I'm Laith Al Abbadi. I lead technology and AI for companies that need to ship.
Fractional CTO and AI expert for startups and growing businesses. I set the technical strategy, build the AI, and lead the engineers who deliver it, part time and hands-on.
Fractional CTO who still builds
Most companies don't need a full-time CTO yet. They need the decisions a CTO makes: what to build, which stack, who to hire, which agency to trust, and where AI really pays off. As your fractional CTO I make those decisions with you, then make sure they get delivered.
The difference: I'm not a retired executive giving advice. I run AI products in production today, and my company GenAI Labs gives me a team to execute when you need hands.
An AI expert for the work that matters
AI agents, RAG, MCP, Claude Code, self-hosted LLMs. I build with them every day. As your AI consultant or fractional Chief AI Officer I find the use cases with real ROI and ship them with evaluation, guardrails and cost control.
How I can help
Fractional CTO
Technical leadership for startups and SMEs, without a full-time hire.
Fractional Chief AI Officer
An AI strategy that ships, owned by someone who builds.
AI consultant
Find where AI pays off in your business, then make it real.
AI readiness assessment
Two weeks. A scored roadmap and a working prototype.
AI automation
Agents and workflows that take hours of manual work off your team.
AI agent development
Custom agents with tools, memory, guardrails and evals.
AI chatbot development
RAG chatbots grounded in your documents, on web or WhatsApp.
MCP server development
Connect Claude and other AI tools to your systems.
AI MVP development
From idea to a launched, paying-user MVP in weeks.
Hire an AI developer
A senior AI engineer, or a whole managed pod.
Marketplace development
Sharetribe and custom marketplaces, payments included.
GEO services
Get cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews.
Selected work
China Vehicle History
Vehicle-history and VIN reports for Chinese-made cars, used by buyers and importers across Russia/CIS, the Middle East and Africa.
Founder & CTO · B2B APIGlobalVIN
A vehicle-history API that unifies multiple data suppliers behind one clean interface, with normalised reports, usage-based billing and developer docs.
Product & engineering lead · AI mobile appKaya Health Coach
A personalised AI health-coaching app with daily check-ins and guided sessions.
Lead developer · Marketplace, UKRennzone
A bespoke high-end Porsche marketplace.
Developer · Marketplace, IrelandSpruceUp
A home-cleaning services marketplace connecting customers with vetted cleaners, with booking and payment flows.
Product lead · GenAI LabsEU Compliant Chat
Conversational AI built for the EU AI Act: Article 50 transparency, content marking, human oversight, logging and GDPR-ready data handling.
What clients say
“Laith has done all kinds of development work for us now in building a fully bespoke high end marketplace website. We have no hesitation in recommending his services, and as always, a pleasure to deal with.”
“Laith has been amazing! I have received the best results that I have ever received from any other developers I have worked with. A true professional, and I look forward to continuing to work with him!”
“The code quality was outstanding, adhering to standards, which ensured the project’s robustness and maintainability.”
“We needed a very complex tiered subscription payment system linked to Stripe. Laith delivered an amazing solution for this. Very high quality from a super talented developer. Happy customer!”
“Great cooperation. I had no clue how to provide the data Laith needed. But he graciously talked me through it and got the job done. Big thanks. I could never have done this alone.”
“Super professional, easy to communicate with, and always quick to make updates or changes. The end result was exactly what I had in mind: clean, smooth, and functional.”
From verified reviews on Fiverr, where I hold a 4.8★ average across 230+ reviews.
Guides
What is a fractional CTO? Role, cost and when to hire one
What a fractional CTO is, what they do, what they cost, how they compare to a full-time CTO, and how to know when your startup or business needs one.
GuideSelf-hosted LLMs: a practical guide to on-prem AI for businesses
How to run a self-hosted or on-premise LLM for your business: when it makes sense, which open models and serving tools to use, hardware and GPU sizing, costs, security and common mistakes.
GuideCursor vs Claude Code: which AI coding tool should you use?
Cursor vs Claude Code compared by a CTO who uses both daily: how they work, strengths, pricing model, team use, and which to pick for your workflow. Plus: is Claude Code free?
GuideClaude Code agent teams: how they work and when to use them
A practical guide to Claude Code agent teams: how to enable them, how the lead, teammates, task list and messaging work, how they differ from subagents, costs, limits and best practices.
GuideHow to build an MCP server and add it to Claude Code
Step-by-step: build a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server in Python or TypeScript, test it with MCP Inspector, add it to Claude Code and Claude Desktop, and design tools models use well.
GuideAI agent vs agentic AI: what's the difference?
AI agent vs agentic AI explained in plain English: definitions, the spectrum from chatbots to autonomous agents, real business examples, and how to decide what your company needs.
Frequently asked questions
What does Laith Al Abbadi do?
Laith is a fractional CTO and AI expert, and founder of GenAI Labs. He leads technology and AI strategy for startups and SMEs, and builds AI agents, AI products, MCP servers and marketplaces.
What is a fractional CTO?
A part-time chief technology officer who leads your tech strategy, architecture and team for a few days a month, usually on a retainer. Read the full guide.
Where are you based? Do you work remotely?
Amman, Jordan. I work remotely with clients in the UK, Europe, the US and the Gulf, in English, Arabic or German.
How do we start?
Book a call. We'll talk through your goals and I'll suggest the right first step: an audit, an assessment, a pilot or a retainer.
Let's talk about what you're building
Book a call. Bring the problem, the product or the mess. You'll leave with a clear next step, whether or not we work together.