Fractional AI talent & managed delivery teams.
Hire South Africa's top vetted AI engineers, automation specialists, and growth operators, on demand, without the overhead of full-time hiring. We manage delivery, compliance, and payments end-to-end.
Clients that trust us
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Most businesses know they need AI. Very few have the team to implement it.
Hiring a full-time AI engineer is slow and expensive.
Traditional agencies charge project rates for work that needs ongoing iteration.
Freelance marketplaces leave you to figure out contracts, compliance, and quality on your own.
Rafiki Works is different. We're a managed fractional talent platform, built specifically for the age of AI implementation. We source, vet, and place senior AI engineers, automation specialists, and growth operators into your team on a fractional basis. We handle contracts, compliance, and payments through Petl Pay.
You get the output, without the overhead.
AI Engineering & Agents
Fractional AI engineers who build LLM integrations, custom agents, RAG pipelines, and API connections, inside your product or internal stack.
Automation & Workflow Ops
Specialists in n8n, Make, and custom automation who eliminate manual work across sales, ops, finance, and marketing, and keep it running.
Internal Systems & Ops Automation
Fractional ops specialists who audit, design, and implement your internal systems, CRMs, reporting, project workflows, powered by AI and automation.
AI-Powered Growth Marketing
Fractional growth marketers who combine AI content systems, SEO/AEO strategy, and performance marketing to drive acquisition at scale.
Why Businesses & Talent Choose Rafiki
"Rafiki’s advocacy for growth opportunities for freelancers in Africa was evident during my work with the team. I absolutely loved how contract procedures were transparent and effectively handled. It was a walk in the park for me!"
Aisosa
Senior Product Designer | Nigeria
"Working with Rafiki Works has been an absolute pleasure. I’ve always appreciated their open and clear communication. Their passion for freelancers in Africa is genuine. A lot to look forward to with joining their team!"
Daniel
Agency Owner | South Africa
"Rafiki works with the cream of the crop. They are perfectly positioned to match innovative clients with the best developers in South Africa. Thanks you!"
Anesu
Software Engineer | South Africa
"Working with Rafiki has been great. Excellent and proactive, catering extremely well to our schedule and requests. We really enjoyed working with them and we couldn’t recommend them more highly."
Niccolo Pantucci
Lead Agent | UK
"From the initial brief all the way through to project handover, our experience with Rafiki has been excellent. Their fractional freelancer model is clear, seamless and effective, and we look forward to continuing the working relationship."
Brett Matheson
Co-Founder | South Africa
“Rafiki has done a great job building out our brand, website and booking engine integration. Their team are super knowledgeable and helped us come to quick and well thought out product decisions that lead to us launching our first product in weeks rather than months”
Nicolas Beterette
Co Founder & CEO| Europe
"I am beyond thrilled with the exceptional work and partnership we’ve experienced with Rafiki Works in creating our new corporate CI and website. The results have far exceeded our expectations, and I am excited about the future projects we will undoubtedly embark on together. Thank you for making this a truly outstanding experience!"
Nicolas Mack
Founder & CEO | Germany
"It’s great working with such a talented and energetic team. From our first chat to the first project, everything about RafikWorks, works. I’ve really enjoyed the experience, and love the exposure to global clients."
Dan
Agency Owner | South Africa
"We were very impressed at the quality and speed of Rafiki's work and I'm really looking forward to continuing the relationship."
Ryan Beangstrom
Co Founder | South Africa
Fractional Work
A selection of projects handled by Rafiki's fractional talent community of senior freelancers, consultants, and micro-agencies.
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Ready to build something special?
Let’s discover, design, build & grow your project together.
FAQs
Everything you need to know about Rafiki's fully-managed service, the ideal option for projects needing additional support, end-to-end.
After your enquiry, Rafiki’s team will typically introduce you with a shortlist of vetted specialists or agencies within 72 hours. You’ll receive profiles, rate ranges, and project fit summaries. Once approved, we can handle contracts and onboarding immediately, so most projects start within a week. Should you wish to negotiate rates and contracts directly, we're able to support this engagement too.
Engagements can start from as little as 2–20 hours per week or scale into full-time project coverage. You can hire individual specialists or complete micro-agency squads. Many clients convert successful fractional engagements into longer retainers or full-time roles, with Rafiki facilitating smooth contract-to-hire transitions when desired.
Should you need, Rafiki can provide Contractor of Record (CoR) or Employer of Record (EoR) services in 130+ countries.
Pricing varies by specialist, role, and region, but all fees are presented upfront with clear, transparent breakdowns. There are no hidden mark-ups. You receive consolidated invoices with full visibility into hours worked, deliverables, and supporting documentation where required.
For teams that want fast and affordable cross-border settlement, Petl Pay supports payments across regulated fiat rails and stablecoin mechanisms. This includes invoicing and settlement in USD, EUR, and GBP, as well as direct cross-border payouts into ZAR and other supported African currencies.
Clients are invoiced through Petl Pay, which manages invoicing and payments securely for work delivered via Rafiki. Should you not wish to leverage Petl Pay, you will simply recieve and invoice with project-specific bank details. This payment will be redirected into the relevant wallet or bank details for the talent/s engaged automatically.
If you prefer to handle payments directly and transact off-platform, Rafiki can accommodate this and support coordination as needed.
Rafiki focuses on experienced operators rather than open marketplaces. Engagements are clearly scoped upfront, and delivery expectations are aligned between client and specialist. Where needed, Rafiki can support ongoing check-ins and delivery oversight.
We take a three-stage approach to vetting every applicant. Following an application, top prospects are invited for an interview where we assess their skills, experience, and work aspirations. We prioritise skill and output over traditional degrees or titles, and we cross-check all references or testimonials before acceptance.
To date, fewer than 1% of applicants have been accepted into our Experts in Residence programme. This includes both individual specialists and sector-specific micro-agencies, teams experienced in delivering design, tech, and marketing solutions for early-stage startups, growth-phase businesses, and established agencies. Every approved expert is verified through ongoing project feedback and KYC compliance checks inside Petl, our payments provider.