I'm Jon McAnnis, and I run Groundwork Technology Advisors as a fractional CIO and CTO. Most fractional technology leaders are one or the other. A CIO runs the business technology, the systems, security, vendors, and operations. A CTO builds the product and the engineering organization. I do both, because I came up as an engineer and architect and then led technology as an executive for thirty years.
That combination is the whole point. I can run your systems, security, and vendors, and I can build or rebuild a high-performing engineering team, work most technology executives have never done hands-on. It's also why I can take whichever seat your company actually needs, the CIO chair, the CTO chair, or both at once.
My depth is in regulated industries. I've held senior technology roles on both the payer and the provider side of healthcare, where security, uptime, and audit readiness aren't abstractions, they're the business. That's where I go deepest. But building and leading a strong engineering team is the same work whether you're in healthcare, financial services, mortgage, or software, and I've done it across all of them. The regulatory details change by industry. The discipline of building technology that holds up under scrutiny does not.
Why Groundwork exists
Small and growing companies hit a point where the technology problems outrun the people in the room, but they don't yet need, or can't yet justify, a full-time CIO or CTO. That's the gap I fill. I step in as the accountable technology leader a few days a week, own the problem, and give the CEO and the board someone senior who actually has it handled. Sized to where the company is, not the enterprise version and not the startup version.
Have a question or want to discuss a potential engagement?
Reach out by email or phone. Most conversations start with a brief call to understand the situation before discussing whether there is a useful fit.