Ryan L’Italien
Fractional CTO & forward deployed engineer for companies whose growth runs through partners, integrations, and AI.
Most fractional CTOs are pure engineering. I also carry the revenue side, partner channels, solutioning function, and being the person you actually want on the call. 20+ years, startups to Fortune 100. I’m pragmatic, I ship, not just advise.
By the numbers
Pick the sentence that sounds like you (yes, you, the one reading this)
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We signed the partner deal and nobody senior enough knows how to land it.
Integration architecture, technical relationships, marketplace listings, onboarding, process improvements, gap analysis. I did this for a public fintech’s largest merchant partners.
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Our AI plans are ChatGPT? How do we scale?
I build agentic systems for real: MCP servers, Claude-based tooling, multi-agent pipelines in production. I will tell you where AI pays off in your stack and where it is theater/shovelware.
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Engineering outgrew the architecture and the founders’ available hours.
Fractional CTO: architecture, hiring, delivery process, board-ready technical narrative. Digging in to help with programming as well.
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We need a senior technical code review and analysis before we wire the acquisition money.
Technical due diligence for investors: a written, defensible findings document on the target’s stack and team.
Proof
Payments at platform scale
Staff Partner Engineer at a publicly traded fintech: owned integration architecture and the technical relationship for global marketplaces and payment processors, design through launch through escalation.
Enterprise AI that closed
Snowflake Senior Solutions Engineer: GenAI assistant, image-recognition pipeline, and synthetic-data generator that became reference implementations; technical lead on $21M, $12M, and $7M deals. SnowPro certified.
Game-dev infrastructure
Perforce Director of Solutions and Gaming Evangelist: studio infrastructure for teams from 2 people to Epic Games, Take Two and Electronic Arts, ran the AWS Games partnership (also Google/Microsoft), product-managed Helix Core Cloud. Now CEO and Founder of ButterStack, a SaaS platform for game studios.
Agentic development, daily
MCP servers, Claude Code plugins, and multi-agent workflows are how I build now. If you want this capability in your team, I have already made every mistake, almost 😉.
Engagements
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AI & Integration Readiness Diagnostic
fixed fee, 3-4 weeksSenior read on architecture, delivery, partner surface, and where AI actually pays off. Written findings, prioritized roadmap, decision-ready recommendation. The usual starting point.
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Advisory
monthly retainerJudgment on tap: architecture calls, hiring, build-vs-buy, partner escalations.
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Fractional CTO
1-2 days/week, minimum three monthsEmbedded engineering leadership through a raise, a re-platform, or a partner launch.
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Technical due diligence
fixed fee per engagementFor investors on deadline: a written, defensible findings document on the target's stack and team.
The four shapes mix and match; many engagements combine them. No public prices here on purpose, fixed-fee language above, numbers in the conversation.
How I work
- Diagnose before prescribing. The first deliverable is always a written read of where you actually are.
- Fixed scopes, named deliverables, no meter running.
- I write code with your team, not decks about your team.
- Everything I recommend, I have run in production somewhere.
Selected work
ButterStack
Game-studio SaaS I founded and run, born from the AWS partnership and studio-infrastructure work turning into a product.
Viewer suite
Nine native macOS apps (JSON, CSV, Markdown, YAML, Text, Image, Audio, 3D, 3MF) sharing one core, plus Viewer Toolbox to manage and update them.
Agentic tooling
MCP servers and Claude Code plugins built for daily use, not demos: this site’s own build pipeline runs on the same tooling.
Selected writing
- What is Virtual Production? (Perforce, 2021)
- What Is the Perforce Enhanced Studio Pack? Everything You Need For the Cloud. (Perforce, 2021)
FAQ
Are you available?
Yes, taking new engagements now and can start immediately. Standing availability is weekdays, Eastern Time Zone.
Remote?
Remote-first, Greater Boston area as needed.
Who is this NOT for?
You need a body-shop team of five or the cheapest bid. All legitimate options; we just wouldn't be a fit here!
ButterStack?
My game-studio SaaS. Game-dev engagements run through ButterStack Consulting; everything else through me. ButterStack.
Get in touch
The fastest path in is a 20-minute call. Email works too, though a booked call skips a round trip.