OpenLazarus as a fractional chief AI officer alternative: the AI-Architect engagement

Contents

1. What the AI-Architect engagement covers
2. How it compares with a fractional CAIO
3. Published evidence
4. Strengths and limits
5. Pricing
6. Questions to ask OpenLazarus
7. Sources

Type	AI architecture and platform firm
Headquarters	New York, US
Pricing	Published
Website	openlazarus.ai

OpenLazarus builds AI platforms that companies own, with AI teammates that work inside them. Its AI-Architect consultancy is the part of the business that overlaps with a fractional chief AI officer: senior people working with leadership on how the company should run⁠1PricingOpenLazarus.

Best for: Companies of 100 or more people that want a year of senior AI direction to end in working systems: redesigned processes and AI teammates running on a platform the company owns.

Not the right fit for: Companies that want an independent executive on the leadership team who reports to the board and sets AI policy across every vendor, without a build.

What the AI-Architect engagement covers

OpenLazarus describes the engagement in three places. Its home page calls it a yearly engagement with its AI architects, in which they work out how the company should run, automate the work people should not be doing and build the platform with the company⁠2OpenLazarusOpenLazarus. Its pricing page says an architect works with leadership on how the company should run, then designs the processes and the AI teammates with it, and that OpenLazarus always recommends the engagement above 100 people⁠1PricingOpenLazarus.

Its AI Architects page sets out the approach in more detail. It says OpenLazarus builds a data lake so the company, not its software vendors, holds its data; cuts paid software seats from most employees to a few; trains the client's IT team to maintain the build without OpenLazarus; and plans for future model and token costs from the start⁠3AI implementation partner: systems you ownOpenLazarus. It also states that it never takes on a project unless it can guarantee it will pay for itself. That is the company's own commitment, and buyers should ask how it is defined in the contract.

On the platform it builds, the company decides what AI teammates do on their own and what needs approval⁠4Questions about OpenLazarusOpenLazarus.

How it compares with a fractional CAIO

The overlap is in strategy, priorities and adoption. The differences are as important. OpenLazarus does not describe a board-reporting role, an AI policy covering every vendor or a published day count. Its direction leads to a build on its own platform. For a company whose main need is an independent executive judging AI across many products, that is a limit. For a company whose plans keep stalling between an adviser and an integrator, it is the point.

Published evidence

• Quick Scan & Go (client testimonial). Its CEO, Marcos Acuña, is quoted on the OpenLazarus site saying the team consolidated the retailer’s data systems into one and deployed AI agents for operations, and that profits grew by 76%. The figure is the client’s own, as quoted on the OpenLazarus site.⁠3AI implementation partner: systems you ownOpenLazarus
• Raven Analytics (client testimonial). Its CEO, Garett Brennan, is quoted on the OpenLazarus site crediting the data and AI work with 3x sales-funnel growth and a 2x improvement in staff efficiency. The figures are the client’s own, as quoted on the OpenLazarus site.⁠3AI implementation partner: systems you ownOpenLazarus

These are client statements that OpenLazarus publishes on its own site, not independent case studies. The AI Architects page also reports more than 1,000,000 hours given back to client teams, a figure the company reports itself⁠3AI implementation partner: systems you ownOpenLazarus.

Strengths and limits

Strengths

• The team that sets direction also designs and builds the system, so the plan does not stall between an adviser and a separate integrator.
• States that it trains the client’s IT team to maintain the build without OpenLazarus.
• You decide what each AI teammate runs on its own and what needs a person’s approval.
• Publishes platform prices: hosting from $150 a month, developer support from $4,500 a month and 5.5% on AI credits.

Limits

• Does not use the chief AI officer title or describe a board-reporting role.
• The architect engagement is priced per engagement; no fee or day count is published.
• Its direction leads to a build on its own platform, so it is not a vendor-neutral adviser across other AI products.
• Published results are client testimonials on its own site, not independent case studies.

Choose another option if: You need an independent executive to set AI policy and judge vendors across the business without committing to one platform. TechCXO, SoftTeco or Sikich fit that role more closely.

Pricing

AI-Architect consultancy priced per engagement. Published platform prices: hosting from $150 a month, developer support from $4,500 a month (10 engineering credits) and 5.5% on AI credits.

Questions to ask OpenLazarus

• Who on your side owns AI decisions during the year, and how often do they meet our leadership team?
• How is the commitment that a project will pay for itself defined and measured?
• Which governance rules, beyond approvals on the platform, will you help us set?
• What does our IT team need to be able to do at the end of the year, and how is that tested?
• What happens to our data and platform if we stop working with you?

See how OpenLazarus compares with the other providers in the main guide.

Sources

1. Pricing. OpenLazarus. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
2. OpenLazarus. OpenLazarus. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
3. AI implementation partner: systems you own. OpenLazarus. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
4. Questions about OpenLazarus. OpenLazarus. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.

Further reading

• Buyer's guide · Updated quarterlyThe best fractional chief AI officer services in 2026An analysis of seven providers that sell part-time AI leadership to established companies, compared on seven published criteria, with the evidence behind each and the established path through the first year.
• Guide · The roleWhat a fractional chief AI officer does, and what the role is notA fractional CAIO is a part-time executive, not a project. Here is what the job covers, drawn from how providers and US federal guidance define it, and how to tell whether your company needs one.
• Guide · First 90 daysThe first 90 days of a fractional chief AI officerThe first three months decide whether a fractional AI leader changes how the company works or produces a document nobody opens. Here is what each month should deliver, and how to check.