Digital transformation: when an Interim Manager gets the project moving again
Digital transformation is no longer a new topic for businesses. For several years now, SMEs and mid-sized companies have been investing in new tools, e-commerce platforms, data, omnichannel journeys and the automation of certain customer interactions.
The real challenge is no longer simply recognising the need to transform. It is being able to sustain that transformation over time.
The gap between ambition and execution can widen very quickly. Not necessarily because the business lacks ideas or skills, but because transformation projects are often added on top of already demanding roles and responsibilities.
In an SME, responsibility may fall to the CEO or to a senior manager who is already covering several areas. In a mid-sized company, the project may be shared between IT, business functions, marketing, sales and technical teams. Everyone owns part of it, but no one necessarily owns the whole.
That is where problems start to emerge. Decisions take longer, priorities diverge, several departments become involved in the same choices and the project gradually loses momentum.
Other situations can make matters even more complex: a transformation programme that has already created tension, a model that works at head office but is difficult to roll out across subsidiaries, or a promising proof of concept that now needs to scale.
The common denominator is simple. The business no longer needs to define its digital ambition. It needs someone who can take operational ownership, coordinate stakeholders and get the project moving again.
This is precisely the type of context in which TOPS Ressources recommends Julien, an Interim Manager specialising in digital transformation, customer experience and international projects.
Julien, Interim Manager: 20 years at the intersection of digital, customer experience and business
Julien has spent the past 20 years working on digital transformation projects in France and internationally, across both B2B and B2C environments.
His career has taken him across the entire customer journey: generating traffic and leads, improving conversion, strengthening customer loyalty, building omnichannel journeys, while also rationalising partner ecosystems and technical architectures.
This dual perspective matters. Digital transformation is not simply an IT project. It affects customer experience, sales, marketing, data, tools, processes and the organisation itself.
Julien’s expertise sits at the intersection of digital transformation, customer experience, marketing and sales, data and information systems, with a particular focus today on the practical opportunities created by artificial intelligence.
The challenge is not to stack up areas of expertise. It is to make them work together towards the same outcome.
Julien, Interim Manager and Digital Transformation ExpertOptimising omnichannel performance, improving customer journeys, rationalising your ecosystem and developing your teams’ capabilities | |
As an operational leader and a driving force behind transformation, Julien works in complex change and strategy environments, turning intentions into delivered projects supported by effective teams and partners. His expertise covers the full value chain, from strategy and organisation to operational management, performance and training. 👉 Available for digital transformation assignments, from strategy through to deployment. | Measurable impact
Typical assignment contexts
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Taking over a project without starting again from scratch
When a transformation programme slows down, the temptation can be to reset everything.
A new organisation, a new tool, a new provider, a new roadmap. But starting again from scratch often means losing several more months.
An Interim Manager takes a different approach: quickly understand what is already in place, identify what works, what is blocking progress and what is missing, then bring the project back under control.
Julien works across the full chain, from strategy and organisation through to operational management, performance and training. In practical terms, this means taking over an existing programme, clarifying responsibilities, bringing the right people back around the table, resolving priorities and restoring momentum.
There is also one important difference compared with a traditional consulting assignment: he is not working alongside the project. He becomes part of its execution
When international deployment adds another layer of complexity
The challenge becomes even greater when a transformation programme has to be rolled out across several countries or subsidiaries. Head office will naturally want to build a common model.
But local markets quickly remind businesses that not everything works in the same way everywhere. Organisational structures differ, levels of digital maturity vary, local constraints apply, customer habits change and existing tools may already be embedded.
The risk goes both ways. Standardise too heavily and the central model may not work locally.
Adapt too much and the business ends up recreating a different digital ecosystem in every market.
Julien has extensive experience of this issue. He has managed environments covering more than 250 websites and applications in 22 languages, as well as B2B and B2C e-commerce platforms, international marketplaces and international teams.
At that point, the challenge becomes less about technology and more about management. The business needs to decide how far to standardise, where to allow local autonomy and how to keep all teams aligned around the same direction.
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Delivering results while leaving the organisation able to move forward
An interim assignment should not create a new dependency. Quite the opposite.
Julien chose Interim Management precisely because it allows him to step into a business for a defined period, deliver results, then leave behind an organisation, working methods and teams that are able to continue without him.
That is one of the most important measures of a successful transformation. Delivery matters, of course. But by the end of the assignment, the business must above all be able to continue independently, without relying on the Interim Manager.
That means responsibilities are better distributed, teams have taken ownership of the methods and tools, and the organisation is capable of moving forward on its own.
Staying on course without becoming tied to the original plan
Julien’s personal background also gives an interesting insight into the way he works.
He is a triathlete with no fewer than six Ironman events behind him and also takes part in ultra-distance cycling. He spent 12 years as President of a 220-member triathlon club. He has also practised improvisational theatre for several years and founded a troupe in 2025.
Endurance on one side. Adaptability on the other.
Both are particularly valuable during a transformation programme. You need to stay focused on a goal over several months while accepting that a real-life project will never unfold exactly as originally planned.
A priority changes, a stakeholder pushes back, a proof of concept produces an unexpected result, a local market requires an adjustment.
The role of the Interim Manager is therefore not to defend the original plan at all costs. It is to stay on course while adapting the route.
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When should you bring in an Interim Manager for digital transformation?
Not necessarily at the start of the project, and certainly not only when everything has gone wrong.
The right time often comes when the business can see that an important project is moving more slowly than expected because there is not enough availability, coordination or clear ownership.
It may also be the right option when a transformation programme is losing momentum, when a model has to be rolled out across several entities or when a digital activity needs to scale quickly.
Bringing in an Interim Manager makes it possible to access proven experience quickly, without waiting several months for a new permanent structure to be recruited and embedded.
For clients facing these challenges, TOPS Ressources can mobilise Julien for assignments in digital transformation, customer experience, e-commerce, omnichannel strategy and the acceleration of digital projects, in France and in international environments.
Is your digital transformation lacking momentum or clear ownership?
TOPS Ressources can quickly mobilise an Interim Manager to take charge of the project, coordinate stakeholders and accelerate deployment.
TOPS Ressources, Interim Management in Executive Committee roles: CEO, CFO, HR Director, Supply Chain Manager, Transformation Director, Sales Director...
