Fractional CMO leadership
Embedded senior ownership of your marketing function, from strategy to execution, without the cost or lead time of a full-time executive hire.
Fractional CMO / Technical marketing advisor
Roberto Iriondo
Fractional CMO and technical marketing advisor for AI companies.
I work with AI startups and tech teams as their fractional CMO and technical marketing advisor, leading website strategy, SEO, and GEO, alongside go-to-market and technical content.
Trusted by teams at GenBio AI, Cohere, Snorkel AI, MBZUAI, Carnegie Mellon, with collaborations across Google, NVIDIA, and Amazon Science.
{
"name": "Roberto Iriondo",
"role": "Fractional CMO & Technical Marketing Advisor",
"founded": "Towards AI (acq. 2022)",
"school": "ML@CMU, Carnegie Mellon University",
"based": "Remote-first, hybrid, can travel",
"focus": ["AI startups", "tech companies"],
"services": ["website strategy", "SEO/GEO", "GTM", "content"],
"available": true
}
About
Marketing built for technical products
- Focus
- AI startups & tech companies
- Based
- Remote-first, hybrid, can travel
- Education
- Entrepreneurship, Carnegie Mellon University
Computer Science, CCAC - Founded
- Towards AI (acq. 2022)
I help AI companies and tech teams solve their marketing challenges, as a fractional CMO and technical marketing advisor. My forte is website strategy and SEO, and I work with several companies at once, from AI startups preparing to launch to established teams that need senior marketing leadership. I am remote-first and flexible for hybrid roles, and I can travel as needed.
At GenBio AI I built the marketing function from zero as Fractional CMO, led all external communications during the company's early growth, and hired and onboarded our Head of Marketing to run ongoing operations. I now serve as GenBio AI's technical marketing advisor, owning website strategy, SEO, and GEO, building and maintaining site code and marketing analytics, and advising on the technical growth roadmap where marketing, web, and engineering overlap. I co-founded Towards AI in 2019, which was acquired in 2022, and I advise its CEO on strategy and growth. Earlier, I advised the president's office at MBZUAI under President and Professor Eric Xing's leadership, helping launch initiatives including LLM360 and the Institute of Foundation Models, and I led technical content as Head of Technical Content at Cohere and before that at Snorkel AI. From 2018 to 2021 I was at Carnegie Mellon University, in the Machine Learning Department, as a front end engineer and marketing lead under the direction of professors Manuela Veloso and Roni Rosenfeld.
Across that work I have collaborated with Google, Amazon Science, NVIDIA, Lambda, Udacity, Determined AI, Gather AI, and others, helping them reach their goals and improve ROI through marketing built for technical products.
Why founders hire me
Most fractional CMOs stop at strategy
The deck looks great, then execution stalls waiting on a developer, an SEO agency, and a data analyst. Technical founders need someone who closes that gap, not someone who widens it.
The full scope, plus the technical depth
Everything a fractional CMO is expected to run gets covered: brand and positioning, go-to-market and launches, messaging and communications, content, demand and pipeline, analytics, and hiring or building the team that takes it forward.
The difference is what happens underneath. The work does not get handed off. Site code gets built and maintained. Technical SEO and GEO get implemented, not just recommended. Analytics gets wired to the pipeline. And the conversations happen directly with researchers and engineers, in their language, without a translation layer. That combination, senior marketing leadership plus the ability to ship the technical work itself, is the specialty.
Where the technical work goes deep
Technical marketing is the specialty, and it follows the same path every time, from the research a company is built on to where buyers actually find it:
- 01 ResearchUnderstand the science and the product deeply enough to earn trust.
- 02 ProductTurn it into positioning that holds up with a technical audience.
- 03 WebsiteBuild the site and the technical foundation that carries it.
- 04 SearchRank in Google through technical SEO and content.
- 05 AIShow up accurately inside AI answer engines through GEO.
What I do
A fractional CMO who speaks engineer
Four ways I plug in. Most engagements combine two or three, scoped to the stage you are at.
Go-to-market for AI launches
Positioning, messaging, and launch plans that get a new model, product, or company in front of the right buyers and press.
Technical content and thought leadership
Research blogs, docs, and developer-facing content that earns trust with technical audiences, written by someone who understands the work.
SEO/GEO and web growth
Technical SEO and generative engine optimization so your company ranks in search and shows up accurately inside AI answer engines.
Track record
A decade inside AI and research
The through line: marketing that holds up with technical audiences, at companies where credibility is the whole game.
Now & founded
- GenBio AI Technical marketing advisor, 2026 to present. Fractional CMO, 2024 to 2026.
- Towards AI Co-founder, 2019. Acquired 2022. Advisor to the CEO.
- Generative AI Lab Advisor.
Led & advised
- MBZUAI Advised the president's office under President and Professor Eric Xing's leadership. Helped launch LLM360 and the Institute of Foundation Models.
- Cohere Head of Technical Content, 2022 to 2023.
- Snorkel AI Head of Technical Content, 2021 to 2022.
- Carnegie Mellon University Machine Learning Department. Front end engineer and marketing lead, 2018 to 2021.
Collaborated
- Amazon Science
- NVIDIA
- Lambda
- Udacity
- Determined AI
- Gather AI
- and others
Selected work
Work in the wild
A few AI companies and teams I have helped launch, position, and grow.
GenBio AI
Launched at NeurIPS 2024, the world's largest AI research conference. I lead marketing, website strategy, and SEO.
genbio.ai
Towards AI
Co-founded in 2019, acquired in 2022. I advise the CEO on strategy and growth.
towardsai.com
LLM360
Helped launch this fully open-source LLM initiative under MBZUAI, from positioning to go-to-market.
llm360.ai
Institute of Foundation Models
Helped launch this foundation model research institute under MBZUAI.
ifm.ai
ML@CMU | Carnegie Mellon University
Front end engineer and marketing lead for the Machine Learning Department's research blog.
blog.ml.cmu.edu
Featured posts
Writing and thought leadership
Technical content and articles I have written or directed across AI research and industry.
Questions
Frequently asked
What does a fractional CMO do for an AI company?
A fractional CMO leads marketing part-time as an embedded senior operator. For an AI company, that means the fractional CMO owns positioning, go-to-market for launches, technical content, SEO and GEO, and the web growth engine, without the cost of a full-time executive hire. As a fractional CMO for AI companies, I plug in fast and connect marketing directly to the pipeline.
Who do you work with as a fractional CMO and technical marketing advisor?
As a fractional CMO and technical marketing advisor, I work with several AI companies at once, from AI startups preparing to launch to established tech teams that need senior marketing leadership. My fractional CMO and technical marketing advisor work includes GenBio AI, Cohere, Snorkel AI, Carnegie Mellon University, MBZUAI, Towards AI, and collaborations with Google, Amazon Science, NVIDIA, and Lambda.
What is a technical marketing advisor?
A technical marketing advisor is a marketing operator who understands the product deeply enough to earn trust with engineers and researchers. As a technical marketing advisor for AI companies, I direct website strategy, SEO, GEO, technical content, positioning, and go-to-market, which lets me market to technical buyers without diluting the substance. A technical marketing advisor bridges marketing, web, and engineering.
What does a fractional CMO cost compared to a full-time hire?
A fractional CMO gives an AI company senior marketing leadership at a fraction of the cost of a full-time executive. With a fractional CMO you pay for a retainer or a fixed-scope project rather than a full salary, equity, and benefits, and you get an embedded operator who owns website strategy, SEO, GEO, go-to-market, and technical content from day one.
Do you offer website strategy and SEO services?
Yes. Website strategy and SEO are my core forte. As a technical marketing advisor, I build and maintain site code and marketing analytics, run technical SEO and generative engine optimization (GEO), and connect website strategy directly to the pipeline, so your AI company ranks in search and shows up accurately inside AI answer engines. Website strategy and SEO anchor most of my fractional CMO engagements.
What is GEO and why does it matter for AI companies?
GEO, or generative engine optimization, is the practice of making a company visible and accurately represented inside AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. GEO matters because a growing share of buyers now research vendors through AI assistants rather than traditional search. As a fractional CMO and technical marketing advisor, I pair GEO with technical SEO and website strategy so AI companies are found in both.
Can a fractional CMO handle end-to-end marketing?
Yes. As a fractional CMO, I can run end-to-end marketing for an AI company, from strategy and brand to launches, content, and analytics. My forte is website strategy and SEO, and most fractional CMO engagements combine website strategy, SEO, GEO, go-to-market, and technical content, scoped to the stage you are at.
How do fractional CMO and technical marketing advisor engagements start?
Engagements start with a short call to scope the goal, followed by a focused proposal. Most begin as a fractional CMO retainer or a fixed-scope technical marketing advisor project covering website strategy, SEO, or GEO. I work remote-first, hybrid as needed, and take on a limited number of AI companies at a time.
Do you work with AI startups or only established AI companies?
Both. As a fractional CMO and technical marketing advisor, I work with AI startups preparing for their first launch and established AI companies that need senior marketing leadership. For AI startups, the fractional CMO role often starts with positioning, website strategy, and SEO; for larger AI companies, it leans toward go-to-market, GEO, and technical content at scale.
What makes a technical marketing advisor different from a regular marketing consultant?
A technical marketing advisor understands the product, the research, and the buyer well enough to lead website strategy, SEO, GEO, and technical content without hand-holding from engineering. A regular marketing consultant often stops at strategy. As a technical marketing advisor and fractional CMO, I build the site, own the SEO and GEO, and ship the go-to-market, so an AI company gets an operator, not just advice.
What does a fractional CMO own on the website and SEO side?
On the website and SEO side, a fractional CMO owns information architecture, technical SEO, content strategy, and GEO. As a technical marketing advisor I build and maintain site code, fix crawl and indexing issues, run generative engine optimization, and tie website strategy to the marketing pipeline, so the site becomes an AI company's strongest growth channel.
How does a fractional CMO approach a product launch or go-to-market?
A fractional CMO approaches go-to-market by locking positioning first, then building the launch plan across website, SEO, GEO, technical content, and press. For an AI company launch, I sequence the work so website strategy and SEO are ready before launch day, and GEO keeps the AI company visible inside AI answer engines afterward.
Can a technical marketing advisor help with developer marketing?
Yes. Developer marketing is a natural fit for a technical marketing advisor. I write and direct technical content, docs, and research blogs that earn trust with engineers, and I pair that with website strategy, SEO, and GEO so an AI company reaches technical buyers through both search and AI answer engines.
How much time does a fractional CMO commit each month?
A fractional CMO commitment scales with the engagement. Some AI companies need a fractional CMO a few days a month for website strategy, SEO, and GEO oversight; others need heavier involvement during a go-to-market push. I keep a limited roster so each AI company gets real fractional CMO and technical marketing advisor attention.
Do you help AI companies with generative engine optimization (GEO) specifically?
Yes. Generative engine optimization is a core service. As a technical marketing advisor I audit how an AI company appears inside ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, then improve website structure, content, and schema so GEO and SEO reinforce each other. GEO is now part of every fractional CMO engagement I run.
What industries or company types fit your fractional CMO work best?
My fractional CMO and technical marketing advisor work fits AI companies, AI startups, research teams, and technical tech companies best. These are teams where credibility is the whole game, and where website strategy, SEO, GEO, and technical content have to hold up with an expert audience.
Can you improve our existing SEO and website performance?
Yes. Improving existing SEO and website performance is a common starting point. As a technical marketing advisor I run a technical SEO audit, fix site health and indexing, sharpen website strategy, and layer in GEO so an AI company recovers rankings and shows up in AI answer engines. This often becomes an ongoing fractional CMO relationship.
Do you replace an in-house marketing team or work alongside one?
Both. A fractional CMO can lead an early marketing function from zero or work alongside an existing team as a technical marketing advisor on website strategy, SEO, and GEO. For AI companies with a small team, I often hire and onboard the first marketing lead, then hand off day-to-day while staying on as advisor.
What results should an AI company expect from a fractional CMO?
An AI company should expect a fractional CMO to improve qualified traffic, search visibility, and pipeline contribution. Because my forte is website strategy and SEO, results usually show up as better rankings, stronger GEO presence in AI answer engines, and technical content that converts. A good fractional CMO ties every activity back to growth.
How do you measure SEO, GEO, and marketing success?
I measure SEO, GEO, and marketing success with a mix of search rankings, qualified organic traffic, AI answer engine visibility, and pipeline. As a technical marketing advisor I connect website analytics to marketing outcomes, so an AI company can see how website strategy, SEO, and GEO move the numbers that matter.
Are you available for fractional CMO or technical marketing advisor work now?
Yes, I am currently available for a limited number of fractional CMO and technical marketing advisor engagements. If your AI company needs senior marketing leadership across website strategy, SEO, GEO, and go-to-market, use the contact form to start the conversation. I work remote-first, hybrid as needed.
Work together
Hire a fractional CMO for your AI company
Tell me where you are headed with your marketing, website strategy, SEO, or GEO. I will tell you the fastest honest path to get there.