A practice and a studio.

Senior technology leadership, without the full-time hire.

Through Artificer Innovations I give founders and growth-stage companies a seasoned CTO on the terms that fit their stage: advisory, fractional, or a scoped project. The work spans strategy, architecture, security, hiring, and delivery. Every engagement is led directly by me, not handed to a junior team learning on your time.

I build my own products too.

Alongside client work, the studio designs, ships, and runs its own software. A shared foundation and a small senior team let one practice carry several products at once. Building keeps me sharp on the exact problems I advise clients on, from scaling and security to shipping under real constraints.

It is also why the work moves quickly. Reusable infrastructure and senior judgment mean less time rebuilding the basics, and more time on the problem that actually matters.

Plain talk and real ownership.

I keep things direct. I join the hard conversations, own the outcomes, and leave the team stronger than I found it, with the documentation, habits, and decisions that outlast the engagement. The best technology choices come from people who trust each other enough to wrestle with hard problems and stay aligned when the path isn't clear.

Led by Brad Hefta-Gaub.

Artificer Innovations is led by me, Brad Hefta-Gaub. For more than thirty-five years I've built and scaled software, from the early days of streaming media at RealNetworks to building with AI today, as an engineer, a CTO, and a CEO.