Interim CTO Leadership
Stabilising, resetting, and accelerating through change. I step into the CTO seat and take full accountability for technology leadership — from day one.
Contract & Interim CTO | Board-Level Clarity
The Impact CTO
Contract & Interim CTO for Private Equity, CEOs, ScaleUps & MSPs
Dublin | London
Trusted by
Why it matters
Execution Matters
I step in when technology decisions begin to affect delivery, margin, risk, or valuation.
CEOs, Chairs, ScaleUps and Operating Partners bring me in when they need a senior technology leader in the seat now — with the authority and experience to stabilise teams, reset delivery, make vendor and architecture decisions, and report credibly to the board. I take accountability for outcomes, not just advice.
What I do
Services
Fractional CTO Leadership
Strategic guidance without full-time commitment. For businesses that need a senior technology voice at the table without the cost of a permanent hire.
Cybersecurity Leadership
Board level governance, compliance readiness, and risk oversight. From ISO 27001 to NIS2, I lead security programmes through certification and incident response.
Engineering Turnaround
Resetting delivery and rebuilding momentum. When engineering teams are stuck, I diagnose root causes, rebuild confidence, and get delivery back on track.
AI Implementation
Moving AI from pilot to production. I help businesses identify where AI creates real value, build the infrastructure to support it, and ship systems that work at scale.
25+ years across FTSE-100, Nasdaq-listed, PE-backed and venture-backed businesses. Platforms serving millions of users. Production AI. Security certification. I work in the role, not from the sidelines.
Track record
Proven Outcomes
€1M+
Annual CAPEX reduction through infrastructure consolidation across UK, Ireland & Netherlands at a PE-backed managed services provider.
45GB+
Document sets processed through a production RAG platform built for US law firms — serverless AWS architecture with hybrid vector/keyword search.
800+
Analyst hours saved in year one by deploying AI/ML video analytics at a PE-backed security operations business — enabling 24/7 monitoring centres to scale.
150M+
Monthly visits managed as CPTO of a FTSE 100 PropTech, leading a 180-person product, engineering & design organisation.
3–5pt
Gross margin increase by establishing a unified product function and standardised pricing across three countries at a PE-backed MSP.
1st
AI product brought to market at a PE-backed MSP — wrapping Microsoft Copilot with advisory-led data governance, creating a new professional services revenue stream.
34→12
Data centres consolidated with €55K/month OPEX savings through hands-on migration planning and contract renegotiation.
£1.5M
Cost reduction delivered in one year at a PE-backed B2B SaaS platform through budget optimisation and organisational restructuring.
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Free Diagnostic Tools
Spot the Gaps. Start the Conversation.
Scaling businesses face constant pressure from regulators, customers, and the board. I created these tools to help you quickly spot gaps, benchmark your readiness, and start meaningful conversations about technology, compliance, and growth.
GDPR
GDPR Breach Response Simulator
"If your company suffered a data incident today, would you know whether to notify regulators within 72 hours?"
Walk through a realistic data breach scenario and discover whether your organisation needs to notify regulators — and how quickly.
- Traffic-light severity score
- Scenario-specific GDPR guidance
- Professional PDF report
For awareness only. This tool does not constitute legal advice.
Launch Tool
AI Strategy
AI Readiness Assessment
"Why waste budget on AI Pilots that won't make it to production?"
Assess whether your organisation has the foundations to take AI from pilot to production — before you spend the budget.
- Traffic-light readiness score
- Step-by-step breakdown by domain
- Mitigation roadmap
For awareness only. This tool does not constitute strategic or technical advice.
Launch Tool
Compliance
NIS2 Scope & Readiness Assessment
"With NIS2 being ratified in Ireland this year, many leadership teams are asking: does this new cyber directive actually apply to us?"
Find out whether NIS2 applies to your organisation, understand your current posture, and identify the gaps your board needs to address.
- Clear scope determination
- Readiness score against NIS2 requirements
- Leadership gap insights
For awareness and decision support only. This tool does not constitute legal or regulatory advice.
Launch ToolWriting & Insights
From the Field
Perspectives on technology leadership, M&A, AI, and the hard problems that keep boards and CEOs awake at night.
PE Firms Are Buying AI Distribution, Not Just AI Technology
OpenAI and Anthropic are in talks with major PE firms for billion-dollar joint ventures. This is not a technology investment. It is a distribution play that will reshape how AI reaches portfolio companies.
Read More
Your PE Owner Just Signed an AI Deal. Here’s What It Means for You.
If your PE owner signs a billion-dollar AI joint venture, AI adoption stops being a roadmap item. It becomes a mandate. Here is what breaks first and how to get ahead of it.
Read More
Your Competitors Just Locked In AI at Fund Level. Now What?
PE firms that have not joined the AI joint ventures face a compounding disadvantage. Three options for operating partners who need to close the gap before it widens.
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When the Filter Fails: Why AI Tenant Isolation Cannot Be an Afterthought
If you're building AI on top of client data, logical separation with filters is a ticking time bomb. One bug means Client A sees Client B's confidential information.
Read More
The Steak Test: A Simple Way to Check If Your AI Is Making Things Up
If your financial reporting tool can give you a steak recipe, you have a grounding problem. Temperature controls randomness. Grounding controls honesty.
Read More
The AI Demo Looked Great. Then We Tried to Put It in Production.
Most of the effort in production AI isn't the model itself. It's the infrastructure, security, and environment settings around it. A single API parameter changed everything.
Read More
Most PE Firms Are Using AI to Speed Up Engineering. The Real Value Lies Upstream.
Private equity firms are deploying AI to accelerate code generation and testing — but the bigger opportunity is in due diligence, portfolio monitoring, and deal origination.
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If the sofa wobbles, assume the firewall does too
Operational shortcuts taken in one part of a business rarely stay contained. If basic hygiene is missing in one area, the security posture is almost certainly compromised elsewhere.
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Why 88% of AI Pilots Fail, and How to Beat the Odds
Most AI pilots fail not because the technology doesn't work, but because organisations lack the data infrastructure, change management, and business case rigour to reach production.
Read More
One Resignation: The Hidden Risk of Knowledge Fragility
You don't need a cyberattack to go down. Sometimes, all it takes is losing the wrong person. For many growing businesses, the real risk isn't in technology failure; it's in knowledge fragility.
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AI or Smoke-and-Mirrors? Spotting False AI Claims Before You Sign the LOI
Due diligence must now include a technical review of AI claims. Many targets overstate AI maturity — knowing the right questions to ask can protect deal value.
Read More
Culture Clash 2.0: How Misaligned Engineering Cultures Fuel Post-Deal Failures
The hardest integration challenge isn't the technology stack — it's reconciling two engineering teams with fundamentally different values, processes, and expectations.
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Synergy Obsession vs. Orchestration Reality: Why M&A Automation Engines Often Fail
Integration teams are under pressure to deliver synergies fast. Automation looks like the answer. But without orchestration discipline, you automate chaos, not efficiency.
Read More
Bombshells After Close: When Critical Security Gaps Emerge Weeks Later
Security surprises discovered post-close can derail integrations, trigger regulatory investigations, and destroy acquirer value. Here's how to avoid being caught out.
Read More
Hidden Minefields: Tech Debt Lurking in Legacy Code
Legacy codebases rarely look dangerous from the outside. The risks emerge under pressure — when you try to scale, integrate, or ship something new.
Read More
The CapEx Time-Bomb: Uncovering Years of Underinvestment Buried in the Balance Sheet
Financial reports contain an undiscovered time bomb of deferred capital expenditures for server updates, network enhancements, and security tool acquisitions.
Read MoreThe Person Behind the Title
Michael Doody
Contract & Interim CTO. I step into CTO and technology leadership roles when execution can't wait.
Over 25 years I've led technology, product, and engineering in FTSE-100, Nasdaq-listed, PE-backed, and venture-backed businesses across Europe, the US, and Asia. I've integrated acquisitions, built platforms serving millions of users, shipped production AI systems, and led security programmes through certification and incident response.
I work with CEOs, Chairs, and operating partners who need a senior technology leader in the seat now — someone with the authority and experience to stabilise teams, reset delivery, make vendor and architecture decisions, and report credibly to the board.
Problems I Solve
- CTO succession gaps with no obvious internal candidate
- Engineering delivery that has stalled
- Post-M&A platform chaos and competing roadmaps
- AI initiatives stuck in pilot purgatory
- Security posture that won't survive due diligence
"I take accountability for outcomes, not just advice. Whether it's a focused turnaround or a twelve-month interim mandate, I work in the role — not from the sidelines."
Based in Dublin. Serving Ireland, UK, Europe & the US.