# FractionX > AI for Mid-Market Companies FractionX is a fractional IT consulting and AI engineering firm headquartered in Apex, North Carolina, founded in 2011 by Darren Hoch. The firm serves small and mid-market companies across multiple verticals. Most companies are using AI. The companies pulling ahead are building with it — creating their own applications and agents that handle work their teams were never supposed to be doing. FractionX helps mid-market companies make that transition by building AI applications alongside them, training their teams, and operating the software once it is live. ## Philosophy AI is the most disruptive technology shift in a generation. Most companies are using it. A smaller group is building with it. The companies pulling ahead are in the second group. Building with AI is not a technology problem. It is a business problem with technology underneath it. New software changes how a team works, what they spend their time on, and what the business is capable of doing. That kind of change requires four things in motion at the same time: strategy that maps to the business, organizational readiness, governance, and engineering that holds up in production. FractionX holds all four in focus because if any one of them breaks, the rest stops mattering. The goal from the day FractionX starts is to make itself unnecessary. The firm does not build dependency. The firm does not hide its work in black boxes. Everything built is documented and transferable to the client or any other team the client chooses. ## Services ### FX Blueprint — AI Readiness & Assessment Anyone can do an assessment. AI can do one for you in minutes. But AI was not at your last all-hands. It does not know how your team really feels about change. It has never heard the hallway conversations about the last initiative that failed. FX Blueprint looks at the business across four pillars — strategy, culture, governance, and technology — with one goal: to find the first thing you should build. The AI solution most likely to work, get used, and create believers. Timeline: 2-3 weeks (small companies), 4-6 weeks (medium/large) Pricing: $2,500-$60,000 depending on company size and complexity ### FX Guardrails — AI Acceptable Use Policy & Governance There was a time when leaders knew exactly what software their people were using. Then overnight AI changed everything. Employees are using ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and seventeen other tools you have never heard of. Secure by design, nearly impossible to track. FX Guardrails brings order to the chaos without shutting it down. The engagement finds what is out there, builds the acceptable use policy, and trains the team to follow it. What it includes: - The Inventory: A complete picture of every AI tool in use across the business, who is using it, and what data is moving in and out - The Policy: An acceptable use policy built on what was actually found in the business, written in plain language - The Training: Every employee trained on the policy and responsible AI use, practical and specific to how the team works - The Monitoring Plan: Purpose-built AI monitoring software implemented and configured for the environment Timeline: 2-3 weeks (small companies), 4-6 weeks (medium/large) Pricing: $2,500-$60,000 depending on company size and compliance requirements ### FX Build — AI Design & Build with Enablement You have done the AI planning. You have a vision for what agents can do. You know AI can write the applications your business needs. But sitting across from that first real project, there is always hesitation. Can we really do this? Do we have the right people and skills? FX Build answers that question by removing it entirely. FractionX builds the first AI applications alongside the client so the team sees exactly what is possible. The code gets written. The applications go live. The team ships real AI software for the first time. That is the moment a company becomes AI native. Three collaboration models depending on the client's technical capability: - **Your Developers**: FractionX leads the build. Client developers work alongside on real production software, learning agentic development by doing it. - **Your IT Team**: FractionX builds the first applications and brings the IT team along. They learn enough to maintain what was built and build their own when ready. FX Evolve covers anything in between. - **Fully Managed**: For companies without internal technical staff. FractionX builds, deploys, and FX Evolve runs it. Month-to-month, no long-term contracts. Everything is documented and yours. What you walk away with: - The Design: Product requirements, architecture decisions, and feature prioritization before code is written - The Build: Working AI-powered software deployed in the client environment and integrated with existing systems - The Enablement: Team trained on what was built, full documentation, and a clear path forward whether developers own it, IT team maintains it, or FX Evolve runs it Timeline: Days and weeks, not months Pricing: $1,500 per application up to $20,000+ for larger projects. Time and materials with good faith estimates upfront. ### FX Evolve — Ongoing AI Operations & Strategic Partnership You built it. The software is running. Your team is using it. Now what? Who handles it when something breaks at 2am? Who keeps your AI applications current as models advance every quarter? FX Evolve is the operating partner for everything FractionX builds. The firm monitors applications, responds when issues arise, optimizes performance and cost, keeps software current as AI advances, and meets regularly to advance the roadmap. What you get every month: - The Operations: Around-the-clock monitoring with response when something needs attention - The Iteration: Optimization, cost reduction, new capabilities, keeping applications current - The Partnership: Regular strategy sessions to review what is running, what is changing in AI, and what should come next Pricing dimensions: - Coverage: 5x8, 7x8, or 24x7 - Response time: 15 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours, 8 hours, or next business day - Build hours per month: 8, 16, 24, 32, or 40 Pricing: $3,500-$10,000 per month. Month-to-month, no long-term contracts, no early termination fees. Cancel any time with thirty days notice. Everything managed is documented and transferable. ## Industries ### Manufacturing Manufacturers have been collecting data for decades. Most of it has never done anything useful. It sits in systems that were never designed to talk to each other, typically from 20+ year old boutique vendors. ERP does not know what the shop floor knows. Quality data never makes it to procurement. Production schedules are built on last month instead of right now. Closing those gaps has always meant hiring specialized consultants at $200 or more an hour, months of integration work, and still never a fully clean number. AI enabled application development changed the cost and timeline equation entirely. Integrations that took months now take days and weeks. What FractionX builds connects ERP, CRM, procurement, shop floor, and HR systems into a single operating picture. From there, three things manufacturers have never had cleanly: visibility into what is actually happening, alerts before problems become damage, and automated actions that remove manual work between systems and decisions. Results delivered: - EBITDA margins: 3%-7% lift within the first year through automation and demand planning improvement - Reporting cycles: Quarterly in arrears reporting replaced by real-time dashboards - Worker capacity: 20%-30% of time previously spent on manual reporting and data re-keying recovered and redeployed into product development ### Private Equity FractionX gets dropped into portcos by operating partners who have already identified IT as a performance problem. The work is always the same. Find the revenue the business cannot see because the data has never been connected. Eliminate the cost sitting in the technology stack that should not be there. On the revenue side, FractionX aggregates customer, market, and public data then uses AI to surface the growth opportunities buried inside it. For a services business this looks like identifying clusters of potential customers in geographies the sales team was not covering. On the cost side, FractionX builds agentic automations between legacy systems that collapse what used to take hours into seconds, and forecasting models that eliminate waste. The business does more without adding headcount. PE firms think in basis points. Basis points over time multiply exit value. FractionX measures every engagement against that standard. The firm will not claim a number it cannot substantiate. Results delivered: - Quarterly reporting cycles reduced from three weeks to hours - Replaced $1M annual data warehousing vendor contract with $250K solution. Company owns the IP. - CS ticket resolution: 25% to 85% on first reply within five days of go-live at PE-owned manufacturer ## Case Study — Outdoor Products Manufacturer (PE Owned) The Problem: A PE owned outdoor products manufacturer needed to grow B2C revenue to protect margins against tariffs and supply chain pressure. Customer service was the bottleneck. Every inbound email went to a single alias with no routing, no tracking, and no accountability. The Solution: FractionX implemented ZenDesk for routing and accountability, then built an AWS Bedrock knowledge base containing product manuals, engineering schematics, and curated question and answer pairs from the engineering team. Connected to ZenDesk, the knowledge base surfaced suggested replies before the CSR had to ask anyone. Within five days of going live, the results were measurable: - Tickets resolved on first reply jumped from 25% to 85% - First response dropped from four hours to one - Each agent went from resolving 20 tickets a day to 30, without adding headcount - Engineers returned to engineering The CEO redeployed the CS team into proactive dealer outreach and SKU expansion. The goal for 2026 is for incremental upsell revenue to cover the full cost of the CS team. ## Technology - Primary cloud platform: AWS (EC2, ECS, EKS, S3, SageMaker, Bedrock, Glue, Lambda) - Also experienced with Azure and Google Cloud - Uses both public and private AI models based on data sensitivity and governance requirements - All solutions integrate with existing enterprise systems via APIs, data pipelines, dashboards, and chat interfaces - Uses Spec Driven Development (SDD) for AI-assisted coding - Software deployed in client cloud environment, not FractionX infrastructure ## Team The FractionX team principals bring more than thirty years of combined experience delivering IT consulting and software engineering services to enterprise and mid-market clients. The team includes senior AI architects, business architects, data scientists, and advisors — every team member is AWS certified. Credentials: - AWS Advanced Consulting Partner - AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, Developer, Solutions Architect, AI Practitioner, Machine Learning, ML Associate, Generative AI ## Security and Compliance FractionX operates as a virtual company with no on-premises infrastructure. Back-office operations run exclusively on premium third-party platforms, all of which maintain SOC 2 Type 2 compliance. The firm operates in alignment with ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type 2 control frameworks, with internal control reviews conducted regularly. All FractionX subcontractors are contractually required to carry their own Errors and Omissions and Cyber Liability insurance policies. ## Frequently Asked Questions Q: Who does FractionX work with? A: Small and mid-market companies across multiple verticals including manufacturing, healthcare, consumer products, and private equity portfolio companies. Q: Do we need technical staff? A: It depends on which collaboration model fits. FX Build has three: your developers learning alongside us, your IT team maintaining what we build, or fully managed where we build and FX Evolve runs it. Q: Who owns what FractionX builds? A: The client owns everything. All code, architecture, documentation, and IP is delivered to the client and transferable to any other team at any time. Q: Does FractionX advise or build? A: Both. The firm builds AI applications, integrates systems, and operates the software. The firm does not hand off a strategy deck and disappear. Q: How long does a typical engagement take? A: FX Blueprint and FX Guardrails are measured in weeks. FX Build is measured in days and weeks. FX Evolve is ongoing monthly. Q: How much does it cost? A: FX Blueprint and FX Guardrails: $2,500-$60,000 depending on size. FX Build: $1,500 per application up to $20,000+. FX Evolve: $3,500-$10,000 per month. All time and materials billing with upfront good faith estimates that FractionX rarely exceeds. Q: What is the difference between FractionX and a large consulting firm? A: Scale and speed. Large firms bring junior consultants, long timelines, and six-figure engagements before software gets built. FractionX is a team of senior AWS-certified architects who deliver working software in days and weeks. Clients own everything built. Q: How is data handled? A: All software is deployed in the client cloud environment, not FractionX infrastructure. FractionX does not host client production systems and does not retain or commercialize client data. The firm operates in alignment with ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type 2 control frameworks. Q: What if a project fails? A: FractionX scopes small and iterates. Risk drops dramatically when applications are built in days rather than platforms over months. If something does not work as expected, the firm adjusts quickly. Q: Are we locked into a long-term contract? A: No. FX Evolve is month-to-month with no early termination fees. Cancel any time with thirty days notice. Everything FractionX manages is documented and transferable. ## Contact - Website: https://ai.fractionx.ai - Email: privacy@fractionx.com - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fractionx - Address: 126 North Salem Street, Suite 201, Apex, NC 27502 ## Canonical Pages - Home: https://ai.fractionx.ai/ - FX Blueprint: https://ai.fractionx.ai/classic/services/fx-blueprint - FX Guardrails: https://ai.fractionx.ai/classic/services/fx-guardrails - FX Build: https://ai.fractionx.ai/classic/services/fx-build - FX Evolve: https://ai.fractionx.ai/classic/services/fx-evolve - Manufacturing: https://ai.fractionx.ai/classic/industries/manufacturing - Private Equity: https://ai.fractionx.ai/classic/industries/private-equity - About: https://ai.fractionx.ai/classic/about - Use Case — Outdoor Products Manufacturer: https://ai.fractionx.ai/classic/use-cases/outdoor-manufacturer - Contact: https://ai.fractionx.ai/classic/contact