Transformation, Turnaround & Restructuring Executive
Artificial Intelligence (AI) · Geneva
What I do
My approach sits at the intersection of business, finance and technology — including AI. I design and build organizations where technology, automation and human expertise work together to deliver scalable, high-performance outcomes. The first and most important step is always the same: define the right question before reaching for a solution.
Most AI and transformation programmes fail because they start from the answer. I start from a quantified business problem — and keep the remedy open. Defining the question is the first and most important step.
The right question needs a single vantage that fuses the commercial, the technical and the financial — the injury, the instrument and the number, seen at once. That's rare, and it's where I work.
An answer that doesn't reshape how work flows changes nothing. I redesign roles, processes and decisions around the solution, so the value actually lands.
When it fits, I also work as interim leadership or as a sparring partner — a peer who challenges, not a consultant who advises.
How I work
For two decades, performance came from doing the standard work faster and cheaper. That era is closing. AI now absorbs the standard; what remains for leadership is the part machines can't take — judgment, arbitrage, the high-value exceptions. The winners won't be the ones that "added AI," but the ones that redesigned how they operate around it.
Remove the delays, redundant approvals and forced steps that slow the organization down.
Surface the weak signals, anomalies and hidden opportunities others miss.
Connect distant ideas to find strategic and creative moves, not just automation.
Short-circuit steps everyone assumed were mandatory. Radical simplification, not optimization.
When the machine handles the standard, leaders focus on judgment, arbitrage and vision.
Stop processing the norm; concentrate on the high-value exceptions.
AI doesn't just make tasks faster — it changes the sequence of work itself.
Generate speed through frictionless execution. Decide faster through augmented judgment. Multiply growth through non-linear productivity.
Engagements
Beyond the upfront Diagnostic, my mandates run on a low fixed base plus a performance fee tied to the results achieved. Skin in the game.
Know exactly what's broken — and what to do about it.
In four weeks, a complete diagnostic of what no longer performs — a market, a function, a region or the operating model itself — with a prioritized, costed action plan.
From broken to performing — with AI as the engine.
Over three to six months, I lead the full operational transformation: organization redesign, AI workflow implementation, and the performance indicators to run it.
Your strategic AI and transformation partner — on call.
Monthly access to CEO/CFO/AI-level counsel for strategic decisions, performance reviews and guidance through ongoing transformation.
From a day to four weeks to diagnose, understand and design the solution. Flat fee.
Implementation for as long as the result requires. Base fee plus performance. Skin in the game.
Calls and periodic check-ins to make sure it holds. Monthly retainer.
I travel and base myself on-site when the mandate requires it — whatever the assignment demands.
Services
About
I lead at the intersection of business, finance and AI-driven operating systems — designing organizations where technology, automation and human expertise work together to deliver scalable, high-performance outcomes.
My background is CEO and CFO: strategic vision with execution discipline, always grounded in P&L ownership and value creation. I operate with an investor mindset — bringing clarity to complex environments, structuring what lacks direction, and deciding under uncertainty.
As a founder, I built an AI-native business from the ground up. That experience shaped my conviction that the next generation of companies will be defined by how they redesign their operating models around AI.
Sixteen years across enterprise software (11 at Temenos, Finance Director EMEA-LatAm Cloud SaaS through Revenue Growth & Sales Ops Director in Dubai), founder of an AI-native company, based in Geneva — operating across Switzerland, London and Paris. Local and international leadership · start-ups to global organizations · cross-industry (retail, chemicals, enterprise software, technology) · full lifecycle from creation to transformation · M&A and integration · governance and advisory · investment mindset.
Insights
I write about what it takes to build high-performance organizations. Subscribe to get my analyses — or read them on Substack.
Contact
And what to do about it. A 30-minute call is the place to start.
Book a call
Sergio Castagna