How much does the Readiness Review cost?

It is a fixed fee of AED 27,500 ($7,500) for 2 weeks, including the written report and the live presentation. If you sign a retainer within 30 days, the full fee is credited against it. Buy-side technical due diligence for investors is priced separately, from AED 35,000 (from $9,500).

Can we share the report with investors or our board?

Yes. It is written to be forwarded: a plain-language executive summary up front, the detailed findings behind it. You see a draft before it is final so you can correct any factual errors, but the findings and ratings stay independent. A report that has been softened is worth less to an investor than one that hasn't.

How much of our team's time does it take?

A kick-off call, access to your repositories, cloud and tools, and interviews with the founders and the people who build the product, whether that is an in-house team, contractors or an agency. Most of the work happens without your team; the main ask is a few hours of their time spread across the two weeks.

Does the review cover legal or regulatory compliance?

Not as legal advice. It looks at how personal data is collected, stored and protected, and flags where data-protection rules such as the UAE PDPL or the EU GDPR are likely to apply, so you know what to take to a lawyer. IP findings, such as missing contractor IP assignments, are flagged the same way.

We're investors. Can you review a company before we invest?

Yes. That is buy-side technical due diligence: 1 to 3 weeks with a fixed scope agreed up front, reporting to you, the investor. It starts from AED 35,000 (from $9,500), depending on the size of the company and your deadline. Book a fit call to scope it.

What happens after the review?

Your team can work through the recommendations on its own. If you want help, the options are Advisory (AED 18,000 / $5,000 a month), Fractional CTO for 2 days a week (AED 45,000 / $14,000 a month) or Embedded CTO for 3 days a week (AED 75,000 a month / $22,000-$28,000). Retainers are billed monthly in advance with a 3-month minimum, then one month's notice.

Readiness Review · Dubai & Remote

Production & Investor Readiness Review

About to raise, or about to scale? In two weeks I review your architecture, code, security, team and delivery process the way a technical investor would, and write it up in a report you can forward to investors. Then I present it live.

Book a Free Fit Call Free Investor Checklist

Weeks

Areas reviewed

14+

Years building software

Years as a CTO

Fixed fee

AED 27,500

$7,500

2 weeks, fixed fee
Investor-forwardable written report
Every risk rated, with a recommended fix
Presented live, to your board or lead investor if you want
Fee credited in full to a retainer signed within 30 days

Book a Fit Call

Free 30-minute fit call first. No obligation.

Who it's for

An Independent View, Before It Matters

Founders about to raise

Investors will ask who owns the technology, what breaks at scale and what the cloud bill will become. Know your answers, and fix the worst gaps, before they ask.

Founders about to scale

More users, more engineers or a new market. Find out what fails first, and what to fix, hire for or stop doing, before growth finds it for you.

Boards and investors

An independent view of a company where delivery is slipping, a CTO has left or a follow-on round is coming. Investing in a new company? See buy-side due diligence below.

Scope

Eight Areas Investors Look At

The whole technology function, not just the code: the system, the people who build it, and the risks a diligent investor will find.

Architecture & scalability

How the system is built, where it breaks at ten times today's usage, and the single points of failure.

Code quality & testing

Structure and readability, tests on the critical paths, CI, and how safely changes reach production.

Security & data protection

Auth, access control, secrets and personal-data handling, with likely UAE PDPL or GDPR exposure flagged for your lawyer.

Infrastructure & cloud cost

Hosting, environments, backups and monitoring, and what drives the cloud bill as you grow.

Team & delivery process

Who does what, how work is planned and released, key-person risk, and how agencies or contractors are managed.

Technical debt & roadmap

Which debt is slowing you down, and what the roadmap needs that the system can't yet do.

IP & account ownership

Repos, cloud, domains and app-store accounts in company names, contractor IP assignment, and open-source licences.

AI/LLM usage & risk

Model and vendor dependence, prompt-injection and data-leakage exposure, evaluation, and cost controls.

The review flags likely data-protection and IP issues for your lawyer. It is not legal advice.

What you get

A Report You Can Forward

Investor-forwardable written report

A plain-language executive summary up front and the detailed findings behind it, written so you can send it to investors or your board as it stands.

Risks rated, with recommended fixes

Each risk rated by severity, with a recommended fix and an effort estimate, so the report turns straight into a plan.

Prioritised recommendations

What to fix first, what to hire for and what to stop doing, ordered by their effect on the raise or the next stage of growth.

Live presentation

I present the findings to you and, if you want, your board or lead investor, and take the hard questions in the room.

Timeline

Two Weeks, Start to Finish

It starts with a free 30-minute fit call to agree the scope, the start date and who should be in the room for the presentation.

Week 1

Discovery

Kick-off call and access to repositories, cloud and tools
Interviews with the founders and the people who build the product: in-house, contractors or agency
Architecture, code and infrastructure review
Security, data-protection and AI/LLM walkthrough

Week 2

Analysis & report

Delivery process, team structure and key-person risk
IP, licences and account-ownership checks
Cloud cost and technical debt measured against the roadmap
Draft checked with you for factual accuracy
Final report and live presentation

For investors

Buy-side Technical Due Diligence

For VCs, private equity, family offices and angels who need an independent technical view before a deal closes, or on a portfolio company that needs one. I report to you, the investor.

1 to 3 weeks, with a fixed scope agreed up front
The same eight areas, focused on the deal: is the technology what the pitch says, what will it cost to fix, and can the team deliver the plan?
A written report to you, the investor, with red flags and deal-relevant risks called out
Scope and price set by the size of the company and your deadline

Fixed scope

From AED 35,000

From $9,500 · 1-3 weeks

Scope It on a Call

After the review

Fix It Yourself, or Keep Me On

The report is written so your own team can act on it. If you want a CTO to see it through, these are the options, with prices published.

Advisory

AED 18,000per month

$5,000 per month

Up to about 12 hours a month: monthly steering and async access while your team works through the plan.

Most Common

Fractional CTO

AED 45,000per month

$14,000 per month

2 days a week as your part-time CTO: architecture, delivery, hiring and the investor-facing technical story.

Embedded CTO

AED 75,000per month

$22,000-$28,000 per month

3 days a week, for a heavier stretch such as a rebuild, a fast hiring push or the months around a raise.

The Readiness Review fee is credited in full against a retainer signed within 30 days.

Retainers are billed monthly in advance, with a 3-month minimum and then one month's notice. When you are ready for a full-time CTO, I help you hire one (job description, sourcing, interview loop and handover) for about one month's retainer. How the fractional CTO role works.

Built on Lovable, Bolt, Cursor or another AI builder and not raising yet? The 5-day Launch Check (AED 9,500 / $2,500) may be the better first step.

Who does the review

A CTO Who Has Sat in the Seat

I'm Mohit Sengar, a Dubai-based CTO with 7 years in the seat. I take AI-built and agency-built products to production and make them investor-ready, and then I stay on as your part-time CTO until you're ready to hire a full-time one. You work with me directly.

I've spent 14+ years building software for 40+ companies. As CTO at Invatu Technologies and then Unlimits I ran engineering teams and delivery, and at Invatu I also ran security audits and data-protection training. That is why the review covers people and process as well as code. I work in person in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and remotely with founders and investors in the US, UK and Europe.

Mar 2026 — Present
Fractional CTO & Engineering Partner
Independent
Mar 2025 — Mar 2026
Chief Technology Officer
Unlimits
Sep 2018 — Mar 2025
Chief Technology Officer
Invatu Technologies
Mar 2015 — Jan 2018
Associate Technology
Publicis Sapient

Credentials

Outstanding Leadership Award, Internet 2.0 Conference, Dubai, February 2024

See the full resume →

Free, no email needed

Investor Tech Due-Diligence Checklist

40 questions investors ask about your technology, each with what good looks like. Work through it with your team before the review, or instead of it.

Open the checklist →

Questions & Answers

Readiness Review FAQ

The Launch Check is 5 working days on an AI-built MVP and focuses on the code-level gaps that hurt you at launch: exposed keys, Supabase RLS, auth, payments, tests and load. The Readiness Review is 2 weeks on the whole technology function: architecture, code, security, infrastructure and cloud cost, team and delivery process, technical debt, IP and account ownership, and AI usage, written for investors and boards.

Know What Investors Will Find.
Before They Find It.

Book a free 30-minute fit call. Tell me where the product, team and raise stand, and we'll agree whether a Readiness Review, a Launch Check or something else is the right first step.

Book Your Free Fit Call

Free fit call · 2 weeks · AED 27,500 / $7,500 fixed

Prefer email? mohit@sengarconsultancy.org