Industrial group
case studyConsolidating 8 brands onto a single ERP in 12 months.
8 → 1
ERP estates consolidated
fractional CIO
Fractional CIO for UK SMEs ready to use AI seriously.
I help £2–50M businesses turn AI from a buzzword into systems that actually drive efficiency and profit.
Shipped systems, not strategy decks.
Agentic where it matters, plain code where it doesn’t.
intro
I'm Richard Sanderson — Fractional CIO.
I work with growing SMEs on the technology decisions that actually move the business: AI deployment, tech stack strategy, data management, the lot.
I have led tech for different industrial groups, supporting multiple brands across 3 continents. I’ve spent the last decade rebuilding tech stacks and aggressively pulling costs out of the business, and the last couple of years I’ve focused on getting agentic systems live.
My approach is simple: fewer clients, deeper relationships, and real outcomes—not quiet retainers that run for years without changing a thing.
what I do
01
AI consulting
From AI readiness audits through to shipping agentic systems in production. Less ‘ChatGPT for X’, more ‘here’s the system, here are the guardrails, here’s the ROI.’
live in 90 daysdiscovery to deployed
02
SEO + AIO + GEO
Technical SEO and answer engine optimisation, run by someone who builds the systems being audited. For B2B sites where AI Overviews are eating traffic.
+38%organic traffic, 6 months
03
Fractional CIO
Strategic IT leadership for £5–50M operating businesses — ERP strategy, vendor management, AI deployment, board-level reporting. Embedded, not consulting from a deck.
20–40 hrs/monthtypical engagement
selected work
Recent engagements.
Most Recently
£0M+
group revenue under tech leadership
0
brands worked alongside
0
countries · Over 3 continents
Live
agentic systems in production
testimonials
What people say about me.
The best engagements are the ones where strategy, delivery, and commercial judgement all point in the same direction.
Website overhaul
“The result after going live? Sales tripled!”
“Rich helped us completely overhaul our website to reduce complexity, fix broken links, optimize SEO, speed up page load times, and improve the overall UI/UX shopping experience. We knew this was needed for years but were overwhelmed by how to actually execute it. Rich guided us through the process efficiently and got hands-on when we needed technical heavy lifting. It went way faster and smoother than expected thanks to his tech wizardry. The result after going live? Sales tripled! On top of boosting the financial health of our business, Rich was a joy to work with: fun, funny, patient, and a clear communicator. We really appreciated how well he explained complex tasks in simple terms we could understand and act on. I can't sing his praises loudly enough and highly recommend working with him if you're ready to upgrade your enterprise.”
System integrations
“Rich is exactly the kind of IT leader you want driving a project”
“I had the pleasure of partnering with Rich on several complex system integrations. Rich is exactly the kind of IT leader you want driving a project. He has genuine technical understanding, which allows him to quickly grasp complex challenges and collaborate on effective solutions. His project management skills are top-tier, he kept our joint initiatives focused, on schedule, and aligned with the broader business goals. Any organization looking for an Interim CIO who can seamlessly bridge the gap between technical execution and business strategy would be lucky to have him.”
implementation
From AI buzzwords to shipped systems.
Forget generic chatbots. The real work is connecting your trusted business data to a governed AI agent, and pushing actionable outputs directly into the systems your team already relies on.
01
The Inputs
02
The Engine
03
The Outputs
writing
What I’ve been thinking about.
Ready to use AI seriously?
A 30-minute call. No deck, no follow-up nurture sequence. I'll tell you whether I can help.
brands I’ve worked with
