Fractional CTO · South East Asia
Fractional CTO for South East Asia scale-ups.
A fractional CTO is an experienced chief technology officer engaged part-time rather than as a full-time hire. Across South East Asia that means senior technical judgement delivered remote-first on GMT+8 hours, with in-person time arranged and costed per engagement rather than assumed.
Delivery running late across time zones with nobody senior owning it? Former CTO and COO, and founder of my own consultancy for over fifteen years. I work with founders and boards in Malaysia, Singapore and the wider region who need senior technical judgement without a full-time executive hire.
Where I work in the region
Malaysia and Singapore first, with Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand covered on the same basis. I am based in Manchester, UK today and intend to relocate to the region; until then the work runs remote-first, which is how most technical advisory in the region runs anyway.
Sectors I have actually run technology and operations in: fintech, iGaming and gambling, digital health, SaaS, data and agencies. I take on a small number of clients at a time, have no development team to keep busy and no supplier referrals to protect.
Hong Kong
Regulated fintech and financial services, working GMT+8 hours.
Kuala Lumpur
Founders scaling engineering teams across the Klang Valley.
Malaysia
Nationwide coverage, including Penang and Johor, remote-first.
By location
Pages for individual markets
Malaysia
Country-wide cover on MYT (GMT+8), with on-site time in KL, Penang or Johor arranged per engagement.
Kuala Lumpur
The KL and Klang Valley page: delivery cadence, costs and how the overlap window works day to day.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong founders and boards on HKT (GMT+8), remote-first with travel agreed up front.
How the engagement works
Working with clients outside the UK
Remote by default
Fixed weekly contact, board attendance by video, and written reports your team and your investors can both act on.
On-site when it earns its place
Some things need a room: a board offsite, a team reset, a due diligence week. On-site time is arranged and costed per engagement.
A stated overlap window, not a vague promise
GMT+8 with no daylight saving means the gap is seven hours in UK summer and eight in winter. A 09:00 UK start is 16:00 or 17:00 your time, every working day, with earlier starts by arrangement when a delivery push needs them.
No lock-in, and no interest in staying longer than the business needs me. When you are ready to bring the role in-house, I help you hire well and step back.
Where I fit
Two different problems
Pre-Series A founders
Technical decisions are already executive-level, but the headcount is not. You need senior judgement on architecture, hiring and the outsourced team, at a cadence you can afford.
Series A and beyond
The board needs independent technical assurance: an unfiltered read on delivery, spend, security and the next twelve months, written so it can be acted on.
What founders say
“Working with Tim and Scryla was a great experience. The guidance and consultation helped us plan our project and defined our scope. Through a thorough report, Tim helped us understand the phases of work with our outsourced development team. We would recommend any start up looking for a steer to work with Tim and Scryla.”
“Aside from his knowledge of big data and the technologies and methodologies that surround it, Tim has been a great sounding board for myself and my business partner with what we are building at Ruler Analytics and Epic New Media.”
Questions
South East Asia FAQs
- Do you work with companies based in South East Asia?
- Yes. Engagements run remote by default, with fixed weekly contact and board attendance by video. On-site time is available where a board or team needs it, arranged and costed per engagement.
- How does the time difference work?
- Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong all run GMT+8 with no daylight saving, so the gap from the UK is seven hours in British Summer Time and eight in winter. That gives a dependable late-afternoon slot on your side every working day — a 09:00 UK call is 16:00 for you in summer, 17:00 in winter — and I start earlier by arrangement where a team needs a longer window. Everything else runs on written reporting rather than a call at an unreasonable hour for one of us.
- Do you cover regional data protection obligations?
- I cover them as an engineering and governance problem, not as legal advice: what the systems actually do with personal data, and whether that stands up. The regimes in play are Hong Kong's Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, Cap. 486, overseen by the PCPD; Malaysia's Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (Act 709), overseen by JPDP; and Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act 2012, overseen by the PDPC. Where a question is genuinely legal, you want local counsel, and I will say so.
- Which countries do you cover?
- Malaysia and Singapore are the primary focus, with Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand covered on the same remote-first basis. I am UK-based today, with the intention of relocating to the region.
- What sectors do you know?
- Fintech, iGaming and gambling, digital health, SaaS, data and agencies. Those are sectors I have run technology and operations in, not sectors I have read about.
- How is this different from a non-executive director role?
- A fractional CTO works inside the business, owning technical decisions and leading the team. A non-executive director sits outside it, holding the executive to account and giving the board independent assurance. I keep the two separate and will say which one you actually need.
Building in South East Asia?
Tell me about the business, the stage it is at, and what is worrying you. I will tell you plainly whether I am the right person, and what I would look at first.