AI strategy from an advisor who has shipped it.
Cold Iron Labs is the fractional Chief AI Officer for private equity - advising sponsors, family offices, and portfolio companies on where AI pays, and building or directing the production systems behind the advice.
Three practices. One operating system.
We pair senior operators with internal AI tooling so a three-person engagement runs like a ten-person firm.
Fractional Chief AI Officer
AI strategy and governance for sponsors and operators. The highest-value AI moves, prioritized and made real.
Agentic workflows & analytics
Operational AI grounded in your data. A recent build took a six-month sales data model to production in under two weeks.
Fractional CIO & diligence
Embedded leadership through ERP migrations, cybersecurity programs, and platform consolidation, plus pre-close diligence in 21 days.
What defends the business. How to build it. What it is worth.
Three articles for private equity operators and the executives who run their companies.
The Manufacturing Moat Framework
Nine structural moats, scored 0 to 3 and validated against the numbers. The diligence lens for what actually defends a manufacturing business.
Building Moats: The Manufacturing Technology Playbook
Three kinds of IT projects, foundations first, and every moat as a build program with its AI angle.
The Four Pathways Value Creation Framework
Grow the base, earn the premium, kill the discount, delever. The returns logic the whole series plugs into.