Alan Giles, founder of Fractional Execs, is on a mission to empower small and medium-sized businesses by giving them access to world-class executive expertise without the burden of full-time costs. With decades of corporate leadership experience, he stepped away from large organizations to help businesses grow faster, smarter, and with authentic leadership. His journey is one of transformation—choosing purpose over titles, diversity over conformity, and authenticity over pretension. Alan’s story is a powerful example for our global community of 5M+ changemakers working toward a more inclusive world.
Q: What inspired you to start Fractional Execs?
Alan: After nearly three decades in corporate leadership, I realized I wanted to make a bigger difference for smaller businesses. Large corporations often move too slowly, and I wanted to be part of quick, meaningful change. I started out as a fractional executive myself, helping companies grow faster. Eventually, I realized there wasn’t a group in the UK that offered a wide range of fractional C-suite executives, so I built one. Today, we have 40–50 C-level resources, a partner ecosystem, and eight growing companies across multiple countries.
Q: What makes Fractional Execs different for small businesses?
Alan: Two things stand out—cost and execution. Smaller companies can’t always afford a full-time C-suite leader, nor do they need one permanently. We provide the right expertise for the time they need it. Unlike consultants, who tell you what to do, fractional executives actually step in and execute. That’s a huge differentiator.
Q: How do you ensure cultural awareness in your global work?
Alan: We’re present in the UK, UAE, South Africa, and Canada, with clients in the US and Europe. Diversity is at our core—gender, background, and experience. I personally spend time aligning with local cultures, like flying to Saudi Arabia on weekends to be available on their first working day. These small acts of respect build trust. People do business with people, and authenticity matters.
Q: What are your thoughts on AI and its impact on business?
Alan: AI won’t replace creativity—it will remove mundane, repetitive tasks so people can focus on meaningful work. Nobody wakes up excited to cold call 100 prospects, but AI can handle qualification consistently. We call it expertise-led AI—it supports sales and marketing but still relies on human input. At the end of the day, people buy from people, and empathy can’t be replaced by algorithms.
Q: You’ve spoken passionately about women in leadership. Can you share your perspective?
Alan: Absolutely. Early in my career, I had a female mentor who shaped my perspective on leadership without the ego-driven approach I was used to. Later, I noticed that in a tech company, just 15% of the sales team were women, but they delivered over 40% of results. That was a turning point—I began hiring more women, and performance soared. Women bring empathy, authenticity, and resilience to sales and leadership, which are often underestimated. I’ve been called a “raging feminist” for promoting women leaders, and I take that as a compliment. With two daughters of my own, I believe it’s on leaders like me to create fair opportunities and break down gender discrimination in business.
“Be true to yourself. People want to do business with people, and authenticity is what builds trust and success.” — Alan Giles
Connect with Alan Giles: LinkedIn & Website
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