Shows / CFO THOUGHT LEADER
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
CFO THOUGHT LEADER is a podcast featuring firsthand accounts of finance leaders who are driving change within their organizations. We share the career journey of our spotlighted CFO guest: What do they struggle with? How do they persevere? What makes them successful CFOs? CFO THOUGHT LEADER is all about inspiring finance professionals to take a leadership leap. We know that by hearing about the successes — (and yes, also the failures) — of others, today’s CFOs can more confidently chart their…
Episodes
CFO THOUGHT LEADEREvan Goldberg on the End of ERP as We Know It
At SuiteWorld 2026, NetSuite’s founder outlines how AI is transforming business software—and what the shift means for CFOs. When Evan Goldberg, founder and…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1225: Nix the Clicks: Building a Finance Function That Manages by Exception | Steve Fox, CFO, Every Man Jack
When Steve Fox joined Every Man Jack in 2021, the men’s personal care brand had a new private equity owner and an ambitious growth agenda. Carlyle Group saw an…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1224: Building a Cybersecurity Leader for the AI Era | Joe Iantosca, CFO, Cyera
When Joe Iantosca arrived at Cyera as CFO, his first hire wasn't an accountant or an FP&A professional. It was a data engineer. For Iantosca, the decision…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1223: Scaling Sokin: Beyond the First $100 Million | Tom Steer, CFO, Sokin
When Tom Steer joined Sokin as CFO, he already knew the international payments company unusually well. As an investment banker at FT Partners, he had advised…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1222: Scaling Through Acquisitions, Integration, and AI | Kara Childress, CFO, Vensure Employment Solutions
At Vensure Employer Solutions, completing an acquisition is only the beginning. The company has acquired roughly 120 businesses in eight years, and each new…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1221: Rebuilding Bread Financial’s Capital Foundation—And What It Made Possible | Perry Beberman, CFO, Bread Financial
When Perry Beberman arrived at what is now Bread Financial, the company had a balance sheet problem. It was carrying too much leverage, had insufficient…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1220: At Hippo, Growth and Risk Work Together | Guy Zeltser, CFO, Hippo Insurance
In 2023, Hippo faced what CFO Guy Zeltser describes as perhaps the worst quarter in the insurance company’s history. The response was not to chase growth…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERThe New Economics of Revenue | Sam Chung, Chief Customer Officer, Salesforce
How consumption models, AI, and rising complexity are reshaping the CFO mandate Revenue models are becoming more complex—and for finance leaders, the…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1219: Building a Health Plan Around What People Actually Do | Tami Wilson-Ciranna. CFO, Curative
When Tami Wilson-Ciranna joined Curative in April 2020, the assignment came with what now looks like a spectacularly optimistic assumption: three months. “I…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1218: Why Pegasystems Is Betting on Work, Not Tokens | Ken Stillwell, CFO, Pegasystems
When Pegasystems began building its cloud business, the economics were hardly what investors would expect from a mature software company. Cloud gross margin…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1217: A Sharper Portfolio, A Clearer Capital Story | Brittany Cerwin, CFO, Middleby Corporation
For years, Middleby executives arriving at investor conferences faced a storytelling problem: 30 minutes wasn’t much time to explain three different…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERPeople and Places: The Geography of a CFO Career
CFO careers are often described through titles, companies, and accomplishments. But another force can quietly shape the journey: place. In this themed episode…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER2016: Building the Operating System for Agentic Automation | Ryan Roccon, CFO, Zapier
At Zapier, the rise of AI is changing more than the automation products customers build. It is reshaping how the company organizes, invests, prices its…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERWhen AI Changes the EPM Decision | David Den Boer, CEO, Column5 Consulting
AI is rapidly changing not only what finance technology can do, but how CFOs should think about the technology stack itself. In this bonus episode of CFO…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1215: Building Finance for the Long Game | Jessica Somers, CFO, Aledade
At Aledade, CFO Jessica Somers is helping finance navigate a business where investment decisions can take years to fully reveal their value. The…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1214: The CFO Checklist Keeps Growing | Jack Gordon, CFO, Harri
For Jack Gordon, the CFO role at Harri increasingly extends beyond finance—and into the mechanics of how an AI-powered business scales. Harri, a workforce…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1213: When Constructive Tension Yields Sharper Decisions | Martin Uhrik, CFO, Third Bridge
When Martin Uhrik compared the margins of two visual-effects brands at Technicolor, one appeared far more profitable than the other. Uhrik tells us the…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1212: When Working Capital Rewrites the CFO Agenda | Dan Barzily, CFO, Tipalti
Shortly after Dan Barzily became CFO of Tipalti, a go-to-market transformation altered the company’s working-capital profile. One quarter later, Barzily tells…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1211: Mission, Means, and the Will to Grow | Jonathan Ma, CFO, Sutter Health
Jonathan Ma recalls being at his parents’ home in Nebraska one Saturday when his Morgan Stanley boss called with advice: pursue an opportunity at Sutter…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1210: The Best Trade May Be the One You Don’t Make | Shiv Verma, CFO, Robinhood
Six weeks before Lehman Brothers went under, Shiv Verma tells us, he joined a hedge fund as the world felt like it was falling apart. After building…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1209: Finding a Larger Voice in the Room | Ross Grainger, CFO, Nasuni
Ross Grainger remembers an early chapter of his career when finance was only one part of the job. After stepping outside a traditional finance path to own and…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1208: Quality, Trust, and Scale | Cal Brouilette, CFO, Flatiron Health
Cal Brouilette recalls a sleepless night in Houston, speaking at 3 a.m. with someone from Blackstone about a purchase-and-sale agreement and transition-service…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1207: Putting Guardrails Around Aggressive Growth | Jamie Schroeder, CFO, Premium Guard Inc.
Jamie Schroeder’s finance career began on the shop floor at Ford Motor Company. As part of Ford’s rotational development program, Schroeder tells us, he spent…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1206: The CFO as an Architect of Execution | Phil Fracassa, CFO, Magna International
At Timken, it was generally known that Phil Fracassa knew he would become CFO after the company separated its steel business. But first, he tells us, the board…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1205: Giving Every Decision-Maker 40 Analysts | Matt Ostrower, CFO, Link Logistics
Matt Ostrower remembers losing sleep over a decision that carried consequences for employees, lenders, and shareholders. At Site Centers, Ostrower tells us…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1204: When Capital Conviction Matters More Than Market Timing | Andrew Korn, CFO, EliseAI
Andrew Korn tracks growth first. EliseAI had surpassed $200 million in annual recurring revenue when he spoke with us, and Korn tells us the company had…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1203: Making Strategy—and the Money—Move Together | Laura Miller, CFO, Strata Decision Technology
In April 2020, Laura Miller stepped into her first CFO role at Pampered Chef. According to Miller, she was pregnant with her second child, working with a new…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1202: Allocating Capital in an Age of AI | Samantha Greenberg, CFO, AlphaSense
In the early months of Francisco Partners, Samantha Greenberg sat in a room on folding chairs with the firm’s cofounders and one other colleague, planning the…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERThe Weekend CFOs Couldn’t Reach Their Cash
What happens when a company has money—but its CFO cannot reach it? Over one extraordinary weekend, finance leaders found themselves confronting a threat few…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1201: From Bitcoin Infrastructure to the AI Power Economy | Gary Vecchiarelli, CFO, CleanSpark
In high school, Gary Vecchiarelli received day-old copies of Investor’s Business Daily from a business teacher. Stock prices still appeared in fractions, and…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERThe Credibility Playbook: How CFOs Restore Belief
What does it take for a CFO to restore credibility? Every finance leader eventually encounters a defining moment when confidence has been shaken—whether by…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1200: When Finance Owns the Future | Mark Khavkin, CFO, Rula
Mark Khavkin often finds his best ideas somewhere near the Golden Gate Bridge. The Rula CFO tells us that he bikes from San Francisco across the bridge and…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1199: The CFO’s Biggest Challenge Isn’t AI—It’s Leading Through It | John Kinzer (Interim CFO), OneStream
John Kinzer still remembers sitting in a closed meeting at MCI, presenting revenue results, when something unexpected caught his attention. It wasn’t the…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1198: Building Long-Term Value Starts With Better Capital Allocation | Shane Hostetter, CFO, Chemours
When Shane Hostetter arrived at Chemours in 2024, he stepped into a company facing liquidity challenges while also pursuing important long-term growth…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERInside the CFO Mindset Before the Deal
Three accomplished CFOs. Three candid conversations. One revealing look at how finance leaders think about acquisitions before the headlines ever appear. In…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1197: The CFO Who Learned Finance by Owning Sales | Sinohe Terrero, CFO, Envoy
Sinohe Terrero still remembers the timing. He joined Envoy in January, only to see the workplace transformed just two months later as offices around the world…
- CFO THOUGHT LEADER
Inside the IPO: Three CFOs, Three Perspectives
Taking a Company Public: What CFOs Know What does it really take to prepare a company for life as a public company? In this special CFO Thought Leader…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1196: Your Next Finance Hire Should Think Like a Founder | Martino Cadoni, CFO, DeepL
When Martino Cadoni joined DeepL, he arrived with an unusual perspective—he already knew the company’s product firsthand. Earlier in his career at Klarna, he…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1195: When Finance is at the Center of the AI Code Revolution | Jean Compeau, CFO, Sonar
When Jean Compeau joined Sonar as CFO in March 2025, AI coding was not yet dominating industry conversations. By the summer and fall that followed, however…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1194: Why Curiosity Creates Better Finance Leaders | Stacey Jenkins, CFO, Aerotek
Each day, Stacey Jenkins watches a different set of indicators than the quarterly financial results that eventually appear on a report. Candidate applications…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1193: Building Finance Functions That Shape Outcomes | Jesse Waldron, CFO, Thyme Care
When Jesse Waldron describes Thyme Care’s work, he begins with the patient experience. Cancer patients, he explains, are often thrust into a healthcare system…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1192: Building Through Disruption | Christina Spade, CFO, Catalant
Five weeks into her role as CFO of Catalant, Christina Spade is helping guide a company that she believes is positioned for a different era of consulting…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1191: From Complexity to Clarity: Building Operational Maturity | David Forlizzi, CFO, Salsify
When David Forlizzi describes Salsify, he begins with a simple observation: “We all use it every day.” Unlike some of the highly technical software businesses…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1190: Fixing What Growth Tries to Hide | Jaylene Kunze, LegitScript
When Jaylene Kunze was asked to help rebuild a struggling subsidiary in the United Kingdom, she packed up her family and moved overseas with her nine-month-old…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1189: Why Finance Should Lead with “Yes, And” | Bruno Annicq, CFO, Wellhub
A conversation from years earlier still stands out to Bruno Annicq. While working at AOL, he was supporting business leaders and helping tell the story of the…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1188: Testing Assumptions Before Burning Capital | Kevin Hettrich, CFO, QuantumScape
Kevin Hettrich walked into a conference room with a whiteboard full of numbers and a problem no one had fully articulated. QuantumScape’s leadership team was…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERBonus Replay: Building Luxury Growth Without Losing Financial Discipline | Paolo Poma, CFO, Lamborghini
In early 2009, Paolo Poma found himself navigating what he recalls as a “really tough” period. At the time, he was helping steer Ducati through a leveraged…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERBonus Replay: Building an Early Warning System | Patrick McClymont, CFO, Hagerty
Patrick McClymont still remembers the moment at IMAX when the numbers began moving in the wrong direction. Hired to help drive external growth through…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1187: Pattern Recognition: How CFOs See Around Corners | Alex Chun, CFO, NEOGOV
Alex Chun already knew the management team at NEOGOV long before he became its CFO. As an investor at Warburg Pincus, he spent more than four years “in the…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1186: Keeping the Applause in Check | Adam Goldbruch, CFO, DoorLoop
Adam Goldbruch still remembers the celebration. In 2017, he stood inside a Tel Aviv startup office while employees cheered a milestone: a Disney princess quiz…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1185: Scaling Smarter in the AI Era | Sarah Riley, CFO, dbt Labs
When the pandemic began reshaping the world in early 2020, Sarah Riley was helping guide finance at Zoom through an unprecedented surge in demand. “You could…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1184: From Deal Sheets to Operating Seats | Rick Hasselman, CFO, Salesloft
Rick Hasselman recently boarded “a moving train,” describing his arrival at a newly merged SalesLoft and Clari business as both complex and energizing. Just a…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1183: Enter the Blockchain CFO: Reshaping Capital Markets | Macrina Kgil, CFO, Figure
Macrina Kgil recalls a moment when she first encountered blockchain technology and “could not grasp whatever it was trying to do,” she tells us. Even with an…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERAI, Trust, and the Expanding Role of Finance: A Sage Future Special
At Sage Future in San Francisco, three conversations reveal how AI is reshaping the finance function—from vision to execution to industry impact. Sage CTO…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1182: From Cockpit Decisions to Capital Decisions | Andre Mancl, CFO, Nium
Andre Mancl recalls sitting only a few months into his first CFO role when a senior technology executive arrived with an urgent warning: engineers were leaving…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1181: What AI Means for the Future of Finance Leadership | Yuval Atsmon, CFO & Sr Partner, McKinsey & Company
In the desert during military officer training, Yuval Atsmon entered one wrong number into a GPS device. Instead of reaching the intended destination, he and…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1180: Where Finance Meets the Real World | Scott Thorell, CFO Benetrends
Before his career became closely tied to middle-market businesses, Scott Thorell built his foundation in larger arenas. He began at Ernst & Young in New York…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERSpecial Episode: Why Oracle Chose Hilary Maxson Now
In this special episode, we revisit a past conversation with Hilary Maxson and explore why her appointment as CFO of Oracle Corporation comes at such a…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1179: Why Trust Can Outperform Price | Thomas Baumgartner, CFO, voestalpine Metsec
As a child in Austria, Thomas Baumgartner bundled unwanted toys into mystery bags and sold them to classmates. Buyers could not see what was inside—they simply…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1178: From Numbers to Narrative: Seeing the Business End-to-End | David Larson, CFO, Feedzai
David Larson still recalls the moment he challenged conventional thinking inside Thomson Reuters. A shared services team in Hyderabad, long viewed as…