Andrew Erie
Founder & Fractional CTO, HiTek
Andrew Erie is the founder of HiTek and a fractional CTO who helps small and growing businesses apply practical AI, build custom software, and connect the systems they already run. He brings senior technical judgment — what to build, what to buy, what to integrate, and what to leave alone — to companies that need CTO-level decisions without hiring a full-time executive.
What Andrew does
- Fractional CTO
- Senior technical ownership without a full-time executive hire — roadmap, architecture, build-vs-buy calls, vendor oversight, and risk.
- Practical AI
- AI built into real workflows with the right context, permissions, review steps, and guardrails — not a chatbot bolted onto the side.
- Custom software & platforms
- Operational software shaped around how a business actually works: internal tools, portals, dashboards, and product builds.
- Integration & data flow
- Connecting CRM, ERP, accounting, and vendor systems with APIs, Boomi, and EDI so they stop drifting out of sync.
With over 20 years in software development and technology consulting, Andrew focuses on solutions people actually want to use — diagnosing the real constraint first, building the smallest useful version, and leaving the system stronger than he found it.
Writing by Andrew
- AI for Small Businesses: A Practical Starter GuideA plain-English guide to using AI in a small business — how to pick a first use case, what it costs, how to keep it safe, and when not to use it at all.
- AI Agents Need Context, Not HypeMost businesses do not need more AI buzzwords. They need cleaner context, clearer workflows, and practical guardrails so AI can safely help with real operational work.
- What a Fractional CTO Actually DoesA practical look at when a business needs senior technical judgment, how a fractional CTO helps, and why the job is less about buzzwords and more about making better technology decisions.
- Building Real-time Voice Communication with OpenAI using WebRTC and Ephemeral KeysOpenAI's Realtime API offers an incredible opportunity to build voice-powered AI applications with ultra-low latency. However, implementing it securely in a client-side application presents a challenge: how do you connect to OpenAI without exposing your API key?
Have a critical workflow, disconnected system, or AI idea that needs to become real?
Talk directly with Andrew Erie, CEO of HiTek, about the problem, the trade-offs, and the shortest practical path forward. No bloated discovery process — just senior technical judgment and clear next steps.