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 LEADERSpecial Episode: Why AI Speed Without Direction Is a Strategic Risk | Laura Belmont, General Counsel, The L Suite
In this special third installment of Suite Voices, featuring general counsels from The L Suite, Laura Belmont explores how organizations can adopt AI…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1177: Navigating an Acquisition at the Edge of Change | Tom DiDesidero, CFO, SmartRecruiters
Tom DiDesidero describes a period when SmartRecruiters was actively taking customers from a much larger competitor. It wasn’t just momentum—it was proof. “We…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1176: From Signatures to Systems of Value | Blake Grayson, CFO, Docusign
Within his first 90 days at Docusign, Blake Grayson recognized the company needed to make difficult efficiency decisions following a post-COVID slowdown…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1175: Inside the C-Suite: Where Judgment Outranks Data | Amy Wang, CFO, Procurify
Late one night in Calgary, Amy Wang was running final checks on a billion-dollar transaction when something didn’t sit right. “My immediate instinct…was to…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1174: How a Hard Reset Reignited Momentum | Aidan Viggiano, CFO Twilio
In 2023, stepping into the CFO role at Twilio, Aidan Viggiano faced a defining reality: “the first hard call was a layoff,” she tells us. The company had…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1173: The CFO at the Crossroads of Code, Capital, and Clarity | Rich Schmidt, CFO, Inmar Intelligence
Early in his career, Rich Schmidt recalls presenting an analysis of an operational challenge to leadership—only to be told, “we want you to go fix it.” The…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1172: Finance Isn’t the Brake—It’s the Steering Wheel for Growth | Tony MacDonald, CFO, Sama
Tony MacDonald prefers a different image of the CFO role—one that replaces restraint with direction. “I would like to be considered as one of the people on the…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERSpecial Episode: AI Governance & the Board: What CFOs Need to Know
In this CFO Thought Leader episode, Jack Sweeney speaks with technology general counsel Akin Adekeye about when AI becomes a board-level concern. Adekeye…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1171: How CFOs Rise by Learning Sideways First | Marc Mehlman, CFO, Ascensus
Marc Mehlman still recalls the moment a senior leader pulled him aside and told him he was “in such a rush” and needed to “enjoy the journey,” he tells us. At…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1170: Why the ‘SaaS-pocalypse’ Changed the CFO Conversation | Michael Perica, CFO, Rimini Street
Michael Perica had been discussing the market implications of AI with investors for a number of years, but the market didn’t fully react—until one particular…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1169: Thinking Bigger on the Road to the CFO Role | Andrew Bender, CFO, BNI Global
Andrew Bender still remembers a moment from high school football practice when a coach challenged him with a simple question: “Do you want to be all conference…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1168: How Smart Finance Looks Before It Leaps | Alistair Gurney, CFO, Lucanet
Early in Lucanet’s expansion, two Chinese employees working in Germany had a moment of insight. Seeing how configurable the consolidation software was, they…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERSpecial Episode: Rethinking the ERP Upgrade Path
Ashley Still, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Intuit’s mid-market business, discusses how the expectations of finance leaders are shifting as…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1167: CFO Leadership at Venture Inflection Points | Intekhab Nazeer, CFO, Lineaje
Early in his career, Intekhab Nazeer found himself sitting in go-to-market meetings rather than finance reviews. A CFO mentor had pushed him beyond traditional…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1166: Building Equity Value in a Capital-Intensive World | Derek Doyle, CFO, C Spire
Fiber is “a lot of investment up front for that stream of cash flow in the future,” Derek Doyle tells us. At C Spire, that reality defines nearly every…
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Foundations Before Acceleration - a Planning Aces Episode
In this episode of Planning Aces, hosts Jack Sweeney and Glenn Hopper lead a focused discussion spotlighting the thinking of CFO Kevin Rubin of Zscaler, CFO…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1165: Building a Business That Can Stand on Its Own | Manu Diwakar, CFO, Virta Health
Nearly 90% of Americans suffer from metabolic disease, Manu Diwakar tells us, citing a recent McKinsey & Company study. For Diwakar, CFO of Virta Health, that…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1164: From Boardroom Lens to Operator Reality | Alex Melamud, CFO, Engine
Before his first cup of coffee, Alex Melamud opens Slack—not to scan revenue charts first, but to read customer feedback. “The first one that may surprise you…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1163: The Discipline Behind Transformational AI | Sue Vestri, CFO, CRIO
On her first day as CFO at Greenphire, Sue Vestri sat in a conference room “learning all of the acronyms” of the clinical trial industry, she tells us. There…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1162: Scaling Growth Across the World’s Most Complex Markets | Guillermo Lopez, CFO, dLocal
In his early 30s, Guillermo Lopez walked into finance as an outsider. “Nobody was giving me a chance in finance because I was an engineer,” he tells us. Then a…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1161: From Carve-Out to Standalone Enterprise | Steve Shimizu, CFO, Omnissa
An employee is on vacation in the mountains when it happens: “I left my laptop at home.” Instead of scrambling, the employee logs into a virtual desktop from…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1160: Disciplined Bets in an Expensive-Capital World | Burt Chao, CFO, Nintex
As he nears the end of his first 100 days at Nintex, Burt Chao is doing something many new CFOs resist: listening more than talking. Understanding the…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1159: Decision Velocity: The Hidden Advantage of Top-Performing Organizations | Dean Neese, CFO, Placer.ai
The lesson arrived abruptly in a boardroom in Battle Creek. After months of analysis, charts, and market data, the president of Kellogg’s cereal division…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERCFO EQ: How Leadership Takes Shape
This special episode of CFO Thought Leader explores how finance leaders develop not through authority or technical brilliance, but through moments that reveal…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1158: What Changes After the Easy Wins Are Gone | Razzak Jallow, CFO, FloQast
The accounting team at Looker showed up every day knowing their jobs might disappear within a year. The company was in limbo—acquired by Google but still…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1157: From Deal Advisory to Operator: Learning the Hard Parts | Toby Driver, CFO, Ideagen
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…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1156: From Turnaround CFO to Enterprise-Scale Strategist | Kevin Rubin, CFO, Zscaler
When Kevin Rubin arrived at Zscaler in May 2025, he joined an established organization following the retirement of the company’s longtime CFO, taking…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1155: Scaling Growth Without Sacrificing Outcomes | Bruce Schuman, CFO, Universal TechnicalInstitute
At Intel, Bruce Schuman remembers walking into a meeting as a controller, proud of a product change his team had worked on “for months.” Then CFO Andy Bryant…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1154: When Finance Becomes the Company’s Storyteller | Drew Laxton, CFO, Outreach
When Drew Laxton looks back on the past year at Outreach, one moment stands out—not a transaction, but a plan. The company set its annual targets, executed…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERThe New FP&A Feedback Loop - A Planning Aces Episode
In this Planning Aces special episode, CFO Thought Leader brings together three finance executives operating in very different industries—but facing remarkably…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1153: From Big-Company Discipline to Private-Equity Speed | Jorge Pliego, CFO, Improving
In his late 20s, Jorge Pliego found himself financing a major expansion in Mexico—not by calling corporate for cash, but by rethinking the entire structure. At…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1152: Value Creation Starts with Portfolio and Capital Discipline | Manny Korakis, CFO, Presidio
In his first “60 to 90 days” as CFO of Presidio, Manny Korakis learned that preparation doesn’t cancel pressure, he tells us. “Now the buck stops here,” he…
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The Quiet Origins of Finance Leaders | A New Years Release
As one year closes and another begins, most of us are wired to look forward—to new goals, fresh plans, and the next chapter. But this special episode of CFO…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERAtoms, Not Electrons: Why Warehouses Still Win | Tim Arndt, CFO, Prologis
When it came time to pick our holiday bonus episodes, Tim Arndt quickly came to mind. Few companies sit at the crossroads of as many 2025 storylines—tariffs…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERBefore the Outcome Was Known | Jonathan Carr, CFO, Armis
As the year comes to a close, we’re revisiting a conversation that feels newly relevant. This week, we’re re-releasing our CFO Thought Leader episode with…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERLessons That Linger: Leadership Reflections From the CFO Seat | Karen Williams, CFO, American Express Global Business Travel
As we re-release this conversation with CFO Karen Williams during the holiday week, we’re opening the episode with a short preface drawn from something she…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1151: Trust Is the Real Currency of Cross-Functional Finance | Roy Hefer, CFO, Perk
Roy Hefer expected a quick coffee. Instead, a “30 minutes” introduction with a newly appointed Lumenis CEO stretched “more than three hours,” he tells us, as…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1150: Making AI Practical in Finance, Not Theoretical | Matt Novick, CFO, Triplelift
Matthew Novick traces one of his earliest business lessons not to a boardroom, but to a furniture store in Portland, Maine. Growing up in his family’s…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1149: Predictable, Profitable Growth in an AI-Native Business | Ed Hagan, CFO, Satisfi Labs
At 19, working part-time in a bank branch while attending college, Ed Hagan made a simple recommendation: expand the branch. The idea was taken seriously…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1148: How Early Data Lessons Shaped Workday’s CFO AI Playbook | Zane Rowe, CFO, Workday
At first, we wondered why Zane Rowe was once again leading us back to Continental Airlines. With notable CFO tenures at VMware and EMC—chapters rich with…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1147: From Investor Lens to Operator Seat | Cristina Kim, CFO, Octaura
In her second week as CFO, Cristina Kim sat with Octaura’s leadership team reviewing a three-year strategy and ambitious 2026 targets, she tells us. As the…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1146: Building a Finance Org That Thinks Before It Counts | Aneal Vallurupalli, CFO, Drata
The morning after Airbase’s sale closed, Aneal Vallurupalli woke up to a very different org chart. Before the deal, roughly a third to almost half of the…
CFO THOUGHT LEADEREncore Episode: From Black Box to Control Tower | Stuart Leung, CFO, Flexport
Stuart Leung had occupied the CFO office at Flexport for only a few months when he realized the supply chain management company’s growing margin pressures…
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Inside the Driver’s Seat: Finance Leadership in the Auto Sector
In this special retrospective episode, we revisit three standout conversations from our archives to explore how automotive CFOs have long shaped strategy…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1145: Creative Capital, Tough Cuts, and the Power of “Why” | Jayme Brooks, CFO, Limbach
The email with the term sheet arrived first, then the bottle of champagne from the CEO, Jayme Brooks tells us. The lender had agreed to a nontraditional…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1144: Rewiring Finance for AI, Data, and Business Impact | Michael Bourque, CFO & EVP, , Convera
Jack Welch’s binder hit the floor before Michael Bourque had time to react. At just 23, he sat in a Honeywell acquisition review meeting as the “keeper of the…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERDiscipline at the Heart of Innovation - A Planning Aces Episode
In this episode of Planning Aces, we spotlight FP&A insights from three CFOs leading innovation with discipline: Chris Sands (InvoiceCloud), Steve Sutter…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1143: Building a Transformation-Ready Finance Function | Troy Anderson, CFO, Kelly Services
When Troy Anderson accepted the CFO seat at Kelly Services in 2024, he stepped into an organization that, as he tells us, “had done a number of acquisitions ……
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1142: From Webcomics to Wall Street: Inside a Storytelling Powerhouse | David Lee, COO & CFO, WEBTOON
When David Lee joined PG&E in San Francisco, the company was collapsing under the weight of California’s first energy crisis. “These utility veterans kind of…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1141: The Long Game of Resilient Finance Leadership | Erik Wissig, CFO, SureCo
When Erik Wissig recalls his early years as a founder, one moment still stands out. The team had met its growth goals and earned their bonuses—but the…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1140: The EQ Playbook for Post-Merger Reality | Niels Boon, CFO, Cint
The moment that stayed with him began at a marketplace where sales dashboards showed 40% gross margin—yet finance closed the books at 20%, Boon tells us. The…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERBridging Legal & Finance: Closing Contact Risk Gaps - A Suite Voices Miniseries Episode
In this special episode of CFO Thought Leader—the first of three produced in collaboration with The Suite, Shaun Sethna (General Counsel and GM for the L…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1139: The Global Lens of Finance Leadership | Atsushi Kitamura, CFO, Astellas Pharma
When Procter & Gamble asked Atsushi Kitamura to move from finance analysis into running a manufacturing plant, he didn’t hesitate. “They always give me next…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1138: Stablecoins, Real Utility, and the Next Curve | Michael Levine, CFO, Fireblocks
On a quiet afternoon in Punta Cana, Michael Levine sat alone on a stretch of white sand. The turquoise water and silence offered the perfect scene for…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1137: Scaling Finance Across Borders | Amy Foo, CFO, Ignition
She starts with tape from the field, not the spreadsheet. Listening to enterprise sales calls, Amy Foo heard customers whose usage rose and fell with seasons…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1136: From Projects to Playbooks: Making Transformation Stick | Joe Custer, CFO, Intrado
When Joe Custer describes Intrado’s purpose, he begins with a story that traces back almost half a century. The company, he tells us, was born inside the…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1135: Where Strategy Meets Finance in the Ad-Tech Revolution | Clayton Kossl, CFO, Basis Technologies
On his first day in investment banking, Clayton Kossl was “thrown right into the cauldron.” With few senior professionals in the small aerospace and defense…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1134: When Finance Becomes a Force for Influence | Chris Sands, CFO, InvoiceCloud
“InvoiceCloud is not just payments,” Chris Sands tells us. Sitting inside the company’s finance organization, he sees a platform built to change habits—helping…
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AI's Early Returns - A Planning Aces Episode
In this episode of Planning Aces, host Jack Sweeney and resident thought leader Brett Knowles explore how finance leaders are approaching AI’s early…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER1133: Finance That Explains (and Scales) the Why | Kimberlee Duval, CFO, Cymbiotika
When Kimberlee Duval arrived at Cymbiotika, the wellness company was preparing a leap few bootstrapped brands attempt—moving from direct-to-consumer to retail…