# Kristian Tanninen, Product CTO

> Fractional CTO and AI architect based in Vienna, Austria. Fractional CTO and product lead in one, working with companies across the US, UK and EU through Tanninen Consulting e.U. (ProductCTO).

## About

Anything can go from idea to production in weeks with AI agents. The speed is there for everyone. What sets yours apart is two calls made early: whether it is the right thing to build, and whether it is built right.

I make those calls with you, as your fractional CTO, product lead and AI architect. I work on SaaS and AI products, and on enterprise solutions. I set the product strategy, the AI strategy and the architecture. We decide together what is worth building. Then I lead the developers, partners and AI agents who build it. When agents work inside your business, I decide what they may do and prove with evals that they do it right. Every decision gets an owner.

Where you take it next is your call. Getting it there is mine. You get thirty years of product judgement on every decision, from a career that started when building a website still meant building the server under it. Ten of those years were as fractional CTO and product lead for companies across the US, UK and EU. I founded an enterprise SaaS company, and today I run Growhold, where founders validate product-market fit before they build.

Bring what you are building to a call. We go through where it stands and what to decide first. Based in Vienna, working with founders and product teams in Europe and North America.

Years of experience: Software Architectures 25, Product Building 15, Business Development 10, Artificial Intelligence 5.

Location: Vienna, Austria. Remote-first, with routine overlap into US and Canadian hours. Finnish citizen, EU-based.

## Services

### SaaS & AI product launch

Agentic frame included.

Full product delivery: a SaaS or AI MVP, web app or mobile app, launched for your first paying customers. The agentic frame that built it comes with it: the agents and their instructions, configured in your accounts so your team pushes the product forward with AI after launch. Your code and accounts stay yours.

Details: https://productcto.com/saas-ai-product-launch

### Enterprise AI agents

Every decision has an owner.

For established companies with AI pilots and no business result. The enterprise architecture turned into multi-agent workflows that act on their own and ask a named person to review when a decision needs it, proven on your own data first, with permissions, an audit trail and cost per result. Delivered within my fractional CTO or AI architect work, starting with a process review.

Details: https://productcto.com/enterprise-ai-agents

### AI agent evaluation

Right problem, solved right.

The judgement a product owner brings to SaaS, applied to AI agents. I design how the agents work together, validate that they solve a problem customers care about and prove with evals that they solve it right, filling the gap between value and tech. Delivered within my fractional CTO, product lead or AI architect work, starting with a value review.

Details: https://productcto.com/ai-agent-evaluation

### Fractional CTO

Technical direction you can trust.

Technology strategy, architecture decisions and leadership of your developers or development team. I read the code, review every technical decision and report status in plain words.

Details: https://productcto.com/fractional-cto

### Product Lead

What to build, and why.

Product strategy, MVP scope, specifications and the backlog, owned with you. Developers, design and stakeholders kept on one plan.

Details: https://productcto.com/fractional-product-lead

### AI Architect

AI that holds in production.

AI features inside your product, agents that run a business process end to end, and the evals, permissions and cost controls that keep them predictable once they are live.

Details: https://productcto.com/ai-architect

## SaaS & AI product launch: plans and prices

Fixed-price SaaS and AI MVP development, mostly for B2B companies. Price and date agreed before the build starts. Prices exclude VAT. Details and booking: https://productcto.com/saas-ai-product-launch

- Working beta: $1,450 / €1,350 one time, live in 7 days. Product website and your core flow with secure auth, live for your first users. Optional maintenance $95 / €85 a month.
- Launchable MVP: $2,950 / €2,700 one time, live in 14 days. Payments, admin panel, brand kit and API integrations, ready for paying users. Optional maintenance $195 / €175 a month.
- Scale-ready product: $4,950 / €4,550 one time, live in 21 days. Larger scope, team accounts and analytics, built to grow past launch.
- Beyond launch: quoted per scope, milestones. Larger scope delivered in milestones, and ongoing product development after launch with your team and the agents.

In every plan: Product website, Your GitHub, Vercel and Supabase accounts, Linear and agents configured for your team, Every change reviewed before release, Code and brand handed over.

Steps:

1. Scope review: I read your requirements or your Growhold plan, confirm the tier fits, and return a written scope with the user flow and feature list within two days.
2. Mockups: Clickable screens of the core flow for your approval before the full architecture is built.
3. Build: Architecture, database, features and integrations, built by agents from Linear issues, with a preview URL you can follow throughout.
4. Launch: Deployed on your domain under your own Vercel, Supabase, Stripe and PostHog accounts.
5. Handover: Repository access, the deployment pipeline, Linear with the backlog and the configured agents, and written Claude Code instructions, so your team keeps building the same way.

The product can be planned first in Growhold (https://growhold.com), which works out the buyer, the positioning and the MVP scope; a Growhold plan replaces the intake questions.

### SaaS & AI product launch FAQ

**How much does a SaaS or AI MVP cost?**

A fixed price agreed before the build starts: $1,450 (€1,350) for a working beta in 7 days, $2,950 (€2,700) for a launchable MVP in 14 days, and $4,950 (€4,550) for a scale-ready product in 21 days. Prices exclude VAT. Larger scope is delivered in milestones.

**Who owns the code and the brand?**

You do. Everything is built in your accounts and handed over.

**Can you work from my existing designs?**

Yes. The design part then becomes a review of what you have.

**What is the stack?**

A Supabase (PostgreSQL) backend with row-level security, user roles and permissions, Stripe payments, an admin dashboard, email notifications and API integrations. The frontend runs on React and Next.js on Vercel. AI features run on Claude or OpenAI.

**Do you build mobile apps?**

Yes. A mobile app ships as a progressive web app or is packaged with Capacitor. Responsive design is part of all product work.

**What is the agentic frame?**

Linear holds the specs and acceptance criteria, Claude Code agents implement and test from them, and every pull request is reviewed before merge. It is configured in your accounts during the build and handed over with written instructions, so your team runs it after launch.

**What happens after launch?**

Your team keeps building on the same code with the agents and the Linear workflow set up during the build. Optional maintenance keeps the product updated and monitored at the monthly price shown on the Working beta and Launchable MVP plans, cancel any time. Monthly product development with me is quoted after the MVP.

**Can I plan the product in Growhold first?**

Yes. Growhold works out who the product is for, what they will pay for and the MVP scope. Order the build from your Growhold project and the plan replaces the five questions: the scope review starts from it.

## Pricing

Every plan on one page: https://productcto.com/pricing. Prices exclude VAT. Three ways to pay: a fixed price for fast delivery, a flat monthly fee for steady work in your team, or hourly on demand when the need comes and goes.

### AI agent evaluation: plans and prices

- Value review: $2,900 / €2,700 fixed, 2 weeks. Your agent, your customers and their data reviewed. A written problem statement, acceptance criteria and measurement plan.
- Evals in place: $6,900 / €6,350 fixed, 4 weeks. The value review, then evals, guardrails and tracking live in your product for one agent workflow, built with your team.
- Validated with customers: $12,900 / €11,900 fixed, 8 weeks. Evals in place, then the results in front of your customers, and roadmap, offer and pricing options set from the numbers.
- Multi-agent and ongoing: quoted per scope, milestones. Multi-agent systems evaluated as one product, and your agents kept on the right problem as the product changes.

### Enterprise AI agents: plans and prices

- Process review: $4,900 / €4,500 fixed, 3 weeks. Two to three candidate processes assessed on value, risk and data. One picked, with the expected result and measurement plan.
- Proven on data: $14,900 / €13,700 fixed, 6 weeks. The process review, then the result defined with the process owner and the agent evaluated on your own data.
- Pilot in production: $29,900 / €27,500 fixed, 10 weeks. Proven on your data, then the agent running a share of real cases with permissions, audit trail, cost per result and a named owner.
- Scale and next processes: quoted per scope, milestones. The agent on the full volume, and the next processes on the same frame of permissions, evals and cost controls.

### Fractional CTO, product lead and AI architect: monthly or on demand

- Advisor: $2,600 / €2,400 a month, 4 h per week. Fractional CTO: A weekly session on architecture and priorities, and every major technical decision reviewed before it is made. Product lead: A weekly session on priorities and scope, and the roadmap kept honest against what users need. AI architect: A weekly session on where AI belongs, and every AI design reviewed before it is built.
- Lead: $5,200 / €4,800 a month, 8 h per week. Fractional CTO: I lead your developers: planning, code and architecture reviews, and a written status every week. Product lead: I own the backlog: specifications, refinement with the team and acceptance of every release. AI architect: I design the agents and their evals, and review every change your team makes to them.
- Embedded: $10,400 / €9,600 a month, 16 h per week. Fractional CTO: Two days a week inside your team: hands-on in the code, hiring and the technical roadmap. Product lead: Two days a week inside your team: user research, specifications and every stakeholder in line. AI architect: Two days a week inside your team: agents built, evaluated and run in production with you.
- On demand: quoted per scope, hourly contract. Fractional CTO: A technical due diligence, an architecture review or a short burst of leadership, billed by the hour. Product lead: A scope for a new product, a backlog rescue or a short burst of product leadership, billed by the hour. AI architect: An AI feasibility review, an eval design or a short burst of hands-on work, billed by the hour.

## Industries

All industries: https://productcto.com/industries

- [Software and SaaS companies](https://productcto.com/industries/software-saas): Product, architecture and AI leadership for software companies, from a founder of an enterprise SaaS company.
- [Digital and marketing agencies](https://productcto.com/industries/digital-agencies): AI agents in delivery and back office, a technical partner for client products, and AI products of the agency's own.
- [Healthcare and HealthTech](https://productcto.com/industries/healthcare): Healthcare software and AI with evals, human review and HIPAA-ready architecture, from someone who ran a healthcare software unit.
- [FinTech, financial services and M&A](https://productcto.com/industries/fintech): Product and technical leadership for FinTech and deal platforms, with audited data and AI that holds, from the CTO of an M&A platform.
- [Real estate and PropTech](https://productcto.com/industries/real-estate): AI analytics, multi-agent property management and rental platforms, led by someone who has built all three.
- [Education and EdTech](https://productcto.com/industries/education): Product and technical leadership for learning products, from research to product, with AI that helps learners and teachers.
- [B2B e-commerce and wholesale](https://productcto.com/industries/b2b-ecommerce): Product ownership and technical leadership for B2B ordering platforms, onboarding on fixed timelines, and agents in the order process.
- [Media and digital content](https://productcto.com/industries/media): AI products that create and manage content, archive platforms and technical leadership for media companies.
- [Insurance and InsurTech](https://productcto.com/industries/insurance): Underwriting and claims platforms, client exposure dashboards and AI agents in claims, led by someone who has delivered them.
- [Life sciences and regulated software](https://productcto.com/industries/life-sciences): Platform development, SaaS transitions and AI under validation and audit for life sciences and compliance software.
- [Restaurants and hospitality](https://productcto.com/industries/restaurants): Product ownership and AI agents for restaurant and hospitality technology: ordering, delivery and operations.
- [Mobility, travel and aviation](https://productcto.com/industries/mobility-travel): Technical leadership through launch for mobility and travel startups, and agents for booking and traveller requests.
- [Government and public sector](https://productcto.com/industries/government): Technical leadership for government data and platforms, and AI agents with a named owner for every decision.

## Founded

- [Growhold](https://growhold.com) (flagship): A platform where founders validate product-market fit before they build. Live market intelligence from real buyer demand, turned into product briefs, specifications and builds.
- [Ownercast](https://ownercast.com): An AI-guided interview that becomes a short, share-ready video. Your own face and your own voice, with no avatars.
- [Keenslot](https://keenslot.com): An AI agent that turns ad spend into booked discovery calls. It runs the keywords, the ads and the landing pages, and is measured on cost per booked call.
- [Scopedom](https://scopedom.com): A shared workspace where a contractor and a client see what the invoice will contain before it is sent. The AI drafts the invoice from the work record.
- [Antwort](https://antwort.app) (side project): A German course you take as a conversation.

## Selected projects

- Product Manager and CTO, Vienna, Austria: M&A platform, from MVP to scaling product.
- Product Owner, Lucerne, Switzerland: Large bicycle wholesale online platform.
- Technical Product Manager, New York, United States: EduTech scale-up.
- Agile Development Leader, Zurich, Switzerland: Global reinsurance company's platform development.
- Development Team Leader, Stuttgart, Germany: Biotech company's internal platform development.
- SaaS Transition Manager, Munich, Germany: Global compliance management company.
- Technical Lead, Helsinki, Finland: Governmental data warehouse team.
- Interim CTO, Toronto, Canada: An AI analytics platform for real estate market.
- 30+ projects across startups and enterprises in the US and Europe.

## Career

- 2015 - today: Product builder, ProductCTO.com
- 2026 - today: Consultant, Screenful
- 2021 - 2023: Interim CTO, MEOM Venture Studio
- 2021 - 2022: Interim CTO, Lygg - Smart Mobility Platform
- 2010 - 2015: Founder, LumoFlow - Enterprise Collaboration
- 2006 - 2009: Product Manager, CGI
- 2005 - 2006: Software Architect, Valkeus Interactive
- 1999 - 2005: Full Stack Developer, Regex
- 1998 - 1999: Developer, Satama Interactive

## Certificates

- Professional Scrum Master I (Scrum.org)
- IPMA Level C, Certified Project Manager (International Project Management Association)
- Blockchain Strategy Programme (University of Oxford)

## Client reviews

Verified on Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/kristian. Overall rating 5.0, $500K+ earned.

### Senior Technical Project Manager (Feb – Mar 2025, rated 5.0)

> One of the best. I wish we could keep him as a permanent fixture on our team.

### Product Manager for a new development project (Jan 2023 – Mar 2024, rated 5.0)

> Really enjoyed working with Kristian. He was a brilliant addition to our dev team when we most needed it.

Endorsed by client: Collaborative.

### Product Owner for business applications and data analytics (Apr – May 2023, rated 5.0)

> Strong communicator, well-balanced skillset, and always up-to-the-point.

Endorsed by client: Clear Communicator.

### Product Owner for relaunching a B2B e-commerce website (Sep 2020 – Feb 2023, rated 5.0)

> Kristian joined our team as a product owner when we were challenged to onboard a new company onto our B2B e-commerce platform on a fixed timeline. This company had a lot of custom requirements and backend systems which we didn't support at this time.
>
> Kristian helped us identify the work to be done, coordinated with the designer and the developers, and got everything ready for implementation. Even though his main focus was on the user experience and how our customers interacted with our platform, Kristian was also capable of diving into the technical aspects of the system and had no problem to de-mystify complex business logic.
>
> We can recommend Kristian to anyone who is looking for a product owner with a strong UX focus, who can work with minimal instructions to conceptualize a software product that you'll be happy with.
>
> Thank you, Kristian!

Endorsed by client: Collaborative, Clear Communicator.

### Part-time Tech Lead for a CMS agency (Jan 2019 – Jun 2020, rated 5.0)

> Kristian is certainly one of the top picks in his field - competent, professional and always delivering high quality work.

Endorsed by client: Professional, Committed to Quality.

### Consultant for managing a remote software development team (Oct 2018 – Jun 2020, rated 4.9)

> Kristian is a nice person to work with. He consulted me in creating and managing a remote software development team and also on some aspects of creating a new Software…

Full review on Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/kristian

Endorsed by client: Collaborative.

### Project Manager and Scrum Master (Sep – Dec 2018, rated 5.0)

> Kristian was a pleasure to work with. His calm yet focused approach worked very well for me and our team. I am looking forward to working with him again.

Endorsed by client: Collaborative.

### Scrum Master for a remote team (Jan – Aug 2018, rated 5.0)

> Kristian did a fantastic job in sheepherding us from a half-baked, scrum-ish process to one where we are now running much more efficiently and effectively with the right tools and…

Full review on Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/kristian

### Team Lead for a distributed software team (Jan – Aug 2018, rated 5.0)

> Kristian, is a great guy and valued team member. He helped us to move heavy pieces of work and i will clearly hire him again.

Endorsed by client: Collaborative.

### Feedback on a testing platform (May – Jun 2018, rated 5.0)

> It was a superb idea to discuss my start-up project with Kristian. I was only looking for validation / invalidation of some assumption but we (quickly) ended up with a…

Full review on Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/kristian

## Feed

- [AI exposes the decisions slow delivery used to hide](https://productcto.com/feed/ai-exposes-decisions) (2026-10-26): AI has exposed the ambiguity that slow delivery used to hide. Meetings, reports and long build times once covered unclear decisions. Reel with a full transcript on the page.
- [Markets move at AI speed. Founders need a gap scanner.](https://productcto.com/feed/the-market-is-moving-most-builders-are-not-watching) (2026-10-23): AI moves the market faster than ever: the idea you had last year is likely built already. Founders need focused strategies and tools that show the open gaps today.
- [AI evals are closer to product validation than testing](https://productcto.com/feed/evals-are-product-validation) (2026-10-20): An AI eval tells you something useful only when it checks the answer against the job the customer needs done. Reel with a full transcript on the page.
- ["Works with Zapier" answers last year's question](https://productcto.com/feed/the-market-now-names-n8n-more-often-than-zapier) (2026-10-17): An integrations page that stops at "works with Zapier" answers the question buyers used to ask.
- [Accountability is the one job agents cannot take](https://productcto.com/feed/agents-write-the-code) (2026-10-14): Under every AI chat box sits the most honest sentence in software: "AI can make mistakes. Please double-check responses." Read it as a contract. Reel with a full transcript on the page.
- [A category nobody has won is hard to sell into](https://productcto.com/feed/nobody-has-won-brand-strategy-yet) (2026-10-11): A category nobody has won is cheap to enter and hard to sell into. There is no incumbent to displace, and no name in the buyer's head to put your product under.
- [Agent code is clean line by line, but overbuilt as a whole](https://productcto.com/feed/agent-code-clean-and-overbuilt) (2026-10-08): Code written by agents is cleaner line by line than most code written by hand, but by default it is far more complex than the job needs. Reel with a full transcript on the page.

## Contact

- Email: kristian@productcto.com
- Book a video call: https://calendly.com/tanninen/meeting
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tanninen
- Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/kristian