Five times when the right leader makes all the difference
In the absence of clear leadership or direction, technology and IT teams risk misaligned priorities, stalled projects, escalating costs and inefficient processes. These challenges often arise at pivotal moments for private equity-backed businesses — during a rapid scale-up, a modernization effort, a funding round or post-acquisition — when a business can least afford uncertainty and delays. Enter the case for interim tech leadership.
Today, more tech operating partners and leadership teams are turning to interim leadership to jumpstart, sustain or accelerate critical tech initiatives, especially effective when key leadership roles remain unfilled, capacity is stretched or internal expertise is lacking.
What they’re finding is that a three- to six-month engagement with an interim Crosslake CTO or CIO is much more than a stopgap. These initiatives consistently deliver immediate impact and set the foundation for the next chapter.
When done right, interim tech leadership doesn’t just bridge a gap. It builds a foundation.
The interim tech leadership advantage
M&A transitions introduce risk: missed opportunities, wasted resources and disengaged teams. During times of transition, interim technology leaders bring stability and objectivity without the baggage of internal politics or entrenched processes. They deliver quick wins, help align teams and make tough decisions with clarity and speed.
Unlike permanent hires, who are often (rightly) given months to settle in, seasoned interim leaders deliver day one results. Leveraging decades of industry experience, they know how to optimize systems and organizations for peak performance. They rapidly integrate into the business, assess its culture and challenges and implement strategic initiatives for an independent reality-check.
Here are some real-world scenarios where we’ve seen interim leaders become game-changers for private equity-backed businesses:
- When you need to jumpstart integration
When an insurance broker’s CTO resigned mid-project, integration of their unified platform ground to a halt. The business needed to improve progress to align with their value creation plan.
Crosslake’s interim CTO stepped in, developed a transformation roadmap and unblocked stalled initiatives. The result? A scalable, resilient platform with integrated AI and analytics to support third-party integrations and rapid product rollouts — a compelling asset for a company approaching exit. - When you need to launch standalone services post-carve-out
One EdTech client faced a unique challenge post-carve-out: an IT team with no experience launching standalone systems. An interim Crosslake CIO led the carve-out program, defined scope and budget, selected systems and vendors, created a PMO and built a 20-person IT team, keeping costs 20% under budget. - When you need to fast-track projects essential to value creation
Shift your thinking beyond just “filling an open role,” and consider how interim leaders can own high-priority projects end-to-end. With an insider’s knowledge and relationships, and deep technical experience suited to the task, they can often generate momentum that others can’t.
In an engagement for a payments processor, a Crosslake interim CTO led resolution of multiple platform challenges, leading a modernization initiative and creating a scalable roadmap. In another case, an interim leader overhauled a consulting firm’s data and product strategy and infrastructure to enable stronger collaboration with data partners. - When you need to set up a new leader for success
Hiring into chaos can cause even a strong leader to fail. An interim leader who stabilizes the department first may reduce this risk. In addition to managing the transition, an interim leader can help to clarify the job description for the permanent role. In some cases, this allows the business to hire a promising, less experienced candidate to focus on execution and growth.
As an example, one of our software clients had acquired four companies in six months without integrating them. An interim CTO launched an Agile transformation, hired 13 scrum teams and quadrupled productivity. This work allowed the newly-hired tech leader to hit the ground running. - When cloud costs are mounting
After a trio of acquisitions, a PE-backed business was juggling multiple clouds in an unsustainable model. An interim CTO developed a consolidation strategy that considered business needs, team skill sets and system architecture. He unified cloud infrastructure on AWS, created a detailed migration roadmap and transitioned to a permanent CTO within six months. Serving as strategist, he was able to leave the business with a clear path for cloud consolidation in a highly complex environment.
A strategic investment
As these examples illustrate, we see time and again that interim leaders aren’t just temporary solutions — they’re catalysts for change.
They establish clear direction, streamline operations and unite teams. Often, they improve tech stacks, enhance workflows and define performance metrics that set the stage for long-term success. They deliver strategic insight, operational discipline and measurable results.
When done right, interim leadership doesn’t just bridge a gap. It builds a foundation.
FAQs
When should a business consider an interim tech leader? An interim leader can step in whenever a critical tech leadership role is unfilled due to restructuring, fast growth or attrition. We see exceptional value when you need need to speed up tech value creation initiatives, tame cloud costs or leverage specialized expertise for an integration or carve-out. This approach also works well when there’s a lengthy search for a permanent leader.
What tech leadership roles are best suited to interim leaders? The roles of Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Chief Product Officer (CPO), Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Chief Information Officer (CIO) are the ones we see most often. However, some firms hire interim leaders in product, security and architecture leadership roles, as well. You can find out more about Crosslake’s approach to interim tech leadership here: https://crosslaketech.com/interim-leadership/
What are the expectations of an interim tech leader? Many businesses expect an interim CTO or CIO to perform only essential functions and fill a short-term gap. This approach overlooks the unique ability of the interim tech leader to make immediate impact, drive value creation activities, lead crucial tech projects end-to-end and prepare the organization for a smooth transition to a permanent leader.
What’s different about hiring an interim tech leader from Crosslake? We’ve led hundreds of private equity-backed businesses through times of transition. Our leaders work side-by-side with your team to elevate capabilities, leaving a lasting thumbprint of best practices.
With a community of more than 400 seasoned tech practitioners, we’ll match you with expertise specific to your industry, business maturity and desired outcomes. In addition, each interim leader leverages a proven toolkit of Crosslake best practices and uses data from thousands of prior technology initiatives to establish KPIs and report on progress.
How do I hire an interim CTO, CIO, VP of Product Management, VP of Engineering or other interim tech role? Reach out to Crosslake at info@crosslaketech.com to get the conversation started (you’ll find additional ways to connect online: www.crosslaketech.com/connect). We’ll want to understand the specific challenges you’re facing, and then we’ll present you with multiple potential candidates suited to your needs. A managing director will guide each engagement to ensure your experience is consistent with our best practices.
