Glide Expert Gideon Lahav has built over 100 Glide apps for more than 70 clients. In his series of guest posts, he shares what he has learned about building high-performing business software for yourself or others. As an experienced Glide Expert, I have noticed a significant shift in how Experts work with our clients lately.
It usually starts the same way. A business owner comes to you with a specific problem, like a messy spreadsheet or a manual dispatch process, and asks you to build a simple app. But as you dig into their workflows, you realize that the app is just a small piece of a much larger puzzle. You start to see the gaps in their communication and the massive bottlenecks in their data.
This is where you have the opportunity to stop being a developer and start being a strategist.
You are no longer just delivering a product, but you are actually helping them design the way their company functions at a fundamental level. This transition into a fractional leadership role is a natural progression because, as a Glide Expert, you are often the person who understands their internal operations better than anyone else in the room.
I’ve taken on this role for some of my clients, and it’s given me the opportunity to deliver exponentially more value than just the actual tools I’m building in Glide. I recommend Experts step into a strategic role, helping businesses better optimize their operations with technology.
Here’s how you can do it too.
1. Transition from builder to technical architect
When a small business starts to grow rapidly, they eventually hit a wall where its basic tools can no longer keep up with the volume of work. They need a Chief Technology Officer, but they usually cannot justify the massive salary that comes with a full-time executive. This is where you step in as a fractional CTO to provide that high-level oversight on a part-time basis. You are no longer just looking at a single screen but at the entire technical health of the organization.
In this role, you are the architect responsible for the technical foundation. You are looking at the big picture to ensure the Glide apps you build are secure and well-integrated with the rest of their tech stack. You spend your time thinking about data structures and making sure that the systems are flexible enough to handle ten times the current workload. You are the voice of reason that prevents the company from taking on technical debt that would slow them down later on.
2. Focus on the user as a fractional CPO
The other half of this leadership coin is the Chief Product Officer role, just as vital to a growing business. While the CTO focuses on the backend and infrastructure, the CPO focuses on the experience of the people using the tools. For many small businesses, the product is actually their internal custom system that runs their day-to-day life. If that product fails to be intuitive, the entire company slows down.
As a fractional CPO, I spend a lot of my time talking to the employees who use the apps every day to find out where they are struggling. I am the bridge between the business owner's vision and the actual reality of the software. I prioritize which features to build next based on what will provide the most value to the company, rather than just building things because they seem cool. It is about making sure the tools actually solve the pain points of the team so they can do their best work.
3. Scale operations through custom systems and AI
One of the biggest advantages of having a fractional leader who knows Glide is the ability to implement AI in a way that actually moves the needle for their bottom line. Many businesses are overwhelmed by the hype around AI, and they have no idea how to apply it to their specific workflows in a meaningful way. As a fractional leader, you can identify the exact spots where Glide AI can replace hours of manual effort. This helps businesses get beyond basic AI chatbots and start delivering real operational efficiency.
We are building intelligent systems that can automatically categorize photos from a job site or summarize complex project updates for a manager. By creating these custom systems, we are giving small businesses the same operational efficiency once reserved for giant corporations with massive engineering budgets. We are helping them scale their operations without hiring a massive team of administrators, because the systems do the heavy lifting automatically.
4. Understand the value of growing together for the long haul
The ultimate goal of this fractional approach is to build a long-term relationship where you grow alongside your client. When you act as both a CTO and a CPO, you are making a commitment to the success of their business over months and years rather than just weeks. This is a far cry from the one-time build model, where you hand over a project and hope for the best while looking for your next gig. It changes the entire dynamic of the partnership, shifting it from a service provider to a core team member.
By staying involved in the strategy, you can pivot the systems as the business evolves and help them navigate new challenges as they arise. It creates a level of stability for the business owner because they know they have an expert in their corner who understands their tech inside and out. For the Glide Expert, it provides a much more fulfilling and stable way to work because you get to see the real-world impact of your systems as the company flourishes and expands into new markets.
Build long-term relationships with your clients
The pressure is on to adopt AI, and too many businesses are still stuck in spreadsheets and paper checklists. Glide Experts have an important role to play as solutions experts, helping these businesses harness the power of AI. You aren’t just building tools, you’re identifying inefficiencies, strategizing solutions, and growing efficient business systems over time.
Build trust with your clients, help them solve their stickiest problems, and grow a long-term relationship where you are critical to the success of their businesses.
