Afleveringen
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It was a morning commute Chris Greiner had made hundreds of times before. Living in old Shanghai and working in the cityâs sleek business district, Greinerâs daily drive to the Jin Mao Tower often stretched well beyond an hour. But on this particular day, his driver told him theyâd arrive in just 30 minutes. Puzzled but intrigued, Greiner went alongâonly to discover the traffic patterns had shifted. âThey repainted the lines,â the driver told him with a grin. The same bridge, same roadâjust used differently.
Greiner never forgot the lesson. As CFO of Zeta Global, he often draws from that experience when approaching business challenges. âYou might be fixed in your infrastructure, but thereâs almost always another way through,â he tells us.
That mindset is now shaping Zetaâs evolving AI strategy. Rather than applying AI for efficiencyâs sake, Greiner tells us his team follows the real patterns of workâstarting with customer behaviors. âWe began by observing how marketers use our platform,â he says, âthen built automations to eliminate keystrokes and surface next-best actions.â
Now, the finance function is adopting the same approach. Greinerâs team is analyzing daily tasks across accounting, FP&A, and sales operations to identify which can be codified and automated. Zeta is building agent-based workflows that transform data into actionable insightsâat the push of a button.
âWeâre letting the work show us where to go,â Greiner says. And like that rush-hour bridge in Shanghai, sometimes a better route is just a few new lines away.
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Jerome Upton still remembers the silence that descends just before a game begins. As captain of his college team, heâd scan the huddle, gauge nerves, and ask, âWhat does winning look like today?â âThatâs where I learned the power of shared goals,â Upton tells us. Years later, the Genworth Financial CFO opens staff meetings similarlyâthen hands teammates room to execute.
The first bold play of his career came soon after graduation. At a small insurer, Upton stunned mentors by jumping to KPMG. âI needed wider fields,â he explains. Eight years of audits sharpened his technical vision, yet the move that truly stretched him arrived when GE CapitalâGenworthâs predecessorâoffered a divisionalâcontroller seat with global scope. Overnight his âteamâ expanded tenâfold, teaching him to win through trust rather than touchâeveryâfile oversight.
International assignments followed: boardrooms in Europe, investor roadshows in Asia, client visits in Latin America. Hearing customers critique products in real time âmade finance feel less like a ledger and more like a heartbeat,â he says. That perspective proved vital during Genworthâs postâcrisis crossroads. Tasked with raising capital quickly, Upton orchestrated a minority IPO of a foreign subsidiary, executed at speed and premium valuation. The deal slashed leverage and revealed hidden asset value.
Today his playbook balances share buybacks and debt reduction with growth bets such as CareScout. Multiâyear downside modeling safeguards the core, while his Gretzkyesque mantraâskate where the puck is goingâkeeps him focused on tomorrowâs opportunity.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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t was sixty days into his new role when Brian McClintock tells us he realized the companyâs monthly âprofitâ was actually a million-dollar loss. As the CFO reviewed the financials, he discovered that each rosy figure concealed a troubling truth. For many executives, panic might have followed. Instead, McClintockâs response underscored a key principle: remain calm and stay focused on data-driven solutions.
As he dug deeper, a misalignment of actual costs and revenue assumptions emerged, revealing the precarious financial situation that demanded immediate action. Determined to right the ship, he mapped a bold course, recommending a strategic acquisition that would fortify cash flow and support operational improvements. âWe had to leverage operational insights along with our existing relationships,â McClintock explains, adding that his experience in complex telecom environments allowed him to see beyond the numbers. The result was rapid transformation. Within a year, the company went from losing seven figures each month to generating a million dollars in monthly EBITDAâproof of the CFOâs insistence on purposeful change.
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It was a first meeting Naeem Ishaq tells us heâll never forget: stepping into the Chief Product Officerâs office at Salesforce, he began pitching a bold new pricing model. Yet the officer cut him off, bluntly telling him to âfigure out the (numbers) first, then we can talk strategy.â Ishaq admits he had inherited something of a mess when it came to the data. Despite the tough feedback, however, he refused to give up. He dove deeperâverifying metrics, updating budgets, and clarifying every detailâdetermined to show he could be both a financial expert and a strategic partner. By persevering rather than shrinking from the challenge, he eventually earned the trust needed to advance his pricing insights.
That wake-up call echoed lessons heâd learned as a child of immigrants. Ishaq tells us his father arrived in the United States with just twenty dollars, fueled by grit and hope. Growing up, Naeem watched firsthand how determination could unlock opportunityâeven if the odds seemed stacked. This conviction led him to form his first business in 1999, forging a passion for technology-driven solutions that would guide him in future roles at Salesforce, Square, and eventually Checkr.
Today, as CFO and Chief Strategy Officer at Checkr, Ishaqâs mindset blends rigorous analysis with an entrepreneurial spark. He believes finance leaders create the most impact when they go beyond reporting numbers to envision whatâs possibleâand then rally others around that vision.
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It was the kind of boardroom moment that separates finance professionals from finance leaders. Tony Jarjoura, now CFO of Gigamon, found himself surrounded by audit committee members as a dense, highly technical tax strategy unraveled before them. Despite having pored over legal memos and internal reviews, the room still looked puzzledâuntil Tony spoke. In just two sentences, he distilled thousands of hours of technical effort into a clear, accessible takeaway. âThat was the moment,â he tells us, âwhen I realized the power of translating complexity into clarity.â
Tonyâs journey to that moment began with a professorâs advice back in university: go Big Four, earn your CPA, and the world will open up. He took it to heart, spending 15 years at Ernst & Young in San Francisco, embedded in Silicon Valleyâs IPO engine room. At EY, he wasnât just crunching numbersâhe was watching ideas travel from whiteboard sketches to billion-dollar listings. Companies like Atlassian, Okta, and Workday became case studies in how finance underpins innovation.
When he stepped into industry during the COVID years, Jarjoura traded IPO war rooms for the operational depths of Gigamon. He jokes about never having recorded a journal entry beforeâbut quickly embraced the inner mechanics of finance operations. Today, he views FP&A not as a rearview mirror but as a GPS system for business decision-making. âFinance has to be the connective tissue,â he says, âtranslating data into decisions that shape where we go next.
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âIt wouldnât surprise me. No, it would be exciting.â
That was Adam Anteâs initial response when asked if five years from now, he could imagine himself still in the C-suiteâbut not as a CFO. The comment seemed to linger in the air, hinting at a deeper current in his career journey. Ante, who had led Paycor through an IPO, a pandemic, and most recently, a $4.1 billion sale to Paychex, wasnât just closing out a CFO chapterâhe may have been opening something entirely new.
While he later softened the sentiment, suggesting he might be surprised if he moved beyond finance, his earlier candor revealed a finance leader attuned to operationsâand perhaps transformation.
Years earlier, Ante had flown weekly to Colorado, struggling to integrate a newly acquired company. âI felt like I was failing,â he tells us. The lesson was hard-won: strategy and spreadsheets are meaningless unless you can move people with them. That shiftâfrom financial executor to business operatorâhas defined his trajectory ever since.
His strategic mindset matured further with Extreme Ownership, a book he credits with changing how he approached leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and results.
Now, as the dust settles on Paycorâs acquisition, Anteâs priorities have shifted once againâto preserving what works, aligning teams, and honoring the customer experience.
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Host Erik Zhou sits down with Amber Papp, VP of Finance at Scentbird to explore the unique challenges of accounting in the e-commerce space. From managing a massive inventory of over 700 fragrances to navigating rapid growth and making smart automation decisions, Amber shares firsthand insights on what it takes to keep financial operations running smoothly at a high-growth, subscription-based company.
Amber and Erik also dig into relevant themes like the role of AI in accounting, balancing efficiency with cost when evaluating new financial tools and systems, and the never-ending pursuit of data integrity.
And as the episode closes, Amber shares a truly unexpected budget requestâone that involved a Cybertruck, a demolition derby, and a marketing team with big dreams.
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Fresh out of a hedge fund analyst role, Erik Rothschild walked into an interview at a Chicago-based trading firm and did something unexpectedâhe pitched actual trade ideas to the portfolio manager across the table. That bold move earned him a spot on the team, and eventually, a portfolio of his own. âThat whole experience taught me how to assess decisions through the lens of an investment,â Rothschild tells us. Itâs a mindset that has quietly shaped every leadership decision heâs made since.
Rothschildâs early career was forged in the high-stakes world of investment finance during the 2008 financial crisis. He later transitioned into corporate finance, helping build out the FP&A function at Sovereign. When the CFO unexpectedly departed, Rothschild found himself reporting directly to the CEOâpresenting financial results to the board and leading a complex equity raise. âIt was both exciting and stressful,â he recalls, âbut I knew I had a window to gain experience that would last a lifetime.â
What sets Rothschild apart is the investorâs mindset he brings to the CFO role at Cin7. He encourages his team to think in betsâevaluating risks, testing hypotheses, and acting decisively. Heâs also a champion of simplicity and automation, challenging his team to reduce low-ROI cycles and focus on what matters most.
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It was a late-night meeting room lit by the glow of Excel spreadsheets and half-empty coffee cups. Brian Carolan, then a rising finance leader, looked around the table and saw not just fellow accountants and analysts but a collection of people relying on him to bridge data and strategy. In that moment, he felt the weight of a CFOâs responsibility keenly. âFinance is never only about numbers,â Carolan tells us. âItâs about connecting the dots for everyone in the room.â
Years earlier, he had traded the security of a Big Four firm for a nascent startup, learning quickly that growth rarely follows a neat script. One day, he might be projecting cash flow; the next, mending fractured vendor relationships. Each challenge Caloran tells us strengthened his conviction that adaptability drives sustainable success. He carried that lesson into a complex M&A deal, where he orchestrated integration across multiple departments. âM&A isnât just consolidation,â Carolan tells us. âItâs a chance to redefine the culture, if youâre willing to listen.â
As his influence grew, Carolan found that effective CFOs serve as translatorsâturning raw data into forward-looking stories. After a particularly tense board presentation, he recalls a mentor pulling him aside. âNumbers matter, but so does the narrative behind them,â the mentor said. That advice remained Carolanâs compass. In every leadership role since, he has championed an inclusive approach, ensuring finance is a unifying force that galvanizes operations, sales, and strategy under one clear vision. And that, Carolan tells us, is how real transformation takes root.
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In this episode of Planning Aces, three forward-looking finance leaders share how theyâre transforming planning and forecasting inside their organizations. CFO Kevin Rhodes of Extreme Networks discusses the dual lens through which he evaluates AIâexternal monetization and internal productivity. Brendon Sullivan, CFO of 2X, reveals how a post-PE investment reality check led him to pioneer a weekly reporting cadence to drive faster decision-making. Meanwhile, Gabi Gantus of Mytra AI draws on her Tesla FP&A roots to illustrate how finance can lead long-term operational planning. Brett Knowles joins Jack Sweeney to unpack key insights and the broader implications for FP&A.
Co Host Brett Knowles emphasizes the need to distinguish internal and external AI use cases, applauds CFOs who are expanding AIâs role beyond headcount reduction, and highlights how AI can sharpen decision-making and compress process cycles. He underscores the CFOâs evolving role in overseeing cross-functional strategy, particularly as AI accelerates organizational complexity. From sales effectiveness to real-time alerting, Knowles sees AI as a vital lever in both financial performance and agility, cautioning laggards that competitors are already moving ahead.
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It was a pivotal moment Brian Robins tells us heâll never forget: stepping onto a makeshift stage to address some 400 employees just minutes before a key 8-K filing would publicly announce the potential sale of a major business unit. The room bristled with anxietyâpeople worried about their jobs and the future of the company. Robins recalls that, instead of relying on scripted talking points, he spoke from the heart and vowed to keep everyone informed as events unfolded. By offering that openness, he reinforced his belief that finance isnât just about numbers, but about building trust and forging a clear path forward.
Today, that spirit of transparent communication fuels Robinsâs approach as CFO. Above all, he prioritizes strong relationships across every organizational function, from sales and marketing to product and engineering. This is why go-to-market execution, he explains, has become the centerpiece of his strategic leadership. Robbins embeds dedicated finance professionals alongside revenue-focused teams, helping to fine-tune territory splits, refine pricing, and calibrate product positioning based on real-time data. Now Listen
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Tim Arndt still remembers the urgency in the air when AMB Property Corporation decided to merge with Prologis at the height of the financial crisis. It was, as he describes, âa merger of equals,â but Arndt tells us that, in the end, it was the legacy management of AMB that would lead the newly formed Prologis.
The âequalâ nature of the deal belied a deeper reshuffling of leadership, with AMBâs team rising to steer the new entity and Arndt finding himself on the CFO path.
Fresh from this integration, Arndt tells us, he learned one of his most valuable lessons: staying agile and raising your hand for new opportunities is critical when your environment is in flux. He found himself immersed in evolving structures, from investor relations to strategic funding, honing a flexible leadership style that balanced risk management with forward-thinking vision.
Today, as CFO of Prologis, Arndt credits this experience for shaping his strategic mindset. By leaning into the complexities of merging companiesâwhere cultures, processes, and people collideâhe discovered that strong financial leadership isnât just about spreadsheets and metrics; itâs about stewarding a newly formed organization toward stability and growth. That early trial taught him to embrace change rather than fear it, which is precisely how he continues to guide Prologis into future opportunities.
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It was a moment that would shape Erik Swensonâs approach to finance forever. As a co-op student at Northeastern University, he found himself in front of a room full of engineers, presenting financial metrics he had carefully compiled. When the meeting ended, one of the engineers approached him and said, âThat was interesting, but it doesnât mean anything to me. I make the product.â The comment struck a nerve. Driving home that evening, Swenson couldnât shake the realizationânumbers alone donât drive a business; they need to connect to the people building it.
That early lesson in financial storytelling set the foundation for a career built on bridging finance with operations. Swenson tells us his path wasnât a straight lineâhe originally pursued computer science before pivoting to economics and then accounting. After early roles in financial analysis, he spent 15 years moving through finance leadership positions at Danaher, where he sharpened his ability to translate financial insights into business decisions.
When IDT tapped him to be CFO in 2018, Swenson faced a challenge that tested his adaptability. As he tells us, the company had a strong accounting foundation but needed deeper financial analysis to support its innovation-driven growth. He immediately set to work embedding finance into IDTâs decision-making, ensuring the function wasnât just reporting numbers but helping shape the companyâs strategic direction. âItâs not just about getting the numbers right,â Swenson explains, âitâs about making sure those numbers mean something for the business.â
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It was a moment of âshock and aweâ that Jason Lee says shapes his strategic mindset. Soon after joining Square, he discovered a major partnership with Starbucks that was quietly bleeding millions of dollars and threatened Squareâs financial runway. âWe had to swarm the problem,â Lee tells us. The team renegotiated terms and preserved the companyâs stabilityâa crucial lesson in vigilance and swift action.
Leeâs path to that pivotal juncture began in investment banking and private equity, where he gained perspective on what makes companies thrive. Years later, as he moved from corporate development into investor relations and financial strategy at Square, he refined his approach to measuring ROI, understanding key business drivers, and aligning capital investment with sustainable growth. During Squareâs IPO process, Lee learned how investor feedback refines product strategy and strengthens customer relationships.
Today, as CFO of Faire, Lee keeps the same principle front and center: gain visibility first. âIf you donât know where your money goes, you canât optimize the outcome,â he tells us. This insistence on clear metrics is part of a broader philosophy that financial leaders must do more than simply balance books. They must articulate how each investmentâwhether for short-term gains or long-term positioningâserves an overarching goal.
That pragmatic yet visionary perspective is evident in Leeâs readiness to address risk head-on, allocate resources smartly, and engage stakeholders with clarity. In his view, a successful CFO not only safeguards the bottom line but fosters an
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The moment 2X secured private equity backing in March 2023, CFO Brandon Sullivan knew expectations would shift overnight. âThereâs gonna be a press release,â he remembers thinking. âOur new PE partners will open up a treasure chest of relationships for usâwe need to be ready.â
In anticipation, Sullivan and his team ramped up hiring, ensuring 2X had the supply of talent needed to meet the expected surge in demand. But in the six months spent navigating investment negotiations, pipeline oversight had faltered. Revenue didnât spike as expected. Instead, churn crept up. âWe had holes we hadnât paid attention to,â Sullivan tells us. âAnd the benefits we thought would be immediate werenâtâthey needed time to take root.â
The result? A painful lesson in timing. They had staffed up, but business momentum had stalled, sending gross margin percentages downward month after month. The wake-up call came swiftlyâa tough conversation with the PE board. âIt was needed,â he admits. âThe realization hit: Monthly reporting was too infrequent for a dynamic business like ours.â
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Stuart Leung had occupied the CFO office at Flexport for only a few months when he realized the supply chain management companyâs growing margin pressures stemmed not from a single root cause but from many. From pricing misalignment to invoice errors, Leung had compiled a lengthy list of snags. Along the way, he began empowering the people closest to each issue to drive the necessary improvements. By implementing more than 15 âbig rockâ initiativesâtracked through monthly reviewsâFlexport rapidly identified, tested, and refined solutions. This cross-functional, data-centric effort not only began restoring margins but also created a replicable model of continuous improvement.
That turnaround effort, Leung tells us, echoed lessons he learned earlier in his career. As a young analyst at an investment bank, he quickly discovered how fundamental analysis and modeling could uncover hidden risks. Later, private equity taught him the vital link between operational decisions and financial outcomesâa perspective he solidified while leading finance and supply chain for a small consumer brand. When he encountered Flexport as a paying customer, its tech platform so thoroughly simplified his logistics challenges that he became a believer in its end-to-end visibility.
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Trintech CFO Omar Choucair is increasingly turning to AI as a strategic advantageâbuilding teams, refining data âplumbing,â and automating time-consuming processes. His strategic mindset, honed by years of thriving in unpredictable environments, drives him to embrace AI as a catalyst for operational efficiency and transformative growth. Choucair tells us that his approach centers on leveraging AI to unlock competitive insights, streamline decision-making, and propel Trintech ahead in the rapidly evolving landscape of finance and technology.
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It was an impromptu meeting Gantus will never forget. One day at Tesla, the companyâs then-President of Automotive, JĂ©rĂŽme Guillen, pulled her aside, whispering about a decision Elon Musk was leaning toward. Guillenâwho led the automakerâs push for production scale and supply chain agilityâbelieved a different path could better serve the company, but needed someone with operational and financial data at her fingertips. âLetâs go talk to himâjust you and me,â Guillen said. Standing before Musk, Gantus walked through cost impacts and strategic trade-offs, methodically highlighting why their plan would outperform the existing direction. She recounts feeling a rush of excitement when Musk ultimately changed course, calling it key to her growth.
That moment encapsulates Gantusâs rapid ascent from Teslaâs first corporate FP&A hire to a finance leader shaping billion-dollar decisions. Her approach has always been about embedding finance in day-to-day operations, whether rethinking shift schedules, optimizing inventory, or forging data-driven paths for emerging initiatives. Sitting alongside engineers and factory managers, she became a trusted partner who refused to let finance stay locked in spreadsheets.
Today, as CFO of Mytra AI, Gantus carries forward the mindset that made her indispensable at Tesla. She now steers Mytra AIâs efforts to secure large warehouse contracts and streamline supply chain workflows, forging growth paths. Sheâs determined to refine her new companyâs cost structures, champion a culture of close collaboration, and leverage every insight from the operational trenches. Itâs a philosophy built on pragmatism, strategic thinking, and unwavering perseveranceâone that began with a tap on the shoulder, data-driven vision, and a fearless willingness to challenge the status quo.
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On this episode of Controllers Classified, host Erik Zhou sits down with Brad Silicani, COO of Anrok, to talk about his journey from Big Four accounting to leading operations at a fast-growing tech company.
The discussion begins by covering Bradâs transition from audit to client side, and highlights the myriad of roles he held at Dropbox. In his time there he was Controller, tasked with landing a sound revenue recognition method, Head of Tax, focused on developing the right international tax structure prior to IPO, and Treasurer, responsible for managing $2B in cash in a changing interest rate environment. In covering all this, Brad shares how these experiences set him up for success in his current role as COO at Anrok, highlighting why a background in accounting and finance makes him the operations leader he is today.
And of course, no modern finance conversation would be complete without tackling the AI revolution. Erik and Brad dig into how automation and AI are reshaping accounting, tax, and treasury functionsânot just making processes smoother but fundamentally redefining the role of finance leaders. Whether you're a CFO- OR COO-in-the-making, or just someone who loves hearing behind-the-scenes war stories from hyper-growth companies, this episode delivers sharp insights and great conversation.
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It began with a tense stretch of weeks that Bill Koefoed tells us he wonât soon forget. As OneStreamâs CFO, he was juggling the details of going public when a small AI startup called DataSense caught his attention. âWe didnât even have a formal corporate development function,â Koefoed explains, but he threw himself into researching the opportunity. There were skepticsâsome board members questioned the timing, while others worried the acquisition might be too costly.
Still, the numbers looked promising, and so did the technology. Sitting in late-night calls, Koefoed listened to DataSenseâs University of Michiganâtrained engineers describe predictive models that could supercharge OneStreamâs demand forecasting. âGetting that talent on board could pay huge dividends,â he recalls thinking. Even with the looming IPO, Koefoed pressed ahead, negotiating terms while appeasing wary investors.
For Koefoed, AI isnât a far-off gambleâitâs an immediate strategic lever. By championing technology that marries predictive power with secure financial data, Koefoed tells us he helping steer OneStream toward a future where finance and AI seamlessly intertwine.
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