Executive IT Interim Management · Vienna

Stability,
where failure is not an option.

Interim mandates at managing-director and board level for banks, finance and regulation-driven IT environments. With a focus on outsourcing governance, AI-powered process optimisation and critical programmes that have to hit their deadlines and quality targets.

Robert Pabeschitz
Ing. Robert Pabeschitz, MSc CIM · Managing director since 1992
33 Years as managing director
in technology-driven environments
8 Years of international
group responsibility (EMEA, APAC, USA)
300 Employees in the company
that was built and later sold
0 Loss-making years during
the SaaS transformation 2005+

Current & recent engagements

What's happening
in the engine room.

10/2025 · ongoing Telecommunications

Austrian mobile operator — AI-powered financial process optimisation

Leading three parallel projects to implement AI agents in financial workflows. Goal: reduce error rates, manual rework and operational risk through end-to-end automation.

  • Cut operational risk & manual intervention
  • Higher quality → fewer customer queries and complaints
  • AI to minimise manual effort
04/2022 · ongoing Private Banking

Austrian private bank — data hub for core-banking outsourcing

Strategic project for a central piece of software that connects internal systems with the outsourced core-banking system. Real-time communication between data centres, semantic data translation, stable day-to-day operations throughout the transformation.

  • Design of real-time communication between data centres
  • Data processing and transformation pipelines
  • Outsourcing preparation for the data-pool operation
07/2021 – 02/2022 Trade · Turnaround

European building-materials group — interim head of IT & Operations

Taking over a critical situation: of seven IT staff, only one remained. Brief: stabilise, rebuild, deliver reliable IT operations for day-to-day business.

  • Complete rebuild of the IT team incl. roles and partners
  • Company-wide IT security concept
  • SD-WAN in coordination with the Dutch parent group
  • Helpdesk, new site, Azure and Oracle Cloud partnerships

Result A lean team of three plus external partners — measurably higher service quality at lower cost.

02/2020 – 02/2021 Programme leadership · Rescue

Austrian mobile operator — integration of three billing systems

Taking over a project that had already failed three times — after the originally planned 1.5 years had elapsed. Additional brief: a second, equally large project in parallel — both with a fixed, non-negotiable end date.

Result Both projects completed two months ahead of schedule — with the existing team, without additional resources.

Focus areas

Where experience
and risk awareness count.

01

Banking & regulated environments

Steering critical IT services within regulation-driven structures. A sharp sense for outsourcing, data protection, IT risk management and audit-proof operating models.

02

AI-powered process optimisation

End-to-end automation of finance and operations processes with AI agents. Identifying current and future potential, developing new concepts, delivering measurable value.

03

Outsourcing & provider management

Steering external service providers with clear responsibilities and escalation mechanisms. Core-banking outsourcing, cloud partnerships, off- and nearshoring.

04

Turnaround & crisis mandates

Taking over projects that have gone off the rails. Stabilising day-to-day operations, rebuilding high-performing structures, safeguarding service quality towards the business.

05

Programme & project leadership

Running several critical projects in parallel, spotting and removing conflicts, securing adherence to budget and deadlines. Agile methods with consistent quality and progress reporting.

06

Custom software instead of off-the-shelf

What used to be possible only as expensive in-house development is now economically viable with AI-powered software development. More on this below →

Software development 2026

Custom software,
where off-the-shelf
simply had to do.

For 30 years, an unwritten rule held in mid-sized companies and smaller banks alike: only standard products are economical. Custom software was expensive, slow and reserved for large corporations. So processes were bent to fit the software — not the other way around.

That rule no longer applies. With AI-powered development — in my case end-to-end with Claude Code — tailor-made solutions now take days instead of months, at a fraction of the former cost. This has real consequences for quality, speed and competitiveness:

  • Processes stay the way they need to be. The software adapts to your business, not the other way around.
  • Quality that off-the-shelf software could never reach. Specific data structures, interfaces and controls are built directly for your environment.
  • Economical for SMEs and small banks too. What was a six-figure project five years ago is often a single sprint today.
  • No licence dependency, no vendor lock-in. The code is yours, runs on your infrastructure, and is transparent and auditable.

On this basis I currently build data transformations for bank migrations, AI agents for financial workflows, reconciliation pipelines and reporting tools — every piece of software tailored exactly to the use case, instead of forcing the business into the corset of an off-the-shelf solution.

How I work

Agile leadership meets
clear accountability.

Hands-on, not advisory.

An interim manager steps into day-to-day business and takes ownership of execution. He solves your problem — he does not explain how you might solve it.

Lean & agile as a mindset.

Create value, avoid waste. Clear objectives, ownership, an iterative approach with quality and progress reporting that usually delivers more than expected.

People, not just systems.

A coaching qualification and an MSc in consulting science — backed by 30 years of operational experience. Change processes that take people along, instead of running them over.

Transparent about everything.

Up-to-the-day reporting, clear escalation paths, an honest assessment of status and risk — even when the message is uncomfortable.

Qualifications
Certified Interim Manager (CIM, 2022) ·MSc Consulting Science (Sigmund Freud University) ·Certified Product Owner ·Computer Science (TU Wien) & Business (WU Wien) ·HTBL Communications & Computer Engineering

About

33 years a managing director.
Sold once.
Always hands-on.

Born in 1967 in Lower Austria, with a technical foundation at HTL St. Pölten, complemented by business studies at WU Wien and computer science at TU Wien. Later deepened with an MSc in consulting science at Sigmund Freud University.

In 1992 I founded pcsysteme.at IT-Service GmbH — initially for the IT infrastructure of an international oil company (more than 600 filling stations in Austria at the time). In parallel we developed a mobile invoicing solution exclusively for the corporate group. In 2002 we extended the solution into a logistics platform; in 2005 came the strategically decisive repositioning as a SaaS model — a business-model transformation we pulled off without a single loss-making year.

In 2014 came the sale to Touchstar Group LLC (Tulsa, USA), followed by several more years as General Manager EMEA and Group CTO with responsibility across three continents. Since 2020 I have worked as an interim manager through Pabeschitz Computer Consulting GmbH — focusing on banking, finance and AI-powered process optimisation.

Voices

Words from companions.

Over many years, Robert Pabeschitz has impressed me again and again in our joint projects through his drive for innovation and his customer focus.

Dr. Eva Kühn Institute of Computer Languages, TU Wien

I came to know Robert Pabeschitz as an extremely reliable partner in information technology. His expertise and his ability to find, build and operate business-oriented, innovative solutions won me over as a customer and partner. His open and warm personality has, over decades, led to a stable and, for both sides, highly successful partnership.

Christian Anton IT Manager · International oil company

Contact

Let's talk for 30 minutes
about your situation.

A first conversation is non-binding and confidential. Afterwards you will know whether an interim mandate is right for your situation — and in what form.