When Praveen Ghanta, Alyssia Maluda, and Jeffrey Baker founded Fraction, they didn't just set out to create another tech company. They stumbled upon a revolutionary concept: the Bionic CTO. This discovery happened almost by accident. One of their fractional CTOs, Jeremy, was delivering an astonishing amount of work in minimal time. Curious about his secret, Praveen decided to experiment. He forced himself to write all his code using GitHub's Copilot, a tool powered by AI.
The results were eye-opening. One-third of the time, Copilot was entirely unhelpful. Another third sped up the work, but only after Praveen learned to collaborate effectively with his "junior developer" bot. The remaining third of tasks? Copilot knocked them out instantly. This experiment led to a remarkable 2x improvement in productivity. Imagine a hands-on CTO leveraging their expertise in code review and AI tools. They could double productivity again, making a quarter-time CTO as effective as a full-time senior developer.
This insight became the cornerstone of Fraction's mission: to harness the power of fractional hiring combined with AI to transform the future of work. Praveen's journey into fractional work began long before Fraction was born. After building and selling his previous company, HiddenLevers, with the help of fractional resources, he asked himself a pivotal question: "How can I scale the concept of fractional work across the industry?"
Starting a business comes with its own set of challenges, particularly funding. Praveen knew this all too well. With a family to support, he needed a stable income source while bootstrapping his startup. He worked fractional roles alongside his full-time job for three years, saving enough to give himself the flexibility to start HiddenLevers. Even then, he continued working his day job for almost a year until he felt confident enough to go all in. This strategy paid off, allowing him to avoid external capital and retain equity in his company.
Hiring posed another challenge. How could they afford top-tier developers without breaking the bank? The solution was ingenious: hire senior developers fractionally. This approach cut hiring costs by over 50% and allowed them to access diverse skill sets from different senior resources. This method not only kept costs low but also ensured that they had the best talent working on their projects.
Alyssia Maluda, co-founder of Fraction, faced challenges in sourcing qualified talent for their innovative model. Fractional work requires developers who are not only technically competent but also proactive communicators. To address this, Alyssia and her team revamped their sourcing process using their proprietary product, HireIQ. This tool helps them meticulously vet talent, ensuring they only bring in the best. Every fractional hire is backed by an expert team, including a product manager and a software architect, to ensure smooth delivery.
At Fraction, they source talent skilled in leveraging AI, enabling them to double their output compared to the norm. Their C-level talent, like CTOs, can double this output again due to their experience and ability to make critical decisions on the fly. This results in a 4x overall productivity boost. Their Bionic AI-enhanced CTOs can deliver the same output as a senior developer while working in a quarter-time role, making it more cost-effective than hiring a junior developer.
Praveen's vision for Fraction extends beyond just filling roles. AI is reshaping the knowledge work landscape across various fields, including software development, law, investment banking, accounting, and marketing. While AI cannot fully replace these jobs, it significantly enhances the productivity of those who embrace it.
With Fraction, Praveen, Alyssia, and Jeffrey are at the forefront of this transformation. They believe the future of work is fractional, where senior knowledge workers empowered by AI can generate the same output as full-time employees at a lower cost. This innovative approach not only makes economic sense but also taps into the best talent already in the workforce. Fraction aims to be the brand that provides AI-enhanced workers who deliver in a fraction of the time for a fraction of the cost.
