Executive Advisory Services
Strategic guidance from an executive who has built what you're building. We provide peer-to-peer counsel from a 25-year (CERN, Google, Optum) operator, available as ongoing Fractional CDO/CAO leadership or as on-demand, high-impact Power Sessions.
"Working with Patrick Deglon at Change Healthcare and later at Optum was one of the most formative experiences of my career. As my leader and mentor, Patrick brought out the best in me by combining strategic clarity with deep technical insight—and doing it all with genuine care and humility."
— Senior Director, Data Governance
What Leaders Say
"I like to remember Patrick as the Michael Jordan of analytics, because his talent is so unique that if you're lucky enough to meet this kind of people, your professional life changes forever."
— Analytics Leader, eBay
"Not only is Patrick one of the very best data scientists in the world, but he is also an amazing business leader and people manager with both amazing hard and soft skills."
— VP, Product Management, eBay
"He found innovative and effective ways to measure and predict the impact of our marketing campaigns using techniques normally reserved for high energy physics."
— Board Member & CTO (formerly at Microsoft, Google, Amazon)
"Patrick is one of the top Analytics minds at eBay. Over the years, he has developed a keen understanding of user behavior and value... I would work with him again if the opportunity present itself."
— Technical Product Executive & Angel Investor
What You'll Achieve
We deliver outcomes, not just advice. Here's what you gain through our proven frameworks:
Clear Path to Market Leadership
Achieve a clear, actionable strategy through a First-Principles AI Roadmap™
What I Offer: This isn't just theory. We deliver this strategy via ongoing Fractional CDO/CAO leadership or as a high-impact, fixed-scope AI Strategy Validation Power Session. We move from foundational truths to a 90-day executable plan with clear milestone gates, leveraging my experience in "Vision & Strategy Development" from Teradata and Optum.
Tangible Deliverables:
- 90-day executable plan with milestone gates
- Technology stack recommendations
- Build vs. buy decision matrix
- Investment roadmap with ROI projections
Faster Data-Driven Decisions
Gain unified business intelligence and enable faster decisions through our Single Source of Truth Blueprint
What I Offer: We will design the executive "command center" you need to lead. This blueprint is based directly on the "single source of truth" dashboard initiative I successfully led at Optum during the complex Change Healthcare merger, which provided a centralized Snowflake warehouse and unified AI/BI accountability for executive leadership.
Tangible Deliverables:
- Executive dashboard architecture
- Data source integration plan
- KPI tree with metric definitions
- Real-time alerting framework
Ethical AI That Builds Stakeholder Trust
Ensure responsible, ethical, and secure AI implementation to mitigate risks through a robust AI Governance & Council Charter
What I Offer: We will design the human operating system for responsible, scalable AI. This leverages my 5 years of formal governance experience, including serving as Board Chairman for a non-profit and being a Governance Fellow at the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).
Tangible Deliverables:
- AI Governance Council charter
- Ethical AI principles document
- Risk assessment framework
- Compliance monitoring system
Why This Approach Works
You Get Battle-Tested Fortune 500 Leadership
- 25+ years building and leading data/AI capabilities at scale
- A "Scientist-Operator-Founder" perspective across the full spectrum
- Proven track record:
- eight-figure cost savings at Motorola/Google through analytics optimization
- 100-person org relocation at eBay (Traffic Analytics to Seattle)
- 240-person global team at Change Healthcare merger
- 160+ person transformation at Teradata to analytics platform
- Unprecedented data scale:
- 500 petabytes (half-zetabyte) processing at Motorola on BigQuery
- One of the largest cloud analytics deployments in history
- Board & governance expertise:
- NACD Governance Fellow
- Board Chairman (non-profit)
- Executive briefing preferred speaker at Teradata
- Invented new methodologies by applying my CERN particle physics background to solve eBay's marketing attribution problems—a method still in use today.
Without the Overhead
- No full-time $500k+ salary, equity, and bonus
- No lengthy 6-month executive recruiting process
- No cultural mismatch risk
- No 18-month ramp-up time
With Immediate Impact
- Week 1: Already diagnosing and adding value
- Month 1: Tangible progress on a 90-day plan
- Quarter 1: Measurable outcomes and clear ROI
A Case Study in Courage: The HBR-Cited eBay Experiment
My job as an advisor isn't to tell you what you want to hear. It's to find the truth, even if it's buried, and help you act on it. There is no better example than the work I led at eBay.
The Challenge: eBay was spending a nine-figure sum annually on paid search. Internal models showed a high ROI, but the numbers didn't feel right. The spend was treated as untouchable.
The Hypothesis: I suspected that much of the spend was capturing users who would have come to eBay anyway, meaning the true "incremental" value was far lower than believed.
The Action: After a year of advocacy, I helped secure executive approval to run one of the largest, most courageous marketing experiments in corporate history. We turned off Google AdWords in roughly 30% of U.S. markets, creating a massive control group to measure what would happen.
The Truth: The results were staggering. The public, peer-reviewed research paper found that the return on investment (ROI) for paid search was not just low, it was a staggering -63%. The nine-figure spend was losing money. The internal models were wrong.
This experiment, a testament to data-driven courage, was later cited in academic literature and the Harvard Business Review. It's the perfect example of my advisory philosophy: I bring the scientific rigor to ask the hard questions and the executive experience to help you navigate the consequences.
Service Options
🎯 Fractional Chief Data & AI Officer
Part-time executive leadership with full-time impact
Monthly Investment: $18k–$37k
Transform your organization with experienced C-level guidance without the full-time commitment. Perfect for companies needing strategic leadership while building internal capabilities.
Three Engagement Tiers
Standard ($18k–$25k/month)
- 8–16 flexible hours/week
- Monthly executive briefings
- Strategic roadmap development
- KPI tree and measurement framework
- Email support (48-hour response)
Premium ($25k–$32k/month)
- 16–24 flexible hours/week
- Bi-weekly status reports
- Quarterly board deck preparation
- Team capability assessments
- Email support (24-hour response)
Platinum ($30k–$37k/month)
- 16–24 flexible hours/week
- Weekly executive syncs
- Quarterly board meeting attendance
- Direct Slack/Teams channel access
- Same-day response guarantee
Fractional Executive Deliverables
Month 1: Discovery & Assessment
- Current state capability audit
- Stakeholder interview synthesis
- Quick wins identification
- 90-day sprint plan
Month 2: Strategy & Roadmap
- 3-year vision articulation
- Technology architecture blueprint
- Operating model design (RACI)
- Budget and resource planning
Month 3: Execution & Enablement
- Pilot project launch
- Vendor selection criteria
- Hiring roadmap & job descriptions
- Success metrics baseline
Ongoing: Sustained Leadership
- Monthly steering committees
- Quarterly business reviews
- Team mentoring sessions
- Board reporting support
⚡ Power Sessions
Immediate expert help for urgent challenges
Session Investment: Starting at $2,500
When you need executive-level expertise immediately—crisis response, critical decisions, or rapid assessments.
Power Session Packages
AI Strategy Validation - $2,500
- Use case prioritization
- ROI reality check
- Risk assessment
- Deliverable: Go/no-go recommendation
Architecture Review - $2,500
- Technical design validation
- Scalability assessment
- Security review checklist
- Deliverable: Architecture decision record (ADR)
Vendor Selection Support - $3,500
- RFP requirements review
- Vendor capability scoring
- Contract red-flag analysis
- Deliverable: Vendor comparison matrix
Board Prep Package - $4,500
- Presentation narrative arc
- Q&A anticipation guide
- Technical deep-dive appendix
- Deliverable: Board-ready slide deck
Data Breach Response - $3,500
- Incident triage framework
- Communication templates
- Remediation roadmap
- Deliverable: Incident response playbook
Power Session Structure
- Intake (15 min, free): Define the challenge and confirm fit
- Preparation: Review materials 48 hours before session
- Working Session: Focused problem-solving via video/in-person
- Deliverable: Written summary/recommendations within 48 hours
- Follow-up: One 30-minute clarification call within 7 days
Engagement Models & Terms
Fractional Leadership Terms
- Minimum commitment: 90 days (builds momentum)
- Renewal: Quarterly with 30-day notice
- Hours: Flexibly allocated based on priorities
- Availability: Business hours + critical escalations
- IP ownership: Your work product, our methodologies
Power Session Terms
- Package-based: Fixed deliverables at fixed price
- Scheduling: 1-2 week advance booking
- Rush delivery: <1 week adds 25% premium
- Emergency: Same-day adds 50% (if available)
- Conversion: Apply payment to Fractional if upgraded within 30 days
Success Patterns We've Seen
The Scaling Startup (Series B SaaS)
Challenge: No data strategy, analytics chaos, can't answer board questions
Approach: Fractional CDO for 6 months
Outcomes:
- Built analytics team (3 hires)
- Implemented Snowflake + dbt + Looker stack
- Created investor data room
- Reduced CAC by 32% through attribution modeling
The PE Portfolio Company
Challenge: Post-acquisition AI strategy needed for value creation
Approach: 2-day Power Session + quarterly check-ins
Outcomes:
- Identified $4M in AI automation opportunities
- Created 100-day plan for new CTO
- Designed "AI wins" communication strategy
- Board approved $8M transformation budget
The Enterprise Transformation
Challenge: Legacy BI tools, 400+ spreadsheet "databases", no self-service
Approach: Fractional CDO (Platinum) for 12 months
Outcomes:
- Migrated to modern data platform
- Launched Analytics Center of Excellence
- Trained 100+ users on self-service tools
- Achieved 67% reduction in report requests
Investment Summary
| Service | Duration | Investment | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fractional CDO/CDAO | 90-day minimum | $18k–$37k/month | Ongoing transformation leadership |
| Power Sessions | Project-based | $2,500–$4,500 | Urgent decisions, crisis response |
- Power Session Upgrade Path: 100% of your Power Session fee can be applied as a credit towards your first month of a Fractional CDO engagement when you upgrade within 30 days.
What's Included
✅ Direct access to senior expertise
✅ Proven frameworks and methodologies
✅ Board-ready deliverables
✅ Knowledge transfer to your team
✅ Vendor-agnostic recommendations
What's Additional
➕ Travel outside continental US
➕ Hands-on implementation work (see Build Sprints)
➕ Extended team training (see Group Coaching)
➕ Large-scale workshops (see Executive Workshops)
Next Steps
Ready for Fractional Leadership?
Schedule a fit assessment call to discuss your transformation goals and confirm alignment.
Book Fractional Advisory Call →
Need Immediate Help?
Submit your Power Session request with challenge description and desired timeline.
Request Power Session →
Not Sure Which Option?
Let's spend 15 minutes understanding your situation and recommending the right approach.
Book Discovery Call →