Engagements
Three ways in
I’m Satyam Saxena. Advisory, hands-on delivery, and codebase modernization, plus two focused paths for when the problem already has a name.
A fractional CTO is senior technical judgment without the full-time hire: what gets built, in what order, and which calls are expensive to reverse.
The three engagements, what each covers and how long it runs
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Advisory and architecture
I read the system and tell you what I would do, in writing.
A week or two reading the system, ending in a written answer: what to build, what to defer, and whether the rewrite you are considering is really a rewrite.
Best for Anyone about to sign off on a rewrite, or about to defer one for the wrong reason.
How long One to two weeks, fixed scope.
Where this has been done At ING in 2023, where release paths and audit trails had to be provable, not just documented, and at Westpac in 2018 on onboarding, compliance and the audit trail behind them.
What it covers
- Architecture and codebase review focused on delivery risk
- Technical due diligence on a codebase, its team, and what it would cost to take on
- Whether a feature or an AI idea is buildable, what it needs, and how it fails
- Build or buy, modernize or rewrite, and what shape the team needs to be
What you end up with
- A written recommendation and technical direction
- Risks, trade-offs, and a sequencing plan
- A next step your team can start without me
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Product Partner
I work in your repository, with the team you already have.
I work with you in the repository: scope, architecture, implementation, and review. A small team and short loops. Nothing goes in that production cannot carry.
Best for Founders and technical leaders who want senior engineering judgment while the product is being built, not only after it ships.
How long Two days a week, ongoing.
Where this has been done AutoTrack, Gaspedaal and AutoWereld run as one platform at Automotive MediaVentions, 2020 to 2022. Six million visitors a month, three brands that had to stay distinct, and the AutoTrack rebuild happening inside the merge.
What it covers
- Product and workflow scoping with clear success criteria
- Architecture decisions, delivery structure, and code review
- Decisions on where automation and AI help, and where to keep people in the loop
What you end up with
- Something running in production, not a document about it
- Clear automation boundaries and human-review points
- A codebase the next person can pick up
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Modernization
Modernize a codebase so the team can move again.
Target the highest-friction areas: tests, boundaries, build and release paths, and the parts everyone is afraid to touch.
Best for Teams slowed by fragile code, unclear architecture, weak tests, or delivery paths that have become too risky to change confidently.
How long Two days a week, ongoing.
Where this has been done A live AngularJS to Angular 8 migration on Omnia Retail's dynamic pricing platform in 2019, with features still shipping throughout and a team onboarded onto it as it moved.
What it covers
- Triage to find the real blockers (not just the loudest symptoms)
- Refactor vs rewrite decisions backed by evidence
- Incremental modernization plan for reliability and delivery speed
What you end up with
- A sequenced modernization plan that avoids unnecessary rewrites
- Early changes that reduce risk (tests, seams, boundaries)
- Who owns what, and the points where you get to stop
Focused paths
When the problem already has a name
Start with the call
Thirty minutes. Bring the plan, the constraint, or the argument you keep having, and you will leave with a recommendation either way.
Book a discovery call