Non-Executive Director
Independent technology oversight at board level
Most boards have someone who understands the numbers and someone who understands the market. Fewer have anyone who can tell whether the technology report they have just been given is good news.
Book a conversationWhat it actually is
A seat at the board with responsibility for the technology dimension of governance. I read the papers properly, ask the questions the executive team is not being asked, and help the rest of the board form a view rather than take one on trust.
Good technology governance is mostly about the quality of the questions. Boards are rarely misled deliberately; they are misled by reports that answer the wrong question well. Knowing which question was dodged is the job.
When it makes sense
You have taken investment and the board now has technology risk it cannot assess. Technology is a material part of the cost base and nobody independent is looking at it. You are heading towards a funding round, a sale, or an acquisition, and want the technology story to survive scrutiny before someone else applies it.
Charities and membership organisations have a version of this too, usually sharper: a trustee board with real duties, a critical system nobody on the board understands, and no budget for a full-time equivalent. Fifteen years running sheepCRM means I know that sector from the inside.
How I work
Board meetings plus preparation, typically quarterly or monthly depending on the cycle, with availability between meetings for the things that will not wait.
I read the papers before the meeting and raise concerns with the executive first where I can. A board meeting is a poor venue for a surprise, and an NED who ambushes the CTO in front of the chair gets one honest conversation and then none.
I take the independence seriously. My job is to serve the board, which sometimes means disagreeing with the management team I get on with perfectly well.
What you get
Technology risk that is on the register in terms the board can act on. Better questions in the room, and answers the non-technical directors can actually evaluate. An independent read on major technology spend before it is committed. And a director who has run engineering organisations and shipped product, so the judgement is grounded in having done it.
The engagement
- Commitment
- Board meetings plus preparation
- Typical cadence
- Monthly or quarterly
- Format
- In person for board meetings, remote between
- Works well with
- Technical due diligence, around a raise or a sale
Common questions
Do you take NED roles alongside fractional CTO work?
For different organisations, yes. For the same organisation, no — a non-executive's value is independence from the executive, and as fractional CTO I would be the executive. A board needs an independent read on technology most when the strategy is going wrong, which is precisely when the person who wrote it cannot give one.
Do you work with charity and membership boards?
Yes, and it is a good fit. Fifteen years of sheepCRM means I understand trustee duties, the funding constraints, and why the answer that works for a venture-backed startup often does not transfer.
What if the board has no technology risk on its register?
It almost certainly has — it is simply recorded as something else, usually an operational or a financial risk. An early piece of the work is naming it properly.
Other services
Most engagements start with a conversation about what you are actually trying to do. No charge, no pitch deck.
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