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vCAIO · AI Executive Advisory
Your company needs AI leadership. Not a framework deck.
We serve as the embedded AI executive function for companies where AI has become a board-level priority without a clear internal owner, accountable for moving fragmented pilots to measurable business outcomes. Our deepest expertise is PE-backed healthcare. The problem we solve is not.
Book a 30-minute fit call See the proof ↓
$53MTransformation led · CareFirst BCBS
$10M+Cost savings in 12 months
42%Faster sales cycles via AI
30%+Annual cost reduction · Radiant
The situation
Your AI situation probably looks like this.
Diligence flagged AI as a gap. Now the board wants a 90-day plan and there is no one internally who owns it.
Pilots are running across the portfolio company. No one owns them. No one is measuring them against the investment thesis.
You would hire a Chief AI Officer — but it takes six months to find a credible one and costs $400K+ fully loaded. Your timeline does not allow for that.
Who this is for
A specific mandate, for a specific kind of client.
This is for you if…
- You are a PE Operating Partner with one or more healthcare portfolio companies where AI or data was flagged in diligence
- You are a portfolio company CEO or COO with AI on your board agenda and no internal executive accountable for it
- Pilots are running in silos with no clear governance, ownership, or ROI measurement
- Your exit timeline — 18 to 36 months — requires demonstrable operational leverage from AI investment
- You need healthcare operator experience, not a generalist consultant learning the industry on your dime
This is not for you if…
- Your company already has a functioning AI or data leadership team and needs execution capacity
- You are looking for a project-based deliverable with no ongoing accountability
- You need deep implementation resources — developers, data engineers, or an analytics team
- You are at an early-stage company without a defined AI strategy problem to solve
The engagement
The vCAIO Retainer
12-month engagement · Scoped to your situation
This is not a consulting engagement with rotating analysts and a final report. It is an ongoing executive function — structured, accountable, and tied to the specific outcomes that matter to your investment thesis. We show up every month as your portfolio company's AI executive. The work does not stop when a deliverable is done.
What this is not: a project, a strategy deck, a vendor recommendation, or a team of rotating analysts. It is an accountable AI executive function that knows your company and owns the outcomes.
What's included
- Monthly AI portfolio review — what's working, what's at risk, what's next — delivered as an executive report
- Quarterly board-ready AI progress deck, ready for LP or board review
- Direct advisory access — structured monthly calls plus async guidance between sessions
- AI use case intake and prioritization tied explicitly to your investment thesis and exit timeline
- Governance framework covering regulatory exposure, model risk, and compliance posture
- ROI tracking connecting AI spend to EBITDA movement, not vanity metrics
How this compares
The alternatives, honestly assessed.
| Option | Monthly Cost | Healthcare Expertise | Accountable Executive | PE-Ready Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time CAIO hire$400K–$650K/yr fully loaded | $33K–$54K6+ months to hire, 12 to ramp | ○Varies by candidate | ✓ | ○Too slow |
| Big 4 / management consultingTeam engagement, partner-led | $40K–$100K+ | ✓At the practice level | ○Rotating cast, no continuity | ○Project-scoped, not ongoing |
| Do nothing / internal ownershipAssign AI to existing leadership | — | ○ | ○Diluted attention | ○Pilots stall |
| SSP vCAIO RetainerOperator experience, healthcare-specific | $12K–$18KScoped to your situation | ✓20+ yrs, documented results | ✓One accountable executive | ✓Starts in days, not months |
Results
Real engagements. Documented outcomes.
Documented outcomes from C-suite operating roles and retained client engagements.
$53M30%+42%$10M+25%
Healthcare Payer · CDO + Chief AI & Analytics Officer
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
Led the data and AI function through enterprise transformation. 7 directors, 120-person team, $30M operating budget.
$53MTotal transformation scope
$10M+Measurable cost savings in 12 months
Directed cloud data modernization, AI governance, advanced analytics buildout, and $10M+ in vendor contract restructuring — while managing board relationships and regulatory alignment across a 3-state footprint.
Healthcare Services · CIO + AI Strategy Lead
Radiant Healthcare
Scaled technology and AI across revenue cycle, credentialing, and provider network management through 7x company growth.
30%+Annual cost savings delivered
25%Efficiency gains across 300+ person org
Built and executed AI and automation strategy tied directly to measurable financial outcomes — with change management and adoption tracking across a global, multi-shore workforce.
Healthcare Provider · Interim CDO & Chief Analytics Officer
Envision Healthcare
Directed data science and AI for $300M provider across 1 surgical hospital and 250 surgery centers.
15%Billing productivity increase
10 daysDSO reduction
Integrated patient data into billing systems and the patient portal, reduced invoice processing time 40%, and built the analytics foundation across a highly distributed provider footprint.
The process
How an engagement begins.
01
Fit call
Run the free AI Value Diagnostic before we connect — it takes 12 minutes and gives us a shared baseline. The call is for confirming fit and alignment, not starting from scratch.
30 minutes
02
Scope
One week to map your investment thesis to specific AI priorities, define success at months 3, 6, and 12, and establish the governance structure.
1 week
03
Engage
12-month retainer with a defined monthly cadence, quarterly board-ready deliverables, and ongoing advisory access. Accountability built in from day one.
12 months
About
An operator-led practice, not a consulting firm.
Soft Solutions Partners was built on 20+ years of healthcare and PE-backed C-suite operating experience. At CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, our founder served as CDO and Chief Analytics & AI Officer, leading a $53M transformation with a 120-person team. At Radiant Healthcare, as CIO and AI Strategy Lead through 7x company growth. At Envision Healthcare, as Interim CDO across a 250-site provider network.
The practice today also advises on AI strategy, governance, and value creation at West Monroe Partners across PE, healthcare, and financial services — and brings that operator-grade judgment to a small number of retained clients.
West Monroe Partners · Advisory LeaderFormer CDO · CareFirst BCBSFormer CIO · Radiant HealthcareDeloitte · Cap Gemini · ZS AssociatesWharton · Johns Hopkins · AWS · Google · IBM
Common questions
What people ask before they reach out.
How is this different from hiring a consulting firm? Consulting firms sell a team, billed by the project. You get junior staff doing the work and a partner who appears at key milestones. Our retainer provides a senior operator with 20+ years of healthcare executive experience who is accountable for outcomes across a 12-month horizon. There is no rotating cast, no analysts learning your business on your timeline, and no deliverable that ends the relationship. We serve as your AI executive, not your vendor.
What if we need implementation support, not just advisory? This retainer is executive advisory and governance — we do not run implementation teams or manage developers on your behalf. Where implementation is needed, we will help you evaluate vendors, structure the right build-or-buy decision, and oversee outcomes. If your primary need is a team to build something, this is not the right starting point and we will tell you that on the fit call.
Do you engage with the PE firm or the portfolio company directly? Both, depending on how the mandate is structured. In some engagements the PE firm's Operating Partner is the primary relationship and we work across one or more portfolio companies. In others the portfolio company CEO or COO holds the relationship directly. Either works — what matters is a clear executive sponsor and aligned expectations on success metrics from the start.
Can we start with something smaller before committing to 12 months? Yes. For companies not yet ready for a 12-month retainer, we offer a fixed-fee AI Value Blueprint — a 2 to 3 week engagement that quantifies where value is hiding, aligns KPI definitions, and delivers a prioritized 90-day action plan. Many retainer clients start there. It is scoped to your specific situation and gives you a concrete basis for deciding whether the ongoing relationship makes sense.
What industries within healthcare do you focus on? Our deepest experience is in healthcare payers, healthcare services companies (revenue cycle management, credentialing, provider network management), and healthcare providers. We have also worked extensively with pharma and life sciences. Within PE-backed contexts, the most common situations we work with are post-acquisition healthcare services companies and provider-adjacent businesses where AI and data maturity are tied directly to the value creation thesis.
If AI is on your board agenda and no one owns it, that's the conversation.
Run the free AI Value Diagnostic first if you haven't already. Then 30 minutes is all it takes to know if there is a fit. No deck, no pitch.
Serious inquiries only. Typical response within 24 hours.
Before we connect
Not sure if your AI program is ready for a retainer engagement?
Run the free AI Value Diagnostic first. It takes 12 minutes, delivers your AI Value Index and archetype immediately, and gives our team enough context to make the fit call three times more useful. Many retainer clients start here.
12 minutes.
Expert report within 24 hours.