Interim CTO / CIO
Interim CTO and CIO: IT leadership that holds.
IT leadership for a defined period, for companies whose business runs on technology: stabilising the IT organisation, rescuing critical programmes, governing providers — backed by eight years as Group CTO.
When the head of IT leaves, the company often notices only weeks later: projects lose their rhythm, providers set their own priorities, security questions stay open. An interim CTO or CIO takes charge immediately — and restores structure before delay turns into damage.
When an interim CTO or CIO is needed
- Vacancy in IT leadership — the CIO moves on, the replacement search drags, yet daily operations and projects still need decisions.
- An IT organisation coming apart — key people have left, knowledge sits with individuals or external parties, service quality is falling.
- A programme in trouble — a system rollout, migration or integration has left schedule and budget behind and needs leadership that takes charge.
- A strategic turning point — cloud migration, outsourcing, security architecture or post-merger integration exceed what the existing structure can carry.
- Missing technology fluency at board level — management, advisory board or supervisory board need someone who translates IT decisions into business language and owns them.
What I take on as interim CTO / CIO
I lead your IT organisation as a member of the management team — with budget, staff responsibility and a reporting line to the managing director. In practice this covers:
- Leading and reorganising the IT team, including roles, priorities and partners.
- Governing providers, contracts and service levels — who delivers what, by when, at what price.
- Architecture and platform decisions: cloud, data centre, network, core systems.
- IT security as a management task: concept, accountabilities, implementation.
- Programme and portfolio steering with reliable reporting to management and the board.
I translate in both directions: to the board I explain technology in terms of risk and cost; to the team I explain business goals in terms of priorities.
Example: an IT organisation rebuilt
In 2021 I took over as interim head of IT and Operations at a European building-materials group. Of seven IT staff, one remained; operations depended on individuals and luck. Within eight months the result was a lean team of three plus external partners, a company-wide IT security concept, an SD-WAN coordinated with the Dutch parent, and cloud partnerships with Azure and Oracle. The outcome: measurably higher service quality at lower cost.
Rescuing programmes, holding deadlines
In 2020 I took over programme leadership at an Austrian mobile operator for the integration of three billing systems. The project had failed three times; its originally planned duration had already run out. A second project of equal size was added — both with a fixed end date. Both were completed two months ahead of schedule, with the existing team and no additional resources.
What made the difference in both cases: clear priorities, honest status reports, decisions instead of alignment loops. More on this approach under turnaround and crisis management.
Group experience you can draw on
For eight years I carried technology responsibility across three continents as Group CTO of a US corporate group — EMEA, APAC and the USA, with distributed teams, different time zones and regulatory regimes. Before that I moved my own software company to a SaaS model in 2005 without a loss-making year. I know how technology decisions affect balance sheet and valuation — and how to explain them to a board that does not speak IT.
For IT mandates in banking and regulated financial environments you will find more depth on my sister brand pc-consulting.at. All interim executive roles at a glance: interim management.
Over many years, Robert Pabeschitz has impressed me again and again in our joint projects through his drive for innovation and his customer focus.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Interim CTO or interim CIO — what is the difference?
The CIO is usually responsible for internal IT — operations, infrastructure, applications, providers. The CTO is responsible for the technology the company earns its money with — product, platform, architecture. In many mid-sized companies the two coincide. I have held both roles and clarify during scoping which responsibility your situation needs.
How quickly can an interim CIO start?
As a rule within days of scoping. The first ten days produce a situation report on the IT organisation, running projects and provider contracts — after that, priorities are agreed with management.
What does an interim CTO cost?
A day rate depending on responsibility, scope and duration. Leading an IT organisation with budget and staff responsibility is priced differently from pure programme leadership. I quote specific terms after the intro call; the framework is on the process and terms page.
Do I need an interim CTO or is an IT project manager enough?
A project manager runs one project inside a functioning organisation. When the organisation itself is the problem — missing leadership, unclear accountability, providers without governance, security questions without an owner — you need someone with a management mandate. The intro call clarifies which level your situation calls for.
Do you also take responsibility for IT security?
Yes. IT security is a leadership task, not a question of tools. I make sure a concept exists, accountabilities are named and implementation with partners and team is verifiable — as with the company-wide security concept for the building-materials group.
Contact
Let's talk about your IT leadership.
Vacancy, a wobbling programme or a rebuild of the IT organisation — in the intro call we work out what leadership your IT needs right now.
Confidential and non-binding.