Building a Network of AI-Native CTOs

Over the past few years, I’ve been thinking a lot about how the role of a CTO is evolving—especially with how quickly AI is changing how we build software. To be honest, I never really liked titles like CEO, CTO, CMO in early-stage startups. They always felt a bit off to me. How can you be the Chief Technology Officer when you’re the only one building? But I’ve started to look at it differently lately. Instead of a title, I think of CTO more as a responsibility —especially in smaller, AI-assisted teams. This is not an exclusion of vibe code type prototype founders, just a way to grow beyond that. The gap I keep running into Working with early-stage teams, there’s a pattern I keep seeing: You don’t necessarily need a full-time CTO yet, but you do need help making good product and technical decisions early on. At the same time, AI tools are making it easier than ever to build with really small teams. Which is great—but it also makes it easier to: Head in the wrong direction Overbuild too