The search has started
Establish the company-side context for the mandate. Clarify what the role needs to address, without replacing the search firm's candidate assessment.
The Blatt service / Executive transition
Give your next executive a clearer starting point.
A new CTO, CFO or COO inherits historical decisions, undocumented dependencies and conflicting expectations. We reconstruct the relevant operating picture so the handover leads to informed priorities, not another round of discovery by trial and error.
Before or during the transition. Four weeks after agreed access is available. Scope and fixed fee agreed before work starts.
When the unknowns become urgent
A search, a departure or a change in responsibility.
A departure is planned
Connect decision history to approved records and targeted interviews while relevant people and information are still available.
Interim becomes permanent
Make temporary choices, open questions and responsibility boundaries inspectable before the next leader commits to a direction.
Tailored to the role and question
Different mandates. The same evidence-led investigation.
CTO / Technology
What will the next technology leader inherit?
Trace system and supplier dependencies, engineering decisions, ownership and the operational constraints behind delivery. Establish what to retain, verify or change before committing to a rewrite or new platform.
CFO / Finance
Which numbers and assumptions can leadership rely on?
Examine reporting definitions, data lineage, financial workflows and cross-functional handoffs. Separate supported explanations from unresolved differences before setting reporting or investment priorities.
COO / Operations
How does work actually move through the company?
Trace responsibilities, operating decisions, exceptions and handoffs across teams. Clarify where the incoming leader has authority, depends on others or needs another test before changing a process.
These are possible lines of inquiry, not presumed problems. We agree the question, available sources, exclusions and recipients with company leadership.
The same four connected results
A working record for the incoming leader.
The operating map becomes their orientation. Findings show which inherited explanations hold up. The intervention plan supports early priorities, and the management handover gives leadership and the authorized incoming executive a chance to challenge the reasoning together.
01 / Operating Map
See how the work connects
Systems, workflows, decisions, responsibilities and dependencies around the question leadership needs answered.
02 / Evidence-Backed Findings
Understand what's driving the result
Findings linked to source evidence, with competing explanations, confidence and the questions that still need an answer.
03 / Intervention Plan
Know what to change first
30/60/90-day priorities, proposed owners, dependencies and checks for progress, with a brief for the first recommended change.
04 / Management Handover
Make the next decision together
A working session with leadership to examine the evidence, challenge the conclusions and agree how to use the findings.
CTO application / Day-Zero Runbook
Give your next CTO a head start.
For a technology leadership transition, the four results form a Day-Zero Runbook: the relevant systems, decisions and responsibilities, connected to evidence-backed priorities for the first months. An early read in week two can help sharpen the role brief. This is the CTO-specific application, not a universal CFO or COO template.
Inspect a fictional CTO handover
A teaching example connects synthetic source records to findings, ownership, decisions and a first implementation brief. It is not client work or proof of a transition outcome.
Share the CTO offer overview
These one-page PDFs summarize the CTO engagement, not the fictional worked sample or every executive role.
For search firms & interim providers
Complement the search. Preserve operational responsibility.
Search and recruitment
You retain role design, candidate assessment and placement. Blatt investigates the company-side context, so the mandate can be discussed against records as well as stakeholder expectations.
Interim leadership
The interim executive retains operational responsibility. We connect the baseline, temporary decisions and unresolved dependencies for the permanent hire. Access and sharing require the company's authorization.
Practical questions
Clear expectations before the transition research starts.
Does the work have to finish before the new executive starts?
No. We can investigate before or during the transition. Pre-start delivery requires enough lead time and the agreed access to be available. The standard engagement runs for four weeks after access; missing sources or scope changes can require a revised plan.
Is this an assessment of the outgoing or incoming executive?
No. We investigate the operating context, decisions and responsibilities, not candidate suitability or covert personnel rankings. A conclusion may challenge a management decision where the evidence supports it.
Do you cover all three functions in one engagement?
Not by default. We agree one material question or connected business area, not a company-wide audit of technology, finance and operations. Evidence may cross functions where it is relevant to that question.
Is this a financial audit or assurance opinion?
No. A CFO-transition investigation is operating research and decision support. Statutory audit, accounting, tax or other specialist assurance is separate; we identify when a question requires that follow-up.
Who receives the findings and decides what happens next?
The company agrees participants and recipients, including the incoming executive where authorized. Leadership reviews the evidence and proposed priorities. Implementation requires a separate agreement.
Start with the decision
What does the next leader need to understand first?
Tell us which role is changing, where you are in the transition and what remains unclear. No confidential records are needed for the first conversation.