- Product & Innovation Strategy
- 18 Jul 2025
In boardrooms and break rooms alike, there’s one word on everyone’s mind: AI.
It’s already transforming how we work, build, and scale — streamlining processes, surfacing insights, and automating tasks that used to take entire teams. But with this acceleration comes a paradox: startups now move faster than they can hire. And traditional models of full-time leadership can’t keep up with the speed of innovation or the uncertainty of emerging markets.
That’s where fractional work steps in — and why it’s more relevant than ever.
The Real Impact of AI Isn’t Automation — It’s Velocity
AI has changed the pace of execution. Startups can build MVPs in weeks, test dozens of GTM angles in days, and iterate on product in real-time. But with that speed comes pressure: How do you scale operations, finance, legal, product, and marketing without bloating your team or burning runway?
The answer: fractional operators who plug in when — and only when — they’re needed.
Fractional leaders bring expertise without the overhead. They’ve done it before. They understand how to guide teams through ambiguity. And when paired with AI tools, they’re even more efficient — combining instinct with insight to help companies make smarter, faster decisions.
AI Is Creating Demand — Not Just Replacing Jobs
There’s a lot of talk about AI replacing roles. But here’s a different take: AI is widening the gap between what companies can build and what they can manage.
A founder can spin up an AI-enhanced product in days — but who’s guiding the pricing? The compliance? The fundraising narrative? The technical stack evolution?
Fractional experts are the connective tissue, helping companies navigate this widening gap with precision. In fact, we’re already seeing it: finance experts embedding GPT into forecasting, legal advisors drafting AI policy frameworks, and growth marketers running AI-first demand gen experiments for under-resourced teams.
This Isn’t the Future. It’s Already Happening.
Forward-thinking VC and PE firms are already evolving. They’re no longer relying on one or two full-time operating partners to support an entire portfolio. Instead, they’re curating on-demand value creation teams: hand-picked fractional experts deployed across portfolio companies based on stage, challenge, or opportunity.
And startups? They’re realizing that hiring a full-time VP when you only need 20 hours a month is not only inefficient — it’s unnecessary.
That’s why we built Five Experts.
A New Model for Growth
We believe that:
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Expertise should be accessible, not exclusive
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Advisors should be embedded, not bolted on
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And AI is not a replacement for leaders — it’s a multiplier
At Five, we connect fractional executives and advisors with growth companies and the investment firms backing them. Our platform makes it seamless: discovery, booking, payments, and even performance tracking — all in one place.
Because in a world moving this fast, it’s not about hiring big — it’s about building smart.
Final Thought:
AI won’t eliminate the need for experts — it’ll sharpen it. And in the new world of work, the companies that win won’t be the ones who hire the most, but the ones who know when to bring in the right expertise at exactly the right moment.
Fractional is no longer a compromise.
It’s the strategy.
