1157: From Deal Advisory to Operator: Learning the Hard Parts | Toby Driver, CFO, Ideagen

CFO THOUGHT LEADER · Jan 21, 2026 · 57m

At 18, while many of his peers were heading off to university, Toby Driver made a different choice. He joined an accounting practice through an apprenticeship, a decision driven by his desire for a “quick learning curve” and real exposure to business, he tells us. From the outset, he was less interested in credentials than in understanding how organizations actually work.

That instinct carried him through years in audit and into transaction services, where he learned to dissect businesses at speed. In deal advisory, Driver was tasked with getting “under the nuts and bolts” of companies…