You need AI leadership but can't justify a $250K executive hire. Get the strategy, execution, and ongoing management — without adding a C-suite salary to payroll.
Quick Answer
The Alternative to Hiring a Full-Time AI Director — You need AI leadership but can't justify a $250K executive hire. Get the strategy, execution, and ongoing management — without adding a C-suite salary to payroll.
The Problem
Your competitors are automating. You know you need an AI strategy. But hiring an AI director at $200K–$250K, plus finding someone who understands contractor operations, is a pipe dream for a $5M–$10M business.
What Ironback Is
What Ironback Is Not
How It Compares
| Ironback (AI Director Alternative) | Full-Time AI Director | Part-Time CTO Service | No AI Leadership | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual cost | $96K | $200K–$300K (loaded) | $60K–$120K | $0 |
| Strategy + execution | ✓ Both | ✓ Both | Strategy only | Neither |
| Trade-specific | From day one | 3–6 month learning curve | Rarely | N/A |
| Categories covered | All 7 | Depends on hire | 1–2 | None |
| Time to first savings | 2 weeks | 3–6 months | Months | Never |
| Commitment structure | 3-month min | No | No | Losing $95K+/yr |
Where We Know the Work
These are examples from our deepest operating experience, not a limit on who we help.
Results You Can Expect
Frequently Asked Questions
Specialization. We only serve specialty trade contractors, so every playbook, template, and automation has been refined across dozens of similar companies. A generalist AI director spends months learning your world. We already live in it.
Everything we build is documented. When you're ready to bring it in-house, the SOPs, automations, dashboards, and vendor relationships all hand off to your new hire.
Both. The Month 1 operational audit is the strategy phase — we identify where AI can unlock value and build the implementation roadmap. Then your dedicated partner executes, monitors, and keeps improving.
Contractors running $1M–$20M with 5–50 employees and real office operations — a dispatcher, an office manager, field crews. Fire sprinkler, fire suppression, compressed air, generators, boilers, biohazard, and hydraulic repair are our bread and butter.
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Start with the Operations Scorecard, or book a 20-minute call to discuss your workflows, systems, and highest-priority bottlenecks.