership roles (Technical Project Director then Data Director at Maisons du Monde, then Digital Data Director at Bouygues Telecom). Since 2018 I work as an independent interim CTO / CDO. Currently engaged with Fyre since February 2024.
I build tech and data stacks from scratch and grow the teams that run them: up to 20 people on the engineering side and 8 on the data side on my longest engagement.
On AI, I ship the real thing: SLMs deployed in client infrastructure, agents integrated into the product, and tooling for both engineering and business teams so they can become autonomous with these tools. No slideware on the AI revolution, just code and organization that run in production.
Self-confessed geek. I enjoy framing a roadmap with the leadership team as much as writing a Python script or modeling a BigQuery schema. Open to formats: freelance, interim mission, or full-time. The priority is interesting work.
Services
Four positions, one logic.
Fractional / Interim CTO
Part-time presence over 6 to 18 months. Roadmap framing, key hires, architecture in place, governance running. Flexible from 1 to 3 days a week depending on the phase.
Head of Data / CDO
Building the data stack from a blank slate: data lake, warehouse, governance, BI, first ML activations when relevant. Hiring and structuring the data team, getting business teams on board.
Audit & advisory
Quick-turnaround engagement of 2 to 4 weeks on a defined scope (architecture, key hire, build vs buy, redesign). Factual diagnosis, actionable recommendations, board-level readout.
Architecture & hands-on build
When the need stays operational: architecture redesign, data integration, POC to industrialize. Python (Django, FastAPI), React, Cloud (GCP, AWS, Azure), data infrastructure (BigQuery, Postgres, Elasticsearch).
Operational AI
Beyond the PoC. Deploying SLMs (Small Language Models) in your infrastructure, designing agents integrated into the product, setting up RAG and the vector store. And the other half of the job: equipping engineering and business teams so they become autonomous with these tools.
Engagements
What I have built.
No client business numbers here: NDA always signed. The descriptions below cover the technical and organizational scope.
Since February 2024
Fyre
CTO / CDO
When I joined: a transactional platform for restaurants, an engineering team to build. Today: a data hub for large enterprise clients, an 8-person team in place, architecture rebuilt.
2011 - 2017
Maisons du Monde
Technical Project Director then Data Director
When I joined: an e-commerce engineering team to build for 11 European countries. At peak: 20 engineers managed. Moved into the Data Director role in 2014, built the data team (8 people) and structured the BI stack.
2017 - 2018
Bouygues Telecom
Digital Data Director, member of the digital leadership team
Set up the digital data team (6 people) responsible for analytics and activation on the digital side. Got the leadership team aligned on day-to-day data trade-offs.
2 years
Maison Standards
CTO for e-commerce and retail
When I joined: aging e-commerce platform and retail tools, digital and stores not aligned. By the time I left: full omnichannel rebuild delivered, 3-person engineering team in place.
1 year
INRIA Startup Studio
Startup advisor
Advising deeptech startups out of the studio: moving from academic research to industry. Architecture, technical hiring, putting the right processes in place to scale.
When to reach out
If one of these situations rings a bell.
Five concrete cases. If you recognize yours in the list, we likely have something to discuss.
- 01
You raised a Series A-C. Your long-time lead engineer is leaving. The hiring pipeline is empty and no one in the leadership team speaks data.
→ Fractional CTO
- 02
Your data is scattered across 4 SaaS tools and a central spreadsheet. The board asks for numbers, but no one has the full picture.
→ Head of Data
- 03
The board wants an external view before a build vs buy decision, a key hire, or a fundraise. Tight deadline, actionable conclusions expected.
→ Audit & advisory
- 04
You have a working POC, but the architecture is held together with duct tape and no one in-house has time to rebuild it.
→ Hands-on build
- 05
The board wants to "do AI", the team does not know where to start, and every SaaS demo ends as a slide deck with nothing running in production.
→ Operational AI
Career
In four chapters.
-
1999 - 2011
Developer, lead dev, project lead
Several companies, including Pixmania (e-commerce) and Alcatel Space (aerospace). From legacy code to first distributed architectures.
-
2011 - 2017
Maisons du Monde
Technical Project Director (2011-2013) then Data Director (2014-2017). 11 European countries.
-
2017 - 2018
Bouygues Telecom
Digital Data Director, member of the digital leadership team.
-
Since 2018
Independent consultant · Interim CTO / CDO
Main engagements: Fyre, Maison Standards, INRIA Startup Studio. Also: data and tech architecture work (Aquitem, Synalia) and hands-on data engineering or web/data analytics projects.
Also: 2019-2022, ran a family-owned non-tech SME.
Stack
What I work with.
No star ratings, no percentages. If it is on this list, I can work with it independently.
Cloud & infra
- GCP, AWS, Azure, Oracle Cloud
- Linux, BSD
- Docker, Kubernetes
- Node.js
Data
- PostgreSQL, Oracle, MSSQL
- MongoDB, Redis
- BigQuery, S3
- Elasticsearch
Dev
- Python (Django, FastAPI, TensorFlow, PyTorch)
- PHP (Symfony, Laravel)
- JS / TS (React, React Native)
- Java (Spark, Spring)
- Ruby
AI
- SLMs (Small Language Models, deployed in client infrastructure)
- Agents (product integration, ad-hoc frameworks)
- RAG, embeddings, vector DB
- Team tooling (AI assistants for engineering and business)
FAQ
Practical questions.
What is your day rate?
On request. It depends on the scope, the engagement length, and the level of presence expected. Send me your context and I will come back with a fair range.
How long does a typical engagement run?
From a few weeks for an audit or framing exercise, to 12-18 months for an interim CTO or CDO mission. No minimum duration imposed if the engagement makes sense.
On-site or remote?
Hybrid. Regular on-site presence for key moments (leadership meetings, workshops, hiring), remote for deep work. Available across France.
Confidentiality?
NDA signed before any technical or commercial detail. That is also why you will not find any client business numbers on this site.
Lead time to start?
Depending on the current engagement, usually 2 to 4 weeks. I confirm the exact timing in our first conversation.
Freelance, employee, other?
Open to formats: freelance by default, but an interim mission or even a full-time role remain on the table if the work is interesting.
Contact
Let's talk about your needs
First 30-minute call to frame the context. I will tell you whether I can help, and if not I will point you to someone relevant in my network.