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2025 was significant for our tribe of leaders serving as expert interim and fractional executives. What happened? Here are the highlights, followed by what we see coming:
1. Interim and Fractional Leadership Went Mainstream
Back in 2007 we launched the predecessor to InterimExecs. NO ONE had a clue what we were talking about. Interim? What’s that? Are they in between jobs? Retired? Consultants?
No more. Business finally gets executives-on-demand. Specialized expertise for what you need right now? That’s a huge plus – it resonates. And a minus – you’re no longer alone in the field. There’s a lot more noise.
2. We Found Favorite Clients
You know how parents always say they don’t have favorite children? Well. I do have favorite clients, and though we have a long list of highlights from prior years, this is what resonated in 2025.
> An AI Platform with a Mission
We could immediately feel the energy from a company founder who showed up with the mission of bettering the world through AI driven medical test diagnostics. He and his investors put in 8 years and $100 million to pass clinical trials that have now proven definitively that an AI trained diagnostic test of blood-based DNA fragmentation is 400% more effective in spotting a type of early stage cancer versus the current protocol, a not so accurate ultrasound. If you spot this type of cancer early, your chances of survival are high. Spot it late? Dicey. This technology will save many lives. Our RED Team CEO led the charge for global launch and further platform growth to train AI on additional diseases and offer their massive dataset to other pharma companies.
> Founders on a Growth Tear
Eight years ago three B-school classmates decided to start a company to sell power generation products. They “lucked” into a massive, unrelenting global market demand for power generation for data centers and other uses. We like their modesty and focus on getting the right elements in place. We brought in several RED Team executives in tech and accounting roles to support their huge growth this year.
> NonProfit Playing With Heart and Head
We don’t get approached by many nonprofit organizations we disagree with – there are lots of worthwhile causes and endless needs. But it’s rare to encounter an organization at scale (think $300M+) that excels across divisions and states, coordinating a diverse array of subsidiary nonprofit organizations under one umbrella. To have an ambitious goal and keep each organization human, focused on mission: that’s amazing. We are grateful to be of service.
3. We Continued to See the Power of Reinvention
We found our patron saint, in…George Forman. Yeah, the boxer, who reinvented himself. Went from a perceived bad guy fighting Muhammad Ali in Zaire (Rumble in the Jungle) to business executive extraordinaire, charismatic speaker, and product hawker.
Isn’t this a bit like you and me, our act of reinvention by becoming interims, where you live by the sweat of thy brow? You had a great first act, your corporate or entrepreneurial career. Now you’ve embarked on your second act, even more accountability, more branded, more who you authentically are, or put it this way: you’ve got nowhere to hide. You produce or you don’t get to stick around with the client.
Your career as an interim or fractional executive can be far more enjoyable, powerful, and meaningful than any Act One corporate role.
4. We Found Our Inspiration
…in Tom Cillo. Who you say? The Wall Street Journal featured Tom, a Williamsport, Pennsylvania native, who had a long career working in municipal parks and streets before deciding to go to college at the ripe age of 58.
While he was at it, in a “now or never moment”, Cilio tried out for the Division III football team at Lycoming College and made the team. A competitive weightlifter who is older than his coach – and most of his teammates’ parents – he made one thing clear for us: he’s got grit.
5. We Remembered the Greats
2025 highlighted the passing of one of the greatest executive Fixers of the modern era, Louis Gerstner. Bringing IBM back from the dead required Big Blue to pivot from hardware to software and services. Pivot isn’t the right word…every startup pivots. But IBM? Yeesh. Lou is credited with making the toughest decision in IBM’s history – whether to break the company up or to retain a full-service offering. Despite his lack of tech experience he decided to keep IBM intact, and that made all the difference.
6. Didn’t Take Ourselves Too Seriously
I love movies. And have pulled inspiration from many (see some of my top for leaders here).
My best movie of 2025? The Phoenician Scheme, by Wes Anderson, starring…everyone: Benicio Del Toro, Scarlett Johansen, Tom Hanks, Brian Cranston, Michael Cera. Benicio has given me my new phrase: “Myself, I feel very safe.” I was drawn to comedy as the antidote to every geopolitical, cultural, tariff, economic, or other kind of news that just had no bearing on how I would spend my time, how I could continue to be a resource, and how we could keep moving InterimExecs forward.
I mentioned Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme — a reminder that originality still matters. Bonus comic relief: Watch the 2025 remake of The Naked Gun starring Liam Neeson, deadpan delivery. I’m skipping dystopian drama recommendations. Comedy feels like the antidote for…everything.
Got a favorite movie that boosted your outlook?
What’s Gonna Happen in 2026?
Let us fling some pasta against the wall and see if it sticks. Here’s what I’m predicting:
1. All About the Agent
Ignore AI bubble talk – focus on the creation of agents. Here’s a recent Financial Times subheading: “The AI mania is likely to wane and drag down the economies of both the US and China.” That is so wrong.
Journalists love to predict the downfall of markets, but even a decline in valuations is not going to dent the reality of what’s coming: the proliferation of agents in most of the applications you use at work and home. Nothing is going to be spared – but I write this with optimism. AI agents in the background of business operations are going to make things easier, faster, and more efficient. Don’t focus on generative or general AI. Think about how your companies can and will deploy specific agents with measurable results.
2. Geopolitical Instability Sustains…And Markets Won’t Care
Geopolitical instability isn’t going away. And yet the resilience of the US market is unparalleled. I wonder if the period from 1940 through 2026 or beyond will be viewed with hindsight as a 90-year blip, in the sense that it was the historical aberration, not the norm. What may come next in regionalism powered by AI makes me feel like the Internet and search was just a 30-year warmup act. AI is the main stage – personal and work empowerment writ large.
3. More Real Connection, Not Virtual
AI won’t destroy the world (I say hopefully), but it will be increasingly hard to tell what’s real from fake. That will boost a movement to reinvigorate in-person connection. Here’s a fun life hack for you to try this year: on your birthday (let’s say you’re turning 50), ask 50 of your friends to each suggest one thing you can do together, one on one. It could be a walk in the park, a meal, or coffee. That’s what interim exec Roeya Vaughan did on her birthday. So far, she’s gone on a hot air balloon ride for the first time. A friend who loves Lady Gaga bought 10th row seats for them to attend her concert. It doesn’t have to be expensive or extravagant, because Roeya says her goal is simple: be a yes. Be open to new experiences.
4. Learning on the Job/Learning Is the Job
In an AI-assisted 2026, learning and working collapse into one continuous loop. We build our careers in midair flight.
The traditional end of education at graduation, and then career start, like a rocket on a one-way launch, disappears. Forever. And the traditional end of career goes out the window as well, replaced by a second half or series of pivots focused increasingly on meaning and significance, supported by AI.
This Is Your Moment
Let’s add it all up. AI talk everywhere. Markets that adapt faster than geopolitics. A world where it’s harder to discern reality, thus a premium on human connection to build trust. Careers built in flight, not in formal stages. Learning and working forever intertwined.
This is your moment, interims.
Interim and fractional work isn’t about having all the answers upfront. It’s about stepping into ambiguity, learning, questioning, forming go-forward eager teams, making decisions, and being accountable for results. You bring an increasingly powerful set of tools to every assignment. Utilizing your unique leadership style, approach, process and system (read up on FABS Leadership Styles here), pattern recognition, judgment, and execution will not be automated away.
In a world reshaped by AI, volatility, and constant reinvention, the leaders who matter most are the ones who can enter mid-stream and move things forward.
I mentioned Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme — a reminder that originality still matters. Bonus comic point/relief: watch the 2025 remake of The Naked Gun starring Liam Neeson, deadpan deliver. I’m skipping dystopian drama recommendations. Comedy feels like the antidote for…everything.
Read More:
What is a Fractional Executive?
Interim Executives vs. Consultants: The Complete Comparison Guide
FABS: Why the Right Leadership Mindset Matters
InterimExecs’ RED Team is an elite team of operations, technology, finance, marketing, and sales leaders who have built successful organizations and generated rapid growth. To explore how an interim can catapult your organization’s growth, call 847-849-2800.
