Interim CTO
Full authority, a defined period, and an exit planned from day one.
An interim CTO is not a consultant with opinions. It is the seat itself, taken for as long as the situation needs it and not a week longer.
When interim is the right form
- The CTO seat is empty, or about to be, and the org can't wait out a 6-month search.
- Delivery has stopped and the fix needs someone with hiring and firing authority, not advice.
- A restructuring is coming and the board wants it run by someone without history in the building.
If the need is 2 to 4 days a month of senior judgement rather than the seat itself, that is the fractional form. Fractional versus interim draws the line, and hiring an interim CTO covers what to check before you sign one, me included.
How I run it
Every engagement starts with the 3-week diagnosis and ends with a permanent leader in the seat, promoted or hired during the engagement. In between: 2 to 3 days a week embedded, the leadership meetings run, the postponed decisions taken. I stay 6 weeks past the successor's start date, then leave. Day rate, invoiced monthly, no equity.