Blake Linde

Scope

The eight domains a fractional CAIO covers — hands-on.

This is the operating checklist behind the title. You might not need every domain on day one; the diagnostic tells us where impact concentrates. Healthcare revenue-cycle and finance-heavy SMBs are where I spend most implementation time.

AI Strategy & Roadmapping

Bets you can fund and sequence with confidence.

Executive narratives tied to P&L and operational metrics — not heat maps. I help leadership agree what "AI success" means in your business, which use cases are real in the next 90 days, and which require foundation work first.

What hands-on looks like

  • Use-case inventory with effort vs. impact scoring
  • Sequencing plan aligned to close, revenue, or cost goals
  • Stakeholder map so IT, finance, and ops aren't talking past each other

Systems & Platform Architecture

A stack that matches how work actually happens.

ERP, CRM, billing, and middleware assessed as one system — because that's where data breaks. Configuration, integration patterns, and ownership models that survive employee turnover.

What hands-on looks like

  • Source-of-truth map across finance and operations
  • Integration hardening and failure-mode review
  • Technical debt triage with business owners

Workflow Automation

Less copying, fewer handoffs, measurable hours back.

Process mining in the practical sense: where spreadsheets, email, and tribal knowledge absorb capacity. Automation and orchestration only after the workflow is honest.

What hands-on looks like

  • Workflow documentation that matches floor reality
  • Build vs. buy for RPA, iPaaS, and native ERP automation
  • Monitoring so automations don't become silent liabilities

Vendor Evaluation & Procurement Support

Demos that answer your questions, not the vendor's.

Structured requirements, scripted demos, and pilot scopes — especially for AI features that are easy to overbuy. I translate vendor claims into acceptance criteria you can test.

What hands-on looks like

  • RFP-weighting and scoring rubrics
  • Pilot design with clear kill criteria
  • Contract checklist for data handling and SLAs

Data Architecture & Quality

Numbers leadership argues about less.

Lineage, governance, and quality gates that make reporting and AI defensible. Fixing the boring stuff — identifiers, mappings, timing — before the flashy dashboards.

What hands-on looks like

  • Entity and attribute inventory for key domains
  • Reconciliation playbooks between systems of record
  • Data-quality SLIs your team can run monthly

Financial AI & Reporting

Close faster with fewer manual reconciliations.

Month-end, management reporting, and operational finance use cases where AI can summarize, flag, or route — anchored in GL and subledger discipline.

What hands-on looks like

  • Close diagnostics and reporting stack review
  • Copilot-style workflows with audit boundaries
  • KPI definitions that don't change every quarter

AI & Automation Implementation

Production workflows, not sandboxes.

Shipping prompts, tools, retrieval, and guardrails against live systems — with logging, rollback, and ownership. I stay until operators can run it without a consultant on slack.

What hands-on looks like

  • MVP cuts scoped to one measurable metric
  • Evaluation harness for model and tool changes
  • Runbooks and training for tier-1 support

Security, Compliance & Leadership Enablement

Controls your counsel and customers can understand.

Lightweight governance for SMBs: access, PII, model use policies, and third-party risk — without boiling the ocean. Coaching for executives who need to ask better questions of vendors and internal teams.

What hands-on looks like

  • AI use policy templates sized for SMB legal review
  • Vendor DPA and data-flow summaries
  • Executive office hours and workshop formats

Turn this into a plan

The AI Readiness Diagnostic prioritizes across these domains so you don't boil the ocean.