Ian Roughley in

Ian Roughley

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Fractional CTO at ScaleupCopilot
📍 Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Ian Roughley is a Fractional CTO and executive coach with over 25 years of experience leading engineering organizations in startups. He specializes in scaling teams, implementing AI-native development processes, and turning engineering into a growth driver. He holds a BE from The University of Queensland. People who work with him describe him as influential, calm, and a great cross-functional partner.

Beyond his core roles, Ian is a prolific writer, having authored four books on software engineering and regularly publishing articles on his "Insights" blog. He focuses on topics like engineering leadership, AIs practical application, and efficient software delivery. He has also publicly expressed support for Ukraine.

Unique fact: Ian is an inventor who holds six patents and has authored four books on software engineering.

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Experience
5 Years
Current Role
Fractional CTO
Job Level
Leadership
Location
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Personality Overview

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Communication Style
Decision Approach
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Priorities

Topics Ian cares about

AI in SDLC
Writes extensively about applying AI across the entire software development lifecycle to increase capacity, not just speed, focusing on optimizing the whole pipeline.
Engineering Leadership
As a Fractional CTO and executive coach, he helps Series A-C startups scale their engineering teams, improve leadership, and reduce organizational chaos.
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Career

Work history

4-2026
Fractional CTO
ScaleupCopilot
11-2025 - 4-2026
Chief Technology Officer
TrueNorth
10-2025
Advisor
Accelidea (Techstars Boston '25)
7-2022
Startup Mentor
Techstars Anywhere Accelerator
2-2022 - 11-2025
VP of Engineering
TrueNorth
In the press

Media appearances

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Education
BE
The University of Queensland
Social presence
in
Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

DISC behavioral profile

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