Craig Peters Advisory
Fractional Chief AI Officer

Get AI out of the pilot stage and into the business.

I help leadership teams focus AI where it pays off most in their business, manage the risks that come with it, and get real work shipped. Part time, for as long as it's useful, until you're ready to run it yourselves.

Previously building AI and developer platforms at GitHub and Microsoft · LinkedIn

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How I help

Sound familiar?

"Everyone's running an AI pilot. Nothing's in production."

Turning experiments into results

We pick the two or three uses that actually move revenue or cost, kill the rest, and get the winners into everyday work with a number attached.

"We want to move fast, but not end up in the news."

Risk managed in proportion

A chatbot drafting marketing copy and a model screening job applicants are very different risks. I help you tell them apart, move quickly on the safe wins, and put the right policy, approvals and oversight around the rest. Where the law is involved, I work alongside your counsel.

"The board keeps asking about our AI strategy."

A plan your board will believe

One page on where AI fits in your business, what it will cost, what could go wrong, and how you'll know it's working. Then I'll help you present it.

"We need someone to own this, but not full time. Not yet."

Interim and fractional Chief AI Officer

I sit on your leadership team a few days a month, own the AI agenda, and help you hire the right full-time person when the time comes.

Working together

Three ways to start

Monthly retainer

A defined goal for each month, like "a risk review of every AI tool we use" or "two pilots in production." It renews every four weeks only if it's earning its keep.

Interim Chief AI Officer

I step in while you search for, or decide whether you need, a full-time leader. The handoff plan is written on day one.

Advisor

A regular sounding board for your CEO, executive team or board when AI decisions come up. No slide decks required.

A Chief AI Officer, sized to what you need right now.

About
Craig Peters

Hi, I'm Craig.

For 15 years I've led product teams that build the tools other engineers build on: cloud, containers, developer tools, and now AI. I've seen what it takes to get new technology from a demo to millions of daily users, and where it goes wrong. Now I help leadership teams do that with AI.

  • GitHub, 2022 to 2025. Led product for Codespaces, the cloud workspaces where GitHub Copilot's coding agent does its work. Usage grew more than 1,000 times after we opened it to every developer. I also helped build the tests GitHub used to measure Copilot Chat's accuracy and safety, and the security and admin controls that won large enterprise deals.
  • VP of Product, ThisWay Global, 2025 to now. Set the strategy for a new AI infrastructure platform, including the governance and audit controls enterprise and government buyers ask for.
  • Microsoft, 2018 to 2021. Helped build the Azure infrastructure that runs AI and other demanding workloads on Kubernetes, working with VMware, Google and the open-source Kubernetes community.
  • Before that: product leadership at Blameless, JFrog, Scalr, Mirantis, Strava, Yahoo! and EMC.
  • Advising now: strategy for the leadership team at Skyramp, and mentoring AI agent and robotics startups at Berkeley SkyDeck.
  • I keep a running, source-linked library of AI law, governance and risk, so our conversations start from what the rules actually say this month.
  • Based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Dates to know

AI rules coming up

If you use AI with customers or in hiring, these are worth planning for now.

  • End of the EU grace period for labelling AI-generated content in systems already on the market.
    Does this affect you?
    • Does your product use AI to create images, video, audio or text for customers?
    • Could people in the EU use that content, even if you have no office there?
    • Did that feature launch before 2 August 2026? If it launched later, the labelling duty already applies.

    If you answered yes to any of these, it's worth a closer look.

    Source: European Commission AI Act timeline
  • Colorado's new law on automated decisions takes effect, and California's rules on automated decision-making start to apply. Both ask for notice, an explanation and a way to appeal, so one process can often serve both.
    Does this affect you?
    • Do you use software that scores, ranks or screens people for jobs, loans, housing, insurance, education or health care?
    • Are any of those people Californians, and is your business covered by California's privacy law (for example, more than about $26 million in yearly revenue, or data on 100,000 or more Californians)?
    • Do any of them live or work in Colorado, including remote staff and job applicants?

    If you answered yes to any of these, it's worth a closer look.

    Sources: Colorado General Assembly bill page · California Privacy Protection Agency regulations
  • EU AI Act duties for high-risk uses such as hiring, credit and education begin.
    Does this affect you?
    • Do you use AI to hire, manage or evaluate workers in the EU?
    • Do you use AI in credit, insurance or education decisions about people in the EU?
    • Do you build and sell such a tool, or buy one? Builders carry the heavier duties.

    If you answered yes to any of these, it's worth a closer look.

    Sources: European Commission AI Act timeline · EU AI Act official text
  • California risk assessments are due for automated processing you already do.
    Does this affect you?
    • Are you covered by California's privacy law?
    • Do you sell or share personal data, use sensitive data such as health or precise location, or use automated tools for significant decisions about people?
    • Have you written down why each of those uses is worth its risks?

    If you answered yes to any of these, it's worth a closer look.

    Source: California Privacy Protection Agency regulations

Status as of October 2026. A summary for planning, not legal advice. Your counsel should confirm what applies to you.

Contact

Let's talk about where you are.

A 30-minute call, no pitch. You'll leave with at least one thing to do next week.

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