Geopolitical tension, shifting tariff regimes, and fragmenting trade rules are redrawing the playing field for internationally active companies. Swiss businesses feel this particularly acutely: export-driven, globally networked, and under pressure to decide fast. We sat down with Ramesh Ramchand, Managing Director of Radialis Pte. Ltd. in Singapore and Roland Kleeb, Managing Partner and Team-Lead CFO Experts at FS Partners – A Valtus Company, to unpack what this means for leadership, transformation, and the case for Executive Interim Management.

Ramesh, everyone talks about geopolitical risk today. What are you actually seeing?

Ramesh Ramchand: It’s rarely just a single event anymore. The bigger reality is that uncertainty has become permanent. Companies used to handle one crisis at a time. Today, they’re managing a constant mix of tariffs, regulatory shifts, supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical conflicts — all at once. This changes everything about how leadership teams assess risk and make strategic decisions.

Roland, what does that look like concretely for companies here in Switzerland?

Roland Kleeb: The sectors FS Partners – A Valtus Company works with most are industrial manufacturing. These are capital-intensive, project-driven businesses with long planning horizons, and they’re now having to build tariff and cost scenarios into decisions that used to be far more predictable. What I’m seeing right now is management teams revisiting project budgets and controlling frameworks mid-cycle because the cost base they planned for six months ago no longer holds. That’s a very different discipline from reacting to a single shock—it requires continuous recalibration.

Why is Executive Interim Management gaining relevance specifically now?

Ramesh Ramchand: It’s about speed and experience. An interim executive doesn’t need months to get up to speed — they’ve typically navigated similar situations before, often multiple times. This means execution can begin almost immediately, rather than after a lengthy onboarding period.  Additionally, it provides high-impact, temporary firepower without the long-term fixed-cost commitment of a permanent hire — something that is particularly valuable in times of economic uncertainty.

Roland Kleeb: From my own experience across group functions and the boardroom, I’d add: this is where reorganisation and strategic realignment become the actual job, not a side project. That’s precisely the kind of situation I find most rewarding to step into – bringing structure and project discipline to a management team that’s under pressure to decide, not just analyse.

What kinds of mandates are you seeing most often at the moment?

Roland Kleeb: In the areas FS Partners – A Valtus Company is engaged, it’s cost and project re-planning under new tariff assumptions, restructuring of supplier and procurement structures, and CFO transitions where a company needs someone who can immediately take ownership of controlling and reporting during a realignment. I’ve also seen renewed interest in board-level sparring – companies want an experienced voice in the room while they reset their course, not just an operator.

Many companies try to simply “wait it out.” Is that a reasonable strategy?

Roland Kleeb: Waiting is a decision too – often the most expensive one. In project-driven businesses especially, every quarter of delay compounds: costs move, timelines slip, and the reorganisation you postponed gets harder, not easier. The companies that come out ahead aren’t the ones with the most certainty. They’re the ones who moved while everyone else was still waiting for clarity.

What separates the companies that come through this well from those that don’t?

Ramesh Ramchand: The companies that succeed are those building real optionality today. They are creating regional hubs, diversifying their sourcing, and deploying digital tools that can model tariff and supply chain scenarios in real time.  Instead of betting on a single outcome, they are preparing for multiple possible futures.

Roland Kleeb: Exactly. It’s the shift from “we believe the situation will stabilise” to “we are building the capacity to act, whatever happens.” That mindset shift is often where an interim executive adds the most value – not just filling a gap, but helping build that capacity.

A closing thought for Swiss boards and CEOs?

Roland Kleeb: Companies can’t control geopolitical developments. They can control how fast they respond to them. In this environment, speed itself has become a competitive advantage.

Our thanks to Ramesh for sharing his perspective as part of the Valtus Alliance network, and to Roland Kleeb for summing it up what we’re seeing on the ground with our clients here in Switzerland.