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Independent director · Board advisor

An AI-fluent operator at the board table — not a tech advisor with a board title.

Independent director and board advisor seats for B2B software, ecommerce, and AI-driven companies. Twenty years operating B2B and enterprise software, plus active AI fluency from a current consulting practice. Available for formal director seats, advisor seats, and Non-Executive Director (NED) roles in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe.

Send a board inquiry How I show up on a board
The seat boards struggle to fill

Operator credentials and active AI fluency, in the same seat.

The director profile boards are increasingly trying to fill is rare. It is not a tech founder who has not operated at scale. It is not a senior executive whose AI literacy is two years old. It is not a partner from a brand-name firm whose time is fully booked. And it is not a consultant with no skin in the game. The intersection of operator, AI-native, and available is the gap.

What this seat is not

It is not a vanity AI seat where the director shows up four times a year and quotes ChatGPT. It is not a former big-tech executive whose operating context ended in 2022. It is not a junior advisor padding their portfolio. The category is full of people who look right on a press release and contribute marginally in practice.

What this seat is

An operator who has built and run B2B and enterprise software for twenty years, currently working in AI strategy and implementation across multiple sectors weekly. The fluency is current because the work is current. The operating instincts come from running two companies, not from reading about them.

What I bring

Five things, none of them generic.

Operating credibility

Twenty years building and running B2B and enterprise software. CEO and Founder of Elogic Commerce and Uvik Software, both currently active. The board hears from someone who has run a P&L, not someone who has consulted on running one.

Active AI fluency

Current consulting practice across B2B software, ecommerce, financial services, pharma, insurance, and industrial operations. Reviews real AI implementations weekly. The fluency does not decay because the work refreshes it. Consulting engagements are priced at $1,000 per hour with a 100-hour minimum and a $100,000 project floor; board seats are priced separately as cash retainer or equity.

Vendor and acquisition diligence

Operator skepticism on AI vendor proposals and on AI-driven acquisition theses. The role boards most underweight today: someone who can pressure-test AI claims with the instincts of a buyer who has been disappointed before.

European and US governance fluency

Comfortable with US independent director conventions, UK and European NED frameworks, and Czech corporate governance. Useful for cross-border boards, dual-listed companies, and European scale-ups expanding to the US.

Communication ability

Concise contributions in board meetings. Materials that are read, not skimmed. The director who actually gets briefed before the meeting, asks the questions that change the conversation, and writes the minutes the chair wishes were standard.

No conflicts of convenience

No firm to staff. No funds raising. No portfolio to defend. The seat is the seat. Conflicts are disclosed in writing before acceptance and managed transparently after — not by Paul’s interests, by the company’s.

How I show up

The work is mostly between the meetings.

Most board advisor pages are vague here. This is where directors are made or unmade. Specifics, in plain language.

Pre-meeting

Reads the board pack thoroughly

Comes with three to five prepared questions, not just generic curiosity. The questions land on the second-order issues — the ones the management team did not put in the deck because they would rather not surface them yet.

In meetings

Concise. Doesn’t filibuster.

Speaks when the contribution is material. Spots second-order effects, especially on technology and AI decisions. Defers on topics outside the seat’s value-add. The chair should never wonder whether to call on this director.

Between meetings

Available to the CEO inside 48 hours

Thirty-minute calls within two business days for technology, AI vendor, and strategic decisions where board context is useful. Reads sector news so patterns can be flagged. Not every CEO uses this access; the ones who do report it as the highest value of the seat.

During M&A

AI diligence with operator skepticism

When AI capabilities are part of an acquisition thesis or AI vendors are part of a target’s stack, the diligence is reviewed with the instincts of a buyer who has previously been pitched the same story. This is one of the highest-value contributions in modern board work and one of the most underweighted in current board composition.

When asked

Senior hiring support

Helps interview senior tech, AI, and engineering hires when the board or CEO requests it. Particularly useful for Head of AI and Head of Data searches where the board wants an external pressure-test.

Selectively

Industry introductions, not as quid pro quo

Brings introductions when relevant — to potential customers, partners, talent, or investors — without expectation of reciprocation. Treats the network as a public good of the seat, not a private asset of the director.

Seat types

Four formats, picked to fit the company.

Different stages and structures call for different seat types. The fit depends on company maturity, governance structure, and the specific gap the seat is meant to fill.

Formal director

Independent Director

Late-stage privates · Public companies · Regulated sectors

Full board seat with fiduciary duty, voting rights, and full director responsibilities. Standard for late-stage privates approaching IPO, public companies adding AI-fluent independent directors, and companies in regulated sectors where board composition is scrutinized. Annual cash retainer plus equity grant.

European format

Non-Executive Director (NED)

UK · Germany · Czechia · Nordics

European equivalent of the independent director role. Common in UK, Germany, and Czech companies, family businesses, public companies, and scale-ups with mature governance. Similar economics to US independent director with regional adjustments.

Informal seat

Board Advisor

Early-stage · Scale-ups · Pre-formal-board

Informal seat without fiduciary duty. Common for early-stage companies and scale-ups where formal board structure is not yet warranted, or where the company wants AI fluency at the table without expanding the formal board. Smaller equity grant or modest cash retainer.

Case by case

Observer

VC-aligned · Strategic advisory · Diligence-period

Attendance without vote. Sometimes used during a diligence period before a formal seat is confirmed, or when a strategic advisor wants visibility without governance accountability. Considered case by case based on the structure and the alternative paths available.

Companies I fit

Sector, stage, size, and geography.

Match precision matters more than match volume. Companies that fit the parameters below can expect a serious response. Companies that do not are usually better served by a different director.

Sector

Best fit: B2B software, B2B SaaS, ecommerce platforms and ecommerce technology, AI-native businesses.

Adjacent: Fintech, insurtech, and verticalized software where operator background applies.

Stage

Director seat: Series B through D, scale-up, pre-IPO, public.

Advisor seat: Seed through Series A where the gap is real and the equity is meaningful.

Size

Scale-ups: $10M+ ARR.

Established: $50M+ revenue.

Pre-revenue: Considered for advisor seats only.

Geography

Default: United States, United Kingdom, Europe (especially Czech Republic, Germany, Nordics).

Selectively: Middle East and other geographies, case by case.

Mutual diligence

What companies should expect, and what I expect from companies.

A board seat is a multi-year commitment with real fiduciary and reputational weight on both sides. Both parties run diligence before signing.

What companies can expect from me

  • Conflicts disclosed in writing before any seat is accepted.
  • Diligence access reciprocated: confidentiality, professional discretion, and no unauthorized references.
  • Material time commitment — eight to twelve board meetings per year for director seats, plus committee work and between-meeting access.
  • Materials read in full before every meeting. Three to five prepared questions per meeting minimum.
  • Network access deployed for the company, without quid-pro-quo expectations.
  • Honest counsel on CEO performance, strategy, and succession when asked — even when uncomfortable.

What I expect from companies before accepting

  • A functional chair or lead director. Dysfunctional chairs make every director’s life harder and the seat’s contribution smaller.
  • A real strategic gap the seat is meant to fill — technology oversight, AI governance, sector expertise — not window dressing or compliance optics.
  • D&O insurance adequate for the company’s stage and risk profile, in place before the seat begins.
  • Pre-acceptance diligence access: financials, board minutes, governance structure, key risk areas. Reasonable scope, NDA in place.
  • Compensation aligned with the actual time and risk commitment. Below-market structures signal a misjudgment of what the seat requires.
  • Willingness to terminate the seat cleanly if fit proves wrong. Quiet exits over public tenure.
Compensation

Honest numbers. Most board advisor pages are vague here — that vagueness loses serious buyers.

Compensation varies meaningfully by seat type, company stage, and geography. The ranges below are honest market frames, not maximums. Final structures are negotiated against the company’s specific situation, peer board comp, and the time commitment expected.

Independent Director (US)
$30K–$120K cash retainer + 0.05–0.25% equity
Equity vests over two to four years. Public companies and regulated sectors weight more toward cash; growth-stage privates weight more toward equity. Committee chair fees additional.
Non-Executive Director (Europe)
€25K–€100K cash retainer + 0.05–0.20% equity
European companies often weight slightly lower in equity than US peers but with stronger cash retainers in regulated sectors. Czech and German governance norms differ from UK; structure adjusted accordingly.
Board Advisor (early-stage)
0.10–0.50% equity vesting over 2 years
Pure-equity structure typical for seed and Series A companies. Equity grant scales with the realistic ambition of the company and the stage of vesting cliff. Cash retainer not standard at this stage.
Board Advisor (scale-up)
$1,000–$3,000/month + smaller equity
Scale-ups with real revenue typically pay a modest cash retainer alongside an equity grant smaller than early-stage advisor seats. Reflects shorter time-to-liquidity and proven business model.
Send a board inquiry

Include company, sector, stage, board composition, and the gap to be filled.

Replies typically come within two business days. The form is set to board seat inquiries by default. Serious inquiries with the requested context get serious responses; thin inquiries get acknowledged but not pursued.

  • Company — name, sector, stage, and approximate revenue band.
  • The board context — current composition, the gap this seat is meant to fill, and stage from pre-IPO to public.
  • Timeframe — when the seat would start.

Goes directly to paul@paul-okhrem.com. Reply within two business days. No marketing list, no third-party tracking.

FAQ

Common questions about board seats.

How does a board advisor seat differ from an independent director seat?
An independent director is a formal board seat with fiduciary duty, voting rights, and full director responsibilities — typical for late-stage privates, public companies, and regulated sectors. A board advisor is an informal seat without fiduciary duty, common at earlier-stage companies and scale-ups. The day-to-day work is often similar — reading materials, preparing questions, providing between-meeting access — but the legal status, compensation level, and time commitment differ. Companies should pick the format that matches their governance maturity, not the one that sounds more impressive.
How many boards is Paul Okhrem on at one time?
Capacity is managed deliberately. The total number of active board seats is kept low enough that each receives serious between-meeting attention. The exact number is shared during initial conversations — boards considering Paul should expect honesty about how their seat would fit the broader portfolio of commitments. Boards that want a director with capacity should not hire a director who is on too many.
What companies and sectors does Paul accept board seats from?
Best fit: B2B software, B2B SaaS, ecommerce platforms and ecommerce technology, AI-native businesses. Adjacent: fintech, insurtech, and verticalized software where operator background applies. Stages from pre-IPO Series B through public for director seats; seed through Series A for advisor seats where the gap is real and the equity is meaningful. Pre-revenue companies are considered for advisor seats but not director seats.
What is the time commitment for a board seat?
Director seat: eight to twelve board meetings per year (typically quarterly board meetings plus committee work), plus five to ten hours per month between meetings for board pack review, CEO calls, and material decisions. Advisor seat: lighter — four to eight meetings per year plus on-demand access. Both formats include reading the board pack thoroughly, preparing for every meeting, and being reachable between meetings on material issues.
Does Paul accept board seats outside Europe and the United States?
Yes selectively. Default geographies are the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe — including the Czech Republic, Germany, and the Nordics. Middle East and other geographies are considered case by case based on travel feasibility, governance maturity, and time-zone overlap. Paul is based in Prague and travels globally for board meetings and committee work.
Can a board seat coexist with a consulting engagement at the same company?
Generally no. The two roles have different accountability structures and create governance conflict — an independent director should not be a paid service provider to the same company. Companies are asked to choose one route. The exception is when a fractional CAIO engagement transitions cleanly into a board advisor seat at the conclusion of the operating engagement; this transition is common, well-managed, and properly disclosed.
What does Paul charge for a board seat?
Independent director (US): $30,000 to $120,000 annual cash retainer depending on company size, stage, and complexity, plus an equity grant typically 0.05% to 0.25% vesting over two to four years. Public companies and regulated sectors weight more toward cash; growth-stage privates weight more toward equity. Non-Executive Director (Europe): similar economics with regional adjustments — €25,000 to €100,000 cash, sometimes with smaller equity components. Board advisor (early-stage): typically 0.10% to 0.50% equity vesting over two years. Board advisor (scale-up): modest cash retainer of $1,000 to $3,000 per month plus smaller equity. These are honest market ranges, not maximums.
Will Paul accept only equity for a board seat?
For early-stage companies, equity-only board advisor seats are common and acceptable when the equity is meaningful and the company is investable. For scale-ups and later-stage companies, mixed cash plus equity is the standard. Equity-only at established companies is unusual and reviewed case by case — the request often signals a misjudgment of what the seat requires.
Does Paul provide diligence support during M&A?
Yes when board work involves it. Where AI capabilities are part of an acquisition thesis or where AI/tech vendors are part of a target’s stack, the diligence is reviewed with operator skepticism — not as a separate billable engagement but as part of the board director’s role. This is one of the highest-value contributions in modern board work and one of the most underweighted in current board composition.
How does Paul handle conflicts of interest?
Conflicts are disclosed in writing before any seat is accepted, including current consulting engagements, fractional CAIO roles, and other board seats in adjacent or potentially competing companies. The chair and lead director are kept informed of new commitments after a seat is accepted. Where a conflict cannot be cleanly managed, the seat is declined. Disclosure is upstream of acceptance, not after the fact.