Rami Cassis on

Interim CEO

Leading an underperforming business as interim CEO, with the option of investing alongside the board.

2 newsletters, 3 videos, 8 in the media. Updated 28 Oct 2026

Rami's approach

What I do

I take executive control of a mid-market business for a defined period and run it, rather than advising a board on how it should be run. The first 30 days carry the decisive work. I talk to clients and to past clients, to junior people as well as the leadership team, and I look hard at culture, workflows and product-market fit before I change anything. Cash, leadership and customers come first. I then make the hard calls early and report what I have found, and what I am changing, to the chair. I can invest my own capital alongside the board.

How I work

A good interim CEO expert is judged as much on what he leaves alone as on what he changes, and the financials tell you only a fraction of either. Past clients who walked away say more about product-market fit than a pipeline does. Mid-market businesses carry thinner middle management and less mature processes than the corporates I came up in, so the intervention has to come from the person holding the executive seat. I draw on three decades of running businesses, from Schlumberger to Atos, and on owning and operating them through Parabellum Investments, where the capital at risk is my own.

When to bring me in

Boards engage me as an interim CEO expert after a sudden chief executive departure, at the start of a turnaround, ahead of a sale or a restructuring, or when they want a leader whose own money is at stake rather than a figurehead. The common condition is a business with real potential that is not converting it, and a board that wants someone in the weeds on clients, talent and workflows within weeks rather than a plan presented in six months. I need the mandate to act inside the first 30 days. Without it the appointment is not worth making.

Questions about interim CEO

What does Rami Cassis actually do when he takes an interim ceo role?
Rami Cassis takes executive control of an underperforming business for a defined period and runs it directly, rather than advising a board on how to run it. He works on clients, culture, talent and workflows himself instead of sitting above the business as a financial figurehead. Through Parabellum Investments, his own family office, he also has the option of investing his own capital alongside the board.
How soon does working with Rami Cassis show anything?
The decisive work happens in the first 30 days, and Rami Cassis has codified what that month contains in his newsletter, The First 30 Days. It covers getting to know the business, speaking to clients and past clients, reading junior and senior talent, overhauling culture and laying foundations for growth. Rami Cassis rejects the convention that a credible growth plan needs six to twelve months to design.
How does Rami Cassis judge whether an interim stint has worked?
Growth returned, and returned quickly. The first business Rami Cassis acquired, a cash-losing corporate disposal bought in 2007, was back in growth within twelve months of takeover and became a leader in its BPO segment. Alongside the numbers he reads what the P&L never carries: what clients and past clients say, whether junior and senior talent stay, and whether product-market fit and workflows hold.
How is Rami Cassis different from an adviser or non-executive supporting the existing chief executive?
Rami Cassis runs the business rather than counselling whoever is running it. The received wisdom is that good investors back great chief executives and get out of the way, and Rami Cassis argues that a detached investor misses the operational signals deciding whether a business grows or stalls. Being hands-on is not micromanaging. It means being in the room on clients, culture, talent and workflows.
When should a board bring Rami Cassis in, and when is he the wrong fit?
Boards bring in Rami Cassis when a lower mid-market or mid-market business is underperforming, often a corporate carve-out or non-core asset where thinner talent and less mature processes make operational intervention matter more, not less. He works across technology, pharma and life sciences, oil and gas, mining and financial services. A board wanting someone to grant the incumbent chief executive total autonomy is asking for something Rami Cassis does not do.

Get in touch

For press, speaking or working with Rami.