That was it – the KIM 2025!
Last weekend, the 10th KIM – Conference for INTERIM MANAGEMENT took place in Salzburg. The top event for the 10th anniversary!
Under the motto “Interim Managers – ONLY THE BEST!” almost 300 interim managers, interim providers and law firms as well as numerous interested parties and company representatives came together. This time, the participants came from all over Europe – an international meeting of the interim industry. In addition to interim managers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, international representatives of the WIL Group were also guests. The Managing Directors and Managing Directors of the Executive Committee from Belgium, France, England, Spain, Sweden and Italy and Managing Director Karlygash from the WIL Group were represented.
Our Managing Director and Chairman Dr. Martin L. Mayr led through the conference and gave an overview of the current situation based on the results of the INIMA study. The current difficult economic situation is also having an impact on the interim manager market – only around a third of managers are in a full-time mandate. The experience of interim managers also varies greatly, with around a third having been in the business for between one and three years. On the other hand, there is a good third with more than ten years’ experience in the project business. The outlook is also that there will not really be a significant improvement in the market in 2025. Overall, however, Mr. Mayr paints a positive picture: interim management will increase significantly again, in all areas.
Management dinner on Friday
The evening before, the traditional management dinner took place in the fine ambience of the Imlauer Hotel, and the Interim Manager of the Year was also awarded together with Incite/UBIT. This year, the award was presented for two outstanding projects. Congratulations to Christian Florschütz Interim Manager of the Year 2025 and Martin Pfeffer Interim Manager of the Year 2025!
In addition to welcoming speeches from neighboring associations DDIM, DSIM and VRIM as well as Bodo Blanke/AIMP and Alexander de Beir/Chairman of the WIL Group, the evening was then enjoyed with a fine gala dinner and plenty of networking.
One of the highlights of the evening was a performance by a magician …. There is now a little magic in the interim management industry.
The conference day – KIM
The conference on Saturday was fully booked with almost 300 participants! At the beginning, the CIM – Certified Interim Manager certification was awarded again! Alfred Harl, Chairman of the UBIT Association, and Martin Mayr, Chairman of the Board of DÖIM, were once again able to honor nine interim managers. Congratulations and good luck once again!
UBIT Chairman Harl surprisingly presented Martin L. Mayr with a certificate of honor from the Chamber of Commerce for his services to the interim management industry over the past ten years. A high honor for the many years of work for the development of the scene, congratulations!
This was followed by numerous exciting presentations on the topic of interim management, not least the keynote speech by Christoph Maas entitled “Cool head and dry ice – insights into plant closure and due diligence from practice”. He clearly showed that even with tough measures, relocations and closures, people are the most important factor and always remain a central focus. A good manager should stand in the middle of the employees and look for solutions together with them.
The second keynote speech was given by Joseph Zotter, chocolate manufacturer and, as he himself says, a farm romantic – an absolute highlight! His keynote “A new economy – back to meaning” showed in a likeable way how important it is to keep getting up, even in the face of setbacks, to work on your vision and consistently pursue your own goals. This resilience and optimism are important qualities, particularly in today’s world and especially for today’s management!
This was followed by further outstanding talks and presentations by Alexander de Beir, Dolly Martin and Tanja Stehle-Pregetter, Markus Hörndler, Corinna Picker, Achim Ernst, Till Wasner and Bernhard Schindler. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the speakers once again for their fantastic contribution to this event!
A small surprise at this anniversary event was a performance by the Salzburg Philharmonic quartet. As with the lecture topics, it was a colorful round dance. From Mozart to ABBA to Coldplay, a beautiful and successful musical backdrop.
On this record-breaking weekend, not only the interim management scene from the entire DACH region met, but also from all over Europe. Make a note of the date for the 11th KIM on February 20/21, 2026 in Salzburg.
See you soon!
We look forward to your participation, be there! Also take the opportunity to share this post with your network.