Plain English
What is a fractional CIO? A senior technology leader you share instead of hire.
Strategy, cyber risk, compliance and AI decisions, without a full-time executive salary. Built for Australian businesses of 10 to 200 people.
Start with a review
A straight-talking Technology & Risk Review. You leave with a one-page priority list — no pitch, no obligation.
Then a light cadence
Most small businesses run one to two days a month, scaled up only when a project needs it.
One accountable leader
No junior bench, no handover. The person in your executive meeting is the person doing the work.
One offer, four capabilities
What we actually do. One engagement, one accountable leader in the room.
Fractional CIO & CISO
One senior operator, two decades of enterprise CIO experience, three capabilities: cybersecurity strategy, compliance (ISO 27001 and ISO 42001) and AI consulting. Engaged one or two days a week, accountable for the outcome.
Explore serviceCybersecurity Consulting
One of three capabilities inside our Fractional CIO practice. Risk-led strategy, architecture, Essential Eight uplift and incident readiness from an operator who has run security programmes inside enterprise IT.
Explore serviceCompliance — ISO 27001 & ISO 42001
One compliance programme covering the information security management system and the AI management system, with the evidence an assessor expects.
Explore serviceAI Consulting & AI Readiness
One of three capabilities under our Fractional CIO practice. ISO 42001 practitioners covering AI readiness, use-case selection, workflow automation, secure adoption and governance for AI you can trust with production data.
Explore serviceSecure micro apps & workflow automation
Replace the spreadsheet, keep the audit trail. Small internal apps and AI-assisted workflows built with identity, data controls and ISO 42001 governance designed in.
Explore serviceEvery Fractional CIO engagement covers
- Technology roadmap and investment case
- Board and executive reporting
- Vendor rationalisation and negotiation
- Cyber and AI governance leadership
What you receive
The artefacts behind the advice. Three deliverables anchor every engagement.
Hover or select any element to see how we read it with your executive team.
Where each initiative actually sits
Every candidate initiative is plotted on net benefit against residual risk, so investment conversations start from evidence rather than enthusiasm.
Copilot rollout
Strong productivity case, but data over-sharing must be remediated before the licence spend is justified. Treat permissions clean-up as a precondition, not a follow-up.
AI governance and riskClient outcomes
Real engagements. Real results. Names withheld at client request.
Australian organisations that moved from gaps and templates to certification, governance and defensible security.
“We needed help achieving our ISO 27001 certification — we had gaps in our policies and processes that could have seen us fail our audit. FORTE/CYBERx helped us refine our policies and implement practical controls that enabled us to achieve certification.”
Operations Lead
Professional Services
“FORTE/CYBERx helped us achieve ISO 42001 by guiding us to securely and safely roll out AI initiatives across our business. As a small business, we did not have the experience or capabilities internally, so being able to apply enterprise expertise within our budget has allowed us to see the true benefits AI can bring.”
Director
Small Business
“Thanks to the CYBERx team, we now have a concrete defence-in-depth strategy and leading tools to help safeguard our organisation into the future, allowing us to bid on larger tenders we would have struggled to meet from a compliance lens in the past.”
General Manager
Infrastructure & Services
Get a straight answer on your technology & risk
Tell us the problem. You'll get a straight answer on what to fix first, and a one-page priority list.
Free tools and checklists
Work it out before you talk to us. The same tools we use on live engagements.
A senior advisor follows up only if you want the conversation.
AI & ISO 42001 readiness check
Eight questions. One readiness heatmap, with the gaps to close first.
Start the readiness checkInvestment case builder
Model the cost, effort and risk reduction before you take a proposal to the board.
Build the caseYour first 90 days
What a fractional CIO engagement covers week by week, from assessment to executed plan.
See the 90-day planEssential Eight Self-Assessment Checklist
Twenty-four checks across all eight mitigation strategies, ordered the way an assessor reviews them — so you know your gaps before a formal assessment.
Download the PDF AI · SME implementationSME AI Implementation Checklist
Pick the one AI use case worth doing, secure the environment it runs in, then keep the evidence — written for a business without a compliance department.
Download the PDFLatest strategic intel
Latest strategic intel. Written by the people doing the work.
Source-backed analysis on secure AI enablement, governance evidence and threat modelling for Australian executive teams.
The apps your staff already built: governing low-code and AI sprawl
Every organisation has internal apps nobody approved — Power Apps, Copilot Studio agents, automations wired to personal accounts. How to inventory them, keep the good ones under proper controls, and retire the rest.
Read article
DSPM and AI security: what enterprises get wrong about data posture
Data security posture management (DSPM) is the control that decides whether enterprise AI is safe to switch on. What DSPM does, how it maps to Copilot and agents, and how to sequence it in Australia.
Read article
Shadow AI: finding and controlling unsanctioned AI use
How Australian organisations discover unsanctioned AI tools, assess the real exposure, and bring shadow AI under governance without stopping useful work.
Read articleWhere we operate
NSW on-site, Australia-wide remote
We work on-site with organisations in Sydney, Newcastle and on the Central Coast, and remotely with leaders across Australia.
Newcastle
NSW
Central Coast
NSW
Australia-wide
Remote delivery
Remote AI, cyber and fractional CIO consultingConsulting FAQ
Clear answers before a call.
What does FORTE/CYBERx consulting cover?+
FORTE/CYBERx is a Fractional CIO practice. One accountable technology leader delivers three capabilities: cybersecurity strategy, compliance across ISO 27001 and ISO 42001, and AI consulting.
Is a fractional CIO worth it for a small business?+
For most Australian businesses between roughly 10 and 200 people, yes. You get executive-level technology judgement one or two days a month for a fraction of a permanent salary, and you only scale the cadence up when a project or audit demands it.
How much does an engagement cost?+
Pricing is consultative and scoped to the outcome, not sold as a fixed package. Engagements typically start with a small monthly cadence and expand only when there is a defined piece of work. We confirm scope and commercials in writing before anything starts.
What happens on the free Technology & Risk Review?+
A direct conversation with a senior advisor. We work through your current technology, risk and compliance pressures and send you a one-page priority list afterwards. No pitch, no obligation.
How quickly will someone respond to my enquiry?+
A senior advisor replies within one business day. Enquiries go to the person who would run your engagement, not a call centre or junior qualifier.
Where does FORTE/CYBERx provide consulting services?+
We operate from Sydney and work on-site across Greater Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle, with remote delivery for organisations anywhere in Australia.
Do we need to buy the Platform to work with you?+
No. Consulting and Platform credits are commercially separate. Consultants use the Platform only where it materially strengthens governance, decision records or execution planning.
What happens in the first 90 days of a fractional CIO engagement?+
Days 1 to 14 baseline your systems, suppliers, data and AI tools and produce a one-page priority list. Days 15 to 45 turn that into decisions, an ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 control map, and light governance. Days 46 to 90 deliver one bounded change with an evidence pack and a 90-day roadmap your team can run.
How much of our own time does an engagement take?+
Roughly two hours in the first fortnight, about three hours through the decision phase, then a monthly leadership session. Most small businesses see one to two consulting days a month, weighted towards the first six weeks.
Can you work alongside our existing IT provider?+
Yes. A fractional CIO works above your MSP or internal IT person rather than replacing them — setting direction, prioritising spend and holding delivery to account, so your existing support keeps doing what it does well.
Prefer to work through a decision on your own?
Pressure-test two decisions free in the Platform. No credit card required.
Ask one question first
You do not need a brief to start. Send the single question you are stuck on — an ISO scope, an AI tool, a supplier decision — and a senior advisor answers it within one business day.
Talk to a senior operator
Senior advisor replies within one business day