CTO as a Service · Frankfurt am Main

Technical leadership without a CTO on the payroll. Booked by the day, from €1,800.

You have developers, vendors and a growing list of open technology questions — but nobody to decide them. We take on the technical assessment and prepare the decision for as long as you need it: architecture, vendor choice, security, AI. No employment contract, no minimum term.

Book an intro call See how it works

From €1,800 per day
No minimum term
On site or remote
Decision-ready, not strategy decks

Typical triggers

When companies call us in.

Rarely because something broke. Usually because a decision is due that nobody in the building wants to own technically.

/ 01

A decision with no decision-maker

Which system, which vendor, which architecture — the question has been sitting on the managing director's desk for months, and technically it does not belong there.

/ 02

Vendors with no counterpart

The agency proposes, the invoice arrives, and nobody in the company can judge whether the proposal was any good. We are the missing counterpart.

/ 03

AI, put in its right place

What belongs in-house, what may go to the cloud, what is better left alone. This question decides data protection, cost and dependency for years.

/ 04

Legacy systems that grew

Fifteen years of software, three generations of vendors, documentation nobody understands any more. We sort it out before you replace anything.

/ 05

Security and regulation

GDPR, NIS2, the AI Act. We work out what of it lands on you technically, what is noise — and what your lawyer needs to check.

/ 06

Team, roles, succession

You want to hire developers and do not know what to look for. Or the one person who knew everything is about to retire.

How it works

Four steps, no strategy marathon.

01

Intro call — 30 minutes, free

We work out what the question is and whether we are the right people for it. If we are not, we say so and, where we can, point you to someone who fits better.
02

Assessment — one day

One day on site: conversations with management, IT and the people who work with it daily. It ends in a document that answers three things — what runs, what burns, what comes first. The day is credited against a block booking.
03

Support by the day

You book days; on those days we are your technical counterpart — in vendor meetings, in architecture, in assessing quotes. Every recommendation comes in writing with its reasoning, including the ones you decide against.
04

Handover

The goal is that you stop needing us. Decisions, reasoning and open points are documented and stay with you. Book on if you want to; stop if you do not.

What we do

Where the days go.

/ 01

Technology decisions

Build, buy or hybrid — in writing, with reasoning that still makes sense a year later, and with the alternative we rejected.

/ 02

Vendor and quote review

We read quotes, scope documents and specifications technically and tell you what is missing, what is duplicated and what is overpriced.

/ 03

Architecture and roadmap

A target architecture that fits your size, and a sequence you can actually work through — not the one that looks good in a consulting deck.

/ 04

AI strategy: local, cloud, hybrid

Which models have to run in-house, which may run in the cloud, and what the difference means for data protection and cost.

/ 05

Security, data protection, regulation

Current state, gaps, sequence. We do not write opinions, we write a list that can be worked through.

/ 06

Team, roles, hiring

Role design, job profiles, technical assessment of candidates. If you want, we join interviews as technical assessors.

Boundaries

What we are not.

So it is clear beforehand rather than disputed afterwards:

Not a company officer, managing director or authorised signatory. We prepare decisions and justify them — you make them and you carry them.
Not temporary employment. We are not integrated into your organisation and are not subject to your instructions.
Not legal, tax or audit advice. Where it turns legal we say so and work alongside your lawyer.
Not day-to-day programming. We build prototypes to support decisions — implementation is done by your team or your vendors.
No purchasing in your name without express written authority.

Pricing

One day rate. No subscription, no minimum term.

We bill by the day, not by the month. Booking days as a block lowers the rate per day — that is the only discount there is. All prices exclusive of VAT.

A CTO on the payroll ties up a six-figure salary plus employer contributions — and is there twelve months a year, even when the decisions happen on twenty days. That gap is what this model is for.

Single day

€2,200 per day

For the one decision that is due right now.

Bookable individually, no commitment
On site in the Rhine-Main region or remote
Written recommendation, usually within three working days
Date subject to availability

Request a single day Prefer writing to calling

Most chosen

5-day block

€1,950 per day · €9,750 total

For the months when several things land at once.

Days callable freely over 12 months
Assessment day included as the first day
A named contact
Priority scheduling
Short email questions between days included

Discuss a block Prefer writing to calling

15-day block

€1,800 per day · €27,000 total

For ongoing support across a year and beyond.

Days callable freely over 18 months
Half days bookable
A named contact plus a named deputy
Attendance at board or shareholder meetings as an external expert
Technical opinion on candidates

Discuss a block Prefer writing to calling

Single days billed monthly after use; blocks paid in advance at the reduced rate
Block days can be called off over 12 or 18 months
No minimum term — single days without commitment, blocks cancellable monthly
Confidentiality from the first conversation, with or without an engagement

All prices exclusive of VAT. This offer is directed at business customers only. Our service agreement applies.

FAQ

What owners want to know first.

Does this make you an officer or director of the company?

No. No corporate office, no procuration and no power of representation arises. We prepare decisions, justify them in writing and stand behind them — your management makes them and carries them. The contract states this expressly.

Is this temporary employment?

No. We are not integrated into your organisation, are not subject to instructions on working time or place, and do not supply personnel. It is a service contract under § 611 German Civil Code, not staff leasing.

How is this different from an interim CTO?

An interim CTO is there full time for six to twelve months and costs accordingly. Here you pay for the days on which decisions are actually made. For most companies under 250 employees that is between five and twenty days a year.

What does a day actually look like?

Usually: conversations in the morning — management, IT, the department, vendors if you want. Assessment and decision in the afternoon. Usually within three working days you get the result in writing, with reasoning and with the alternatives we rejected.

What if I really only have one question?

Then it costs you nothing. The intro call is thirty minutes and free. If that answers the question, that is the end of it — we will not sell you a day you do not need.

Can this be combined with PrivateLLM?

Yes, and in practice that is the most common route. First the decision about which AI belongs in the building and which does not, then the setup. Both can be bundled into one quotation.

Who turns up?

As a rule the founder — as the person delivering for Digital Maker GmbH. If the founder is unavailable we provide an equally qualified deputy; from the 15-day block upwards we name that deputy in advance, so holidays and illness do not stall the work.

What happens to confidential information?

Confidentiality applies from the first conversation, whether or not an engagement follows. Where personal data is involved we conclude a data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR beforehand. For professions bound by secrecy under § 203 German Criminal Code — law firms, medical and tax practices — we additionally sign a declaration of commitment.

Thirty minutes and you will know whether it fits.

Not a sales call. You describe the question, we tell you whether we can answer it and roughly how many days that takes.

Book an intro call

Or directly: hello@digitalmaker.io