CTO and Head of Engineering at Artkai

The challenge

Artkai builds software for mid-market and enterprise clients, and most of its work is in FinTech and other enterprise domains. Like every software services company today, it works in a market that is changing fast. Clients expect AI to make delivery faster and cheaper, and they want to see those savings. A June 2026 H.I.G. Capital analysis of IT services cites IDC’s forecast that 30% of IT services contracts will be outcome-based by 2029. It also cites a 2025 Gartner survey in which only 14% of enterprises planned to handle most of their AI work with their own people.

So clients will rely on service partners for AI, but they will pay for results that a partner can promise and explain. The same analysis sees the strongest position in regulated industries, where the cost of failure is high. Banks, crypto trading companies and healthcare providers need a partner that knows their rules and can show how software is built and controlled. In the EU, the DORA regulation requires financial companies to agree the main contract terms with their ICT providers (Article 30).

In a services company the CTO’s job is wider than technology. Every client project, every engineering team, the sales conversation and the company’s strategy depend on it.

My task: as CTO and Head of Engineering, keep delivery strong across all projects and teams, lead projects in regulated domains, bring technical credibility to pre-sales and client relationships, take part in the company’s strategy, and build an AI SDLC that makes delivery faster, cheaper and better.

What does a CTO do in a software services company?

In a product company, the CTO is responsible for the technology of one product: its architecture, its team and its roadmap. In a software services company, the CTO is responsible for how the company delivers for all its clients. This includes the engineering teams and their practices, the technical side of sales and client relationships, and the technology strategy of the company itself. In a 2023 DOU discussion of the CTO role, CTOs from service companies add pre-sales consultation, first and regular client communication, the budget of the technical department and advice to architects. The author of that article estimates that 60 to 80% of a CTO’s time is work with people.

Amazon’s CTO Werner Vogels described four CTO roles in 2007. One of them is the external-facing technologist, who connects customers with the engineering team. A services CTO plays this role every day, together with running delivery and helping to shape the company’s strategy.

What I do

1. Leading engineering and delivery across all projects and teams

   As Head of Engineering I oversee the development processes of different projects and of teams with different specialisations. I look for the same things in every project: clear architecture decisions, code that is reviewed and tested, security built into the process, and early warning when a project needs help. This gives me one view of how the company delivers, so a good practice from one team can reach the others and a risk is handled before it reaches the client.

   What this includes

   • Standards: common engineering practices across teams, architecture and code reviews, security in the delivery process.
   • People: hiring and growing senior engineers and tech leads, and advice to architects on difficult decisions.
   • Risk: early warning on projects at risk, and escalations handled at CTO level.

2. Leading projects in banking, FinTech, crypto and healthcare

   I lead projects across highly regulated domains: banking and FinTech, cryptocurrency and crypto trading, healthcare and others. In these projects the technology has to meet the client’s regulatory requirements from the first day. Here my earlier work helps a lot: the DORA resilience benchmarking for a Spanish bank, the emergency migration of a core banking platform in wartime, and years of work on security and compliance in the cloud.

3. Pre-sales, client visits and account growth

   I take part in pre-sales and travel to clients’ locations. In pre-sales the CTO brings technical credibility: understanding the client’s problem, proposing the solution architecture, checking estimates and answering the hard questions about security and compliance. After the deal, I stay in contact with clients and look for the next way we can help them. One example of many: during a business trip to Dubai, where I served as Interim CTO for a Forex and crypto trading company as part of my role at Artkai, I helped to sell more of Artkai’s services, and now a team of senior product UI/UX designers works on site there.

4. Strategy sessions and the company’s growth

   I take part in the strategic sessions about the company’s growth, where technology, delivery and sales decisions meet. AI is changing how a services company plans its teams, prices its work and talks to clients, so the technology direction and the business direction have to be set together.

5. Building an AI SDLC for faster, cheaper and better delivery

   One of my directions is an AI SDLC: an agentic AI platform for the automated delivery of client projects. In an AI SDLC, AI agents take part in every stage of the software development life cycle, from requirements to code, tests, review and release, while engineers set the goals, check the results and stay accountable. I lead it at CTO level, with the direction, the priorities and the rules for safe use of AI on client projects, and architects and engineers build the platform.

   The evidence shows why the process matters more than the tool. The 2025 DORA report calls AI “a mirror and a multiplier”: it makes strong teams stronger and shows the weak points of fragmented ones. In 2025 Veracode found security flaws in 45% of the AI-generated code it tested. AI speed helps a client only when reviews, tests and security checks keep up.

Results so far

The work is in progress. Since June 2026 it has brought:

• Technology and engineering leadership across Artkai’s client projects and teams.
• One view of development processes across projects and teams of different specialisations.
• Technology leadership for projects in banking and FinTech, crypto trading and healthcare.
• New and extended client engagements through pre-sales and client visits, for example an on-site team of senior product UI/UX designers in Dubai.
• A CTO voice in the strategic sessions about the company’s growth.
• An AI SDLC direction, with an agentic AI platform for automated project delivery in progress.

What I learned

In a services company, the way the company delivers is the CTO’s real product.

Clients buy software that works, arrives on time and passes their audit. AI is a strong tool for that, but it amplifies the delivery process a company already has. So the first job is the process, the people and the client relationship, and the AI SDLC makes a strong process faster.

Evidence and further reading

• Company · artkai.ioArtkaiThe AI-native software development company where I am CTO and Head of Engineering.
• Related projectInterim CTO for a Forex and crypto trading company in DubaiA CTO engagement on site with a client, as part of this role.
• Related projectDORA compliance: benchmarking data center resilienceHow technology-risk rules for regulated financial companies work in practice.
• Service · this siteOperation Partner: fractional CTO, managing partner, board memberHow I work with companies as a technology leader.

Market figures are from H.I.G. Capital (June 2026), citing IDC and Gartner. AI figures are from the 2025 DORA report and Veracode (2025).

Skills and technologies

• CTO
• Head of Engineering
• Technology strategy
• Engineering management
• Delivery management
• Engineering standards
• Regulated industries
• Banking
• FinTech
• Crypto trading
• Healthcare
• DORA
• Pre-sales
• Solution architecture
• Account growth
• Client relationships
• Company strategy
• AI SDLC
• Agentic AI
• AI governance

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