The head of IT has left and the ERP project runs on
A permanent hire takes months, the rollout does not wait. An interim CIO takes over steering, board work and decisions until the permanent appointment is in place.
Interim CIO
Back to home
Interim management · Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg and DACH
C-level responsibility for a fixed term. Effect in quarters, not years.
Steffen Herr takes operational and strategic leadership responsibility as CIO, COO, board member or chief restructuring officer for a fixed term. The purpose is clearly defined and the handover holds. Based in Bietigheim-Bissingen near Ludwigsburg, working in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg and across DACH.
Straight to WhatsApp- Availability
- Reply < 24 h
- Mandate length
- 3–18 months
- Days per week
- 3–5 days / week
- Region
- DACH · onsite · hybrid · remote
Days per week: 3–5 d
Effect inside mandates
Reference case
Interim CIO, Telelift GmbH (2025)
As interim CIO at Telelift GmbH in 2025, Steffen Herr owned the IT strategy and the rollout of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for over 200 staff. Result: IT operating cost down 28 percent and a digitalisation roadmap through 2028.
- −28%IT costbeforeafter
- −35%Time to marketbeforeafter
- +30%Process efficiencybeforeafter
- −25%Lead timebeforeafter
Sectors worked in
Mid-marketBanking & financeMachineryTechConsulting
Typical situations
If one of these sentences describes your position.
Interim management rarely starts with a job description. It starts with a situation that will not wait.
The ERP programme is not moving
The timeline slips, the departments do not pull along, the vendor points at open decisions. What is missing is usually not technology but someone with the authority to decide.
Programme lead or interim CIO
The numbers arrive late and are wrong
Reporting nobody trusts turns steering into guesswork. First the data foundation and the reporting line, then the figures, then the decisions.
Interim COO or CIO
The bank wants to see a plan
When financing partners ask for clarity, speed and evidence count. Immediate measures, a liquidity view, an approach that holds up in the meeting.
Chief restructuring officer
Delivery performance is dropping
On-time delivery falls, rework rises, the team works on everything at once. Stabilisation while the business keeps running, without bringing the organisation to a halt.
Interim COO
There are no rules for who decides what
Roles, reporting lines and escalations are unwritten. Governance costs less than the tool bought instead of it.
Interim CIO or executive advisory
AI is supposed to arrive, but nobody knows where
A pilot without a process stays a pilot. First the process with a real benefit, then the model, then the rules for roles, risks and evidence.
Digitalisation and AI
None of these quite fits? Then we work it out in the dialogue or in the first call.
From signal to impact
How many moving parts become one lever.
Interim work does not mean fixing everything at once — it means finding the pattern, setting the lever, and anchoring it in operations.
- Signal: Order book, team, costs, technology — signals arrive from every direction at once.
- Pattern: A few causes create most symptoms. They are named and evidenced.
- Lever: Priority goes to what combines impact with feasibility — one starting point, not ten.
- System: The lever is wired into ownership, process and tooling — otherwise it stays an intention.
- Impact: Decisions come faster, the team works on the right things — visible in the result.
Read the film text
An empty executive chair in a dark boardroom: “The top chair is empty.” A phone vibrates: “Decisions are waiting.” Dominoes fall: “Projects are tipping.” “Transformation is stuck.”
Black screen, silence: “What now?”
Steffen Herr walks onto the floor: “Someone takes over.” He draws three lines on a glass wall: “Clarity first.” He leads the team: “Then pace.”
An office tower lights up floor by floor: “Impact in quarters, not years.” A handshake with the new executive: “And handover once it runs.”
“Steffen Herr. Interim executive.” End card: “Interim management. C-level leadership for a defined term.” More than 20 years of executive experience, more than 15 transformation mandates, 3 to 5 days per week. complexredugyzer.de. Music only, no speech.
Available mandates
Seven roles, clearly bounded.
Leadership in the mandate
Leadership that carries change.
Leadership is part of the work in every mandate: stabilising teams, clarifying roles, making decisions hold and handing over cleanly to your own leadership at the end.
- employees led
- 150+
- board responsibility
- 13 yrs
- executive coachings with MDs and boards
- 60+
- employees guided through change (Telelift)
- 200+
Clearer decisions
Roles, responsibilities and decision paths become unambiguous, escalations get a fixed place.
More capable teams
Collaboration and trust are built, psychological safety grows, conflicts are moderated instead of postponed.
More reliable delivery
Steering routines and a clear handover make sure your own leadership carries on after the mandate.
- INQA coach (BMAS)
- Certified mediator (BlauRaum Institut)
- Agile leadership specialist (Chamber of Commerce)
- New Work Expert (Chamber of Commerce)
How I work · CORE+ execution framework
Six steps. A mandate that holds.
01 Discovery & diagnosis
Analysis of critical structures, stakeholder interviews and assessment of operational bottlenecks.
02 Stakeholder alignment & mandate definition
Agreement with management, sponsors and key roles. Clear target pictures, expectations and boundaries of responsibility.
03 Target picture & roadmap
Workable target architectures, priorities and steering logic on a quarterly basis.
04 Governance & steering setup
Decision, escalation and reporting structures. Steering routines and clear ownership established.
05 Execution & performance steering
Hands-on transformation work with clear ownership, KPI tracking and decision routines.
06 Stabilisation & handover
Knowledge transfer, structures anchored, teams and leadership enabled to carry on.
How a mandate starts
From the first call to the handover.
- A
First call
30–60 min · purpose, situation, expectations, stakeholders. Possible within 24–48 h.
- B
NDA & mandate outline
Confidentiality agreement, scope sketch, success criteria, stakeholder map and mandate briefing.
- C
Contract & terms
Defined scope, period, days per week, day rate. Direct contract or provider construct.
- D
Discovery (week 1–2)
Stakeholder interviews, current-state analysis, quick wins identified, steering routine established.
- E
Effect (from week 3)
Operational responsibility, steering, reporting to board or sponsor, mandate adjusted as it runs.
- F
Handover & follow-up
Knowledge transfer, structures anchored, documentation, the line enabled to carry on. Optional 60/90-day follow-up.
Contract models
Six ways of working together.
Interim mandate
Operational leadership for a fixed term. Own responsibility with a clear mandate definition.
3–18 months · 3–5 days / week · onsite, hybrid, remote
Executive advisory
Strategic advice and sparring at C-level without full operational responsibility.
Retainer or day rate · 0.5–2 days / week
Transformation lead / PMO
Programme responsibility including PMO setup and multi-project steering.
6–24 months · project-based · onsite + hybrid
Coaching & sparring
Confidential, solution-focused. DIN EN ISO 17024 · INQA coach (BMAS).
By the hour or as a mandate · discreet & protected
Through interim providers
Standard terms through interim providers (Randstad Professional, freelancermap, freelance.de).
Provider contract · provider day rate · DACH
Funded advisory (BAFA / INQA)
Funded advisory mandates for SMEs. BAFA certified (ID 193982) and INQA coach (BMAS).
Up to 80% funding · standard process · SME
Sectors & company settings
- Machinery
- Industry & manufacturing
- Banking & financial services
- Skilled trades
- Services
- Consulting
- Mid-market, 25–500 staff
- Owner-managed companies
- Family businesses
- Group subsidiaries
Common questions from recruiters and interim providers
See all frequently asked questionsTalk about an interim mandate.
First call within 24–48 h · DACH region · full profile on request.
Proof of authority
- Interim executive for transformation, governance and digital execution.
- 20+ years in leadership, transformation and advisory roles.
- 13 years on the board. Interim mandates in IT, organisational and business transformation.
- Works with mid-sized companies, technology-driven firms and complex change situations.
- Role
- C-level ad interim · interim CIO · transformation lead · board member for a fixed term
- Focus
- Business transformation · governance · organisational design · digital execution · restructuring
- Responsibility
- Led up to 150+ staff · multi-project environments · steering & stakeholder management
- Working models
- DACH · onsite · hybrid · remote · interim · advisory · sparring
- 15+
transformation and change mandates
IT transformation · PMO · governance · reorganisation · digitalisation · leadership
- 6
sector contexts
Machinery · banking · industry · trades · services · consulting
- 150+
people supported in transformation and leadership settings
Management · department heads · project organisations · external partner structures
Selected areas of effect
Stabilising critical organisational and IT structures
Immediate effect in complex change situations where responsibility is unclear.
Building transparent decision and governance models
RACI, RAPID and steering structures with clear escalation and reporting paths.
Improving steering and prioritisation
KPI logic, OKR cascades and routines for the board, departments and operational teams.
Structuring complex project and transformation landscapes
PMO setup, multi-project steering, RAID logs and programme reporting.
Establishing strategy-to-execution that lasts
Target architecture down to sprint level. Strategy translated into delivery with commitment.
Enabling leadership and the line to carry on alone
Knowledge transfer, coaching and new structures anchored in the organisation.
Mandate focus
Interim CIO
IT strategy · governance · prioritisation · digital execution · transformation steering
Interim COO / operations transformation
Process improvement · lean management · delivery performance · operational stabilisation
Chief restructuring officer (CRO)
Restructuring · reorganisation · cost-out · stabilisation under time pressure
Managing director / board ad interim
Overall responsibility for a fixed term · strategic realignment · steering · decision architecture
Interim leadership / leadership turnaround
Leadership for a fixed term · stabilising teams · clarifying roles and collaboration · handover to your own leadership
Transformation programme management
PMO setup · multi-project steering · prioritisation · governance rules
Executive coaching & sparring
Management · leadership · conflict facilitation · clarity in decisions
Typical starting situations
Transformations lose speed.
Missing governance, unclear ownership and weak prioritisation block decisions.
Strategy never reaches delivery.
Without steering structures, strategy-to-execution does not happen.
Restructuring under time pressure.
Organisations need fast stabilisation, transparency and a basis for decisions that holds.
Digitalisation adds complexity.
ERP, process or tool rollouts run without enough stakeholder alignment.
Project landscapes become unsteerable.
Too many sub-projects, no prioritisation and unclear escalation paths slow delivery down.
Leadership loses its bearings during change.
Resistance, uncertainty and communication problems destabilise teams and ownership.
About
I don’t come from the AI world.
I come from business.
To me, AI is not an end in itself. It is a powerful lever inside a larger system, and that system is the company.
What should actually get better?
There was no single turning point. It was a pattern I met at every stage: companies solve their problems in the wrong place. With new tools, new processes, new organisational models, more meetings and more digitalisation. The real question stays unanswered.
Most organisations lack neither ideas nor technology. What they lack is clarity about what really matters.
Progress begins with clarity.
- Not: Introducing AIBut: solving a relevant problem
- Not: Digitalising bad processesBut: improving processes first
- Not: Introducing agility because it is fashionableBut: improving the ability to decide
- Not: Staging transformationBut: enabling real change
What I stand for
- Not every change is a transformation.
- Digitalisation and AI do not solve problems caused by a lack of clarity. They can even amplify them.
- Good consulting makes clients more independent of the consultant over time.
- If we cannot explain what exactly should get better, we probably should not do it.
Thinking and stance
How I think and what I stand for
Clarity. Structure. Focus. Impact.
- Clarity shows what matters.
- Structure makes change manageable.
- Focus directs energy to the decisive levers.
- Impact shows whether it works.
This is not a lesson in methods. It is the way I look at companies, problems and change.
I accept complexity, but I do not accept it as an excuse for a lack of clarity.
CORE+
A way of thinking becomes a system.
CORE+ condenses what I have observed, tried, discarded and developed further in companies over the years. It is my answer to the question of how complexity turns into clarity and clarity into impact.
SimplifyAmplifyTransform
Roles
- Consultant
- AI Expert
- Speaker
- Author
- Founder of the AI platform herrlichAI
Focus areas
- Business Transformation
- Data & Process
- Digital Transformation & AI
- Digital Sales
- Organization & Leadership
Qualifications
- BAFA-listed management consultant (ID 193982)
- INQA coach, authorised by the German Federal Ministry of Labour (BMAS)
- Mediator
- Agile leadership and agile project management
- Change and digital transformation
- Business development and digital business
- Leadership coaching and sales management
Stage and book
- Three keynotes
- Author of “Rhetorik to Go”
Verified & certified
- BAFA certified management consultant · ID 193982
- INQA coach · BMAS
- Scrum.org · Professional Scrum Master I & II
- Lean management qualification
- Certified mediator
- Business Transformation Expert (Chamber of Commerce)
- Data & Process Expert (Chamber of Commerce)
- Digital Transformation & AI Expert (Chamber of Commerce)
- Digital Sales Expert (Chamber of Commerce)
- New Work Expert (Chamber of Commerce)
Digital business card
Every way to reach me. On one card.
Profile, appointments, channels and contact in one place at steffen-herr.de/links. Scan the QR code or save the contact straight to your address book.
steffen-herr.de/linksSteffen Herr
Interim management · Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg and DACH
References
Mandates that can be checked.
Sector, size, role and result. Company names and contacts are shared after clearing it with the client, not in public.
September to December 2025
Interim chief information officer
- Sector
- Machinery and intralogistics
- Size
- over 200 staff
Full responsibility for IT, rollout of Microsoft Dynamics 365 including migration and integration of the existing systems, governance built on SLA, RPO and RTO plus RACI.
Digitalisation strategy with a roadmap through 2028, IT operating cost reduced by 28 percent.
January to April 2026
Senior management consultant, digitalisation and organisational development
- Sector
- Manufacturing
- Size
- Mid-market
Four-month advisory mandate on digitalisation and organisational development.
Results are added once the mandate closes and the client has cleared them.
Further references
Documentation exists for mandates from thirteen years of board responsibility and more than 150 advisory projects. Reference contacts are named during a selection process, after clearing it with them.
Market
The market this mandate takes place in.
Interim management is a billion-euro market in the DACH region. Every figure comes from the studies of the industry associations DDIM and AIMP, not from our own estimate.
DDIM and AIMP draw the boundaries of the market differently and therefore report different volumes for the same year. Both figures stand side by side here rather than mixed together.
- interim managers in Germany (2026 forecast)DDIM 2026
- 12,500
- of mandates in companies with 250 to 10,000 employeesAIMP 2025
- 74%
- months is the average length of a running mandate (Aug 2026)DDIM flash survey 2026
- 10.3
- average day rate (Aug 2026)DDIM flash survey 2026
- €1,320
Market development
Market volume, Germany · 2025
2.47bn €−5.9 % vs. prior year
| 2021 | 2.20 bn € |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.50 bn € |
| 2023 | 2.70 bn € |
| 2024 | 2.63 bn € |
| 2025 | 2.47 bn € |
For 2024, €2.9 bn had been forecast; €2.625 bn was reached. Forecast for 2026: €2.4 to 2.7 bn.
Source: DDIM market studies 2024 to 2026
DACH market by country (2024)
3.09bn €
- Germany79 %
- Switzerland13 %
- Austria8 %
3.75 bn € · DACH volume 2025 according to the AIMP study 2026
Source: AIMP 2025 · AIMP 2026
Market structure
Growth areas 2026/27 according to interim managers
- Machinery and plant engineering31 %
- Defence, aerospace26 %
- IT, digitalisation and AI25 %
Share of surveyed interim managers naming the field as a growth area.
Source: AIMP 2026
Fees
Fees follow the DDIM market level for senior interim management. As a guide, the association names one per cent of the target annual salary of a comparable permanent role as the day rate. We agree the concrete range in the first call, depending on role, duration, utilisation and travel.
Source: DDIM, fees in interim management
Put the fee in context
What does leadership for a fixed term really cost?
The German interim association DDIM gives one percent of the target annual salary of a comparable permanent role as a rule of thumb for the day rate. Set what the position would cost you permanently.
€160,000
€90,000€300,000
Day rate, as a guide
€1,600
At 120 billed days
€192,000
Permanent role per year, including on-costs
€200,000
Department or programme responsibility
Typical for head of IT, operations or programme steering in mid-sized companies. The market average for senior interim was 1,318 euros a day in 2023, C-level above that.
Factor 1.25 for social contributions, holiday and absence, calculated conservatively.
A guide, not an offer. The actual rate depends on role, duration, days per week and travel, and is settled in the first call. DDIM, fees in interim management
Common questions
What clients want to know before the first call.
The average day rate in German interim management was 1,318 euros in 2023, and the DDIM market study expects more than 1,350 euros for 2024. C-level rates sit above that, depending on role, duration and how many days a week are booked. A common rule of thumb is one percent of the target annual salary of a comparable permanent role. We settle the actual range in the first call.
A mandate to fill? An answer within 24 hours.
Availability, terms and fit settled up front. Directly, without detours.
Last updated: 04/10/2026