Guided By Foresight: How Hernan Rizo is Positioning Titan International for a Critical Future

A career doesn’t always manifest itself with clarity, yet Hernan’s journey has unfolded with the calm certainty of someone who understands the long arc of purpose. “Thirty years of grit have led me to this position in life,” he says, reflecting on a profession spent moving companies through growth, private-equity transitions, operational overhauls, and high-stakes turnarounds. 

Today, as CFO of Titan International, a vertically integrated manufacturer of critical metals, rare earths, and advanced metal recovery technologies, Hernan emphasizes that he’s focused on a national mission: securing America’s access to critical minerals. From overseeing the organization’s financial integrity, operational readiness, and risk management to executing a new ERP architecture, strengthening supply chain oversight, and driving EBITDA maximization, he remains committed to the company’s exponential growth.

Hernan’s background has been driven by professional adeptness. His early career was enriched with numerous CFO roles as part of an interim CFO firm. “We were trained across companies of all sizes, all stages, and many industries,” he recalls. “It was then that I really understood what the CFO seat is all about.”

That experience took him into private-equity environments where he crafted a niche for himself: stepping into companies soon after an acquisition, realigning operations, preparing them for sale, and maximizing value. “To get an average company on a private-equity portfolio ready for sale takes two to three years. I would often enter after the first year, when the hardest work begins, and take care of everything from then on,” he says.

Hernan notes that Titan offered something different. A once strictly metal-powder business, he saw a shift and the possibility of standing at a new frontier. “When I joined, Titan had recognized an opening in the global demand for critical minerals and rare earth elements,” he says, highlighting how these materials can be foundational to national defense systems, satellites, and next-generation technologies. “We’re striving to be the company that can provide critical minerals the U.S. needs,” he says.

Guiding a company through a mission of this magnitude, he emphasizes, requires more than financial acumen. It requires alignment of people, processes, risk controls, and long-term strategy. “We realigned the organization strategically and financially to position ourselves in this critical-metal space,” he explains. According to him, that meant upgrading systems, new processes, procedures, and controls, establishing audit readiness, strengthening cybersecurity, and preparing Titan for the scrutiny and collaboration required to engage with the Federal Government.

Hernan leads with conviction and a humble philosophy, which is embedded in stewardship. “I work really hard to build very good teams, those who are committed to what they are doing,” he says. His job, as he defines it, is to remove obstacles, build people up, and help them succeed. Growth, even when it means employees outgrowing the company, is a point of pride for him. “There’s nothing that makes me prouder than when one of my employees says they’ve moved to new opportunities.”

Even after three decades, Hernan credits his unwavering career drive and motivation to the company’s team and, more specifically, its mission. “We’re doing something for our country, our people, and supporting our defense industry. That’s what gets me out of bed every morning. It’s always challenging, changing, and always exciting,” he shares.

Hernan envisions a final chapter shaped by strategic guidance in BODs. He hopes to help Titan scale, expand further into critical metals, pursue acquisitions, and then, after a lifetime in the trenches of transformation, earn what he calls a well-deserved early retirement.

For now, though, Hernan Rizo remains exactly where his career led him: at a company on a mission greater than just profitability, securing the nation’s technological and defense future, building its value, shaping its direction, and guiding it through an era of unprecedented change and growth.