Fractional CAIO Cost Calculator
Fractional Chief AI Officer retainer against the first-year cost of a full-time hire
1. Full-time AI leader
2. Fractional CAIO
Result
A full-time hire costs $22,883 a month with benefits, or $132.02 per hour over a 2,080-hour year. The retainer is 13.1% of the full-time cost and buys the same money's worth of about 22.7 hours of that person a month. The hours a fractional CAIO actually works depend on the engagement.
AY's price shown is the published starting price; your quote may be higher depending on scope.
The formulas
Full-time, first year = salary x (1 + benefits %) + recruiting cost Fractional, per year = monthly retainer x 12 Loaded hourly cost = salary x (1 + benefits %) / 2,080 Equivalent hours = monthly retainer / loaded hourly cost
How this works
The full-time side starts from US Bureau of Labor Statistics pay data (OEWS, May 2025). BLS has no separate occupation for Chief AI Officers, so pick the closest group: computer and information systems managers (mean $192,160) or chief executives (mean $269,630). Then add benefits. In the BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation for June 2026, private employers paid $14.07 in benefits for every $32.82 in wages, which is 42.9%. Recruiting cost is yours to enter.
The fractional side is a monthly retainer. It is prefilled with AY Automate's published starting price for fractional CAIO engagements, from $3K a month, and you can replace it with any quote.
Worked example with the defaults: $192,160 x 1.429 = $274,596.64 for the first year of a full-time leader, or $22,883.05 a month and $132.02 an hour over 2,080 hours. A $3,000 retainer is $36,000 a year, $238,596.64 less, and equals about 22.7 hours of that full-time cost a month.
Sources (read November 12, 2026)
- BLS OEWS, May 2025: Computer and information systems managers (11-3021), mean $192,160
- BLS OEWS, May 2025: Chief executives (11-1011), mean $269,630
- BLS OEWS technical notes (2,080-hour year)
- BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026 (benefits $14.07 per $32.82 of wages)
- AY Automate fractional CAIO (engagements start from $3K a month)
Want a scoped number for your company? See fractional CAIO services.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Tools
Want expert help implementing this?
Our automation specialists can help you achieve these results and more. Book a free consultation to discuss your specific needs. Or see the exact service this tool maps to: Fractional CAIO.
Book a Free Consultation