The Robots Aren't Picking Your Next Interim (But They're Giving Us a Brilliant Hand!)

Let's dive into something that's on everyone's lips: Artificial Intelligence. You can't seem to unlock your phone, scroll through LinkedIn, or even have a chat down the pub without AI popping up in conversation. Bored of it or not, it’s here to stay and sometimes, amidst all the buzz, it’s easy to wonder what it actually means for us in the real world, especially in the people-focused business of leadership.

The situation is clear… AI is here, and it’s making inroads into almost every industry. The complication as I see it, is that many people either view it with a bit of suspicion "are the robots coming for our jobs?", or they see it as some abstract tech that’s miles away from their day to day. And when it comes to something as nuanced as finding the right interim leader, a role that relies so much on experience, judgment, and human connection, it’s natural to ask how can AI genuinely help, without losing that vital human touch?

Well, from where I'm sitting, I can tell you AI isn't replacing people but it's empowering them. It’s becoming a remarkably sharp tool in our kit, helping us connect brilliant interim managers with businesses like yours more effectively. And, excitingly, it's also a tool that savvy interims are using to deliver even better results for you.

So, let's pull back the curtain a bit.

Sharpening Our Aim: How We’re Using AI to Pinpoint Your Perfect Interim

Honestly, the thought of a machine making the final call on who should lead your critical project? We aren’t there…yet. But using AI to help us make smarter, faster, and more informed decisions? Absolutely. Here’s how AI is making a real difference finding the perfect fit:

Finding the Needle in the Haystack (Much, Much Faster!)

Think about the sheer volume of talent out there. AI-assisted platforms are like having a super-powered research assistant. They can sift through vast pools of talent, intelligently matching skills, sector experience, project track records, and even those crucial 'soft skills' to your specific project needs. For instance, if you need an interim Head of Digital Transformation with experience in regulated financial services who has specifically managed a cloud migration project of a certain scale, AI helps narrow down that list with incredible speed and accuracy. 

A Peek into Future Success: Predictive Pointers

This is where it gets really interesting. Some of the more advanced tools can analyse data from past interim assignments, anonymised, to spot patterns. What made a particular placement incredibly successful? What combination of skills and experience led to a project exceeding expectations? While it’s not a crystal ball, this kind of predictive analytics can give a steer on who’s likely to integrate quickly and deliver impactful results within your specific environment.

Keeping Everyone in the Loop Without the Email Onslaught

Automated reporting and communication tools, powered by AI, can streamline updates for everyone involved. Imagine getting concise, relevant progress reports from the system, allowing your interim manager to focus more on the actual work and less on administrative overhead. This isn't widespread yet for us, but it's something we're watching closely for its potential to enhance transparency.

Ensuring the ‘Right Fit’ on Sensitive Projects

Particularly with all the new regulations emerging, like the EU AI Act, if you need an interim to manage AI governance, ethics, or compliance, AI can help us identify candidates who are demonstrably up-to-speed. We can look for those who hold specific certifications or have a proven track record in these specialist, and often sensitive, areas. It adds another layer of assurance.

The Interim’s AI Toolkit: Delivering Faster, Smarter Results for You

The best interim managers are a resourceful bunch, always looking for an edge. And increasingly, that edge involves AI.

Making Sense of the Mess – Fast: I know of an interim Operations Director who was recently parachuted into a manufacturing firm with chaotic supply chain data. Using AI powered analytics tools, she was able to process and visualise months of data in a couple of days, pinpointing bottlenecks that had plagued them for ages. What would have taken a team weeks of manual crunching, was understood in days thanks to AI. It meant she could start fixing things almost immediately. That’s the power, speed to insight.

Hyper-Personalisation in Customer Experience: Picture an interim Marketing Lead for a retail client. They might use AI to analyse customer behaviour, tailoring offers and communications with incredible precision. This leads to tangible uplifts in sales and loyalty because customers feel understood, not just marketed at.

Streamlining the Grunt Work: Many interims are now adept at using AI for things like drafting initial reports, summarising lengthy documents, or even generating code snippets for tech projects. This is freeing up their valuable brainpower to focus on strategic thinking, problem-solving, and leading your teams. An interim CFO told me he uses AI to quickly analyse financial statements for anomalies, allowing him to spend more time on strategic financial planning.

Keeping Projects on Track: In complex projects, AI tools can help interim project managers with predictive scheduling, resource allocation, and risk identification, flagging potential issues before they derail progress. This means more projects delivered on time and on budget – music to any client’s ears!

The All-Important Human Element and a Word on Ethics

Now, I know what some of you might be thinking: "This all sounds very clever, Stephen, but what about the gut feeling, the cultural fit, the human chemistry?" And you’d be absolutely right to ask.

Let me be crystal clear, AI is our co-pilot, not the pilot. It can highlight fantastic candidates, suggest matches we might not have spotted, and speed up processes. But the final decision, the nuanced assessment of whether someone will truly click with your team and your company’s DNA? That still comes down to human experience, intuition, and those crucial face to face (or screen to screen) conversations.

We also have to be eagle-eyed about ethical considerations. AI algorithms are trained on data, and if that data has historical biases (conscious or unconscious), the AI can perpetuate them. This means constantly questioning the outputs, ensuring diverse shortlists, and always, always prioritising fairness and equal opportunity. Human oversight is non-negotiable.

Here’s a quick rundown:

How AI Helps Us (and You)	Key Benefit for Your Business
Intelligent Talent Matching	Faster access to a wider pool of perfectly matched talent
Predictive Analytics for Project Success	Higher likelihood of project success and rapid impact
Automated Reporting (Future Potential)	Improved transparency and communication efficiency
Specialist Role Alignment (e.g., AI Governance)	Greater confidence in compliance and expertise
Interims Using AI for Operations/Project Delivery	Faster problem-solving, more efficient project outcomes

So, What’s the Bottom Line?

AI, when used thoughtfully and ethically, isn't some scary, job stealing monolith. It's a powerful amplifier, it means you can have confidence in placements who are a better fit and satisfy the business needs, not only that, but they will be placed at greater precision and speed. For interim managers, it means they have new tools to deliver even more outstanding results for your business.

It’s about blending the best of technology with the irreplaceable value of human insight and experience. And that, I believe, is a future we can all get excited about.

If you’re curious to explore how an AI savvy interim manager could make a difference in your organisation, or just want to chat more about this, you know where I am.

Dr Stephen McCormac

Executive Coach & Vistage Chair

stephen.mccormac@vistagechair.co.uk

+44 7796 313938