In an age of AI disruption, ransomware attacks, and cloud dependency, boards of directors face a new kind of fiduciary responsibility: ensuring that technology risk is understood, governed, and turned into competitive advantage.
Without active board engagement, companies risk falling behind—or worse, facing catastrophic loss. But when boards get technology right, it opens the door to innovation, security, and sustained value creation.
“Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have a faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them.”
— Steve Jobs
Technology is evolving at a breakneck pace, leaving many companies struggling to keep up. When systems are misaligned, talent is underleveraged, and business leaders are frustrated, it’s often a sign that technology is being managed in a silo—or worse, it’s actively hindering growth.
We spoke with two seasoned interim CIOs, David Mitchelhill and Kevin Malover, both members of the InterimExecs RED Team, about how they’ve guided companies through ERP overhauls, tech stack rebuilds, and aligning IT with business goals. Here are the biggest takeaways.
In today’s fast-moving, tech-driven business environment, the role of the CIO is more critical — and more complex — than ever. Whether your organization is navigating digital transformation, merger integration, or large-scale ERP system upgrades, an Interim Chief Information Officer (CIO) can deliver immediate, strategic value without adding long-term overhead.
(Learn more about our Interim CIO Services and Fractional CIO Services here.)
Unlike consultants or rising IT managers, a seasoned interim CIO brings deep operational and leadership experience. These executives are not only capable of taking on the same responsibilities as a permanent CIO, but they also offer a focused lens on change, transformation, and rapid results.
Here are 5 common use cases where an interim CIO can be a powerful asset to tackle high-impact technology initiatives, IT leadership gap coverage, or specialized project execution:
Hiring a fractional CFO is one of the smartest moves a growing company can make — especially when full-time overhead doesn’t yet make sense.
But what exactly does a fractional CFO do?
Whether you’re a founder, CEO, or investors, board member exploring financial leadership options, here’s a closer look at how part-time CFOs drive financial clarity, control, and strategy across all kinds of companies.
It’s a common scenario: A company invests big bucks in a massive ERP implementation only to watch the effort stall. Or worse, fail altogether.
Maybe the problem is the lack of planning or ERP software curation. Maybe it’s not thinking ahead for future needs. Or maybe it’s not having an experienced ERP implementation executive who can make that integration sing.
For all that goes into ERP implementation — ERP, or Enterprise Resource Planning, is, after all, managing, streamlining, and tying together all essential business processes — strategizing every step should be a non-negotiable.
“ERP systems usually get replaced every seven to 10 years. I’ve been with some companies where they hadn’t replaced them for 25 years,” says Bruce Howard, an InterimExecs RED Team member and Interim CIO who has spent much of his career implementing ERP solutions.
“There’s a planning phase to bring all of the pieces together and make sure you’ve got a clear approach and clear people assigned. And then you need a methodology for the way you select systems and implement,” he says.
To better understand the components of a successful ERP implementation process and a clear look at how an ERP strategy can support business operations and better decision-making, we asked Howard and interim executives Tony DeLima and Alonso Vargas to walk us through the essential elements.
When was the last time you reached out to an existing or former customer hoping to make another sale? Have you bought leads, sent them one email and never reached out again? Or worse, bought the leads and never reached out to them at all?
If your answer is, “Um, I don’t really do much customer outreach or email marketing,” don’t feel bad. It just means you’re human.
Steve Rosenbaum understands. He’s a born salesman who “starts with the follow-up” but knows that “most businesses aren’t doing it. They’re ignoring the follow-up.”
And that means they’re leaving the easy money on the table. He points to statistics showing that if a company can improve its customer retention by as little as 5 percent, it can boost the bottom line by as much as 95 percent, Rosenbaum says.
Thanks to global supply chain disruptions, growing hostilities between the US and China, and rising import tariffs, U.S. companies are reconsidering a business plan that calls for them to outsource so much of their production to foreign companies in Asia. Instead, they are pivoting to onshoring back in the US, and “nearshoring” production in Mexico.
This new supply chain approach calls for sourcing products closer to home. For U.S. companies, that means setting up suppliers in Latin America — specifically, Mexico.
Mexico benefits from its geographic proximity to the U.S., its well-established export-oriented industrial sector, a labor force that values manufacturing jobs, and its inclusion in the US-Canada-Mexico North America free trade agreement, notes Forbes.
The move to Mexico is happening fast. Axios reports that the number of companies making moves to nearshore their production nearly tripled last year — to 42 percent of the companies polled, versus 17 percent in 2022 and just 11 percent in 2021.
Those companies join behemoths such as Walmart and automotive giants General Motors and Tesla that are already well on the way to bringing manufacturing closer to home.
With so many companies jumping on the nearshoring bandwagon, we asked two executives with experience working in Mexico for their advice. Klaus-Juergen Wolf, who has spent 15 years as a C-suite interim executive, and Jay Winkler, whose consulting company, Brave Lion Group, works with manufacturing firms, shared the following insights and suggested questions you should ask, concerns you should address, and the possible problems you could face if you nearshore production in Mexico.
Interim executives — experienced C-suite leaders who take on short-term roles — traditionally are found in turnaround situations, coming in to save companies on the brink. Or they are brought in to keep a company moving forward while a new permanent hire is identified and onboarded.
But there’s another leadership role that is tailor-made for an interim leader: Using their skills, experience and executive talent to guide fast-growing companies.
An experienced interim executive is the right leader for companies facing big points of change or growth. Interim and fractional executives often step in to address growing pains many organizations feel when they lack the systems and processes to scale. On the other hand, interim executives jump in as a key part of the diligence or post-acquisition integration strategy for companies and private equity firms leveraging an M&A strategy to expand.
Many private equity funds hear the words “interim executive” and think the only application is an Interim CEO or CFO for turnaround or short-term fill-in of a portfolio company. But PE funds seeking a great return look to interims for their unique abilities to build and transform companies.
An Interim CEO brought on to lead a recently acquired private equity portfolio company, for example, may match the hold period of the fund. That could mean several years of working to build, grow, and ultimately exit the company, hitting big returns for everyone involved.
Here are six major use cases for an Interim CEO, Interim CFO, or other interim executive in PE-backed portfolio companies:
Most funds hope to spread their wings and work beyond industries where they’ve already had success. In looking at new industries where acquisitions may cost less and produce higher returns, a little more diligence is often needed. The further afield a fund goes, the more they need expert leadership removed from prior operating teams.
We recently matched a $5B+ fund with an Interim CEO expert in e-commerce and consumer goods to help determine if a potential acquisition made sense. While the fund had deep experience in the manufacturing space, understanding the current challenges and opportunities to expand go-to-market strategy was essential. Once the deal closed, the executive transitioned into an ongoing advisor role to ensure the acquisition would be a success.
AHIMA, a nonprofit whose mission is to ensure that health information is accurate, complete, and available to patients and providers, had a big idea: To expand by buying a for-profit business.
The acquisition target, HCPro, was an industry leader in integrated information, education, training, and consulting products and services in healthcare compliance and revenue cycle management.
The combination, AHIMA CEO Amy Mosser believed, would broaden the reach of both organizations.
But, first came the challenge of the acquisition process – performing due diligence, planning for the integration, and setting a course for the future.
To do that, she needed help in three key areas: financial due diligence, workforce integration planning, and content licensing.
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