Looking back at his 26 years at Intel Corp., Jeff Woolard has more than a few moments of important discernment from which to choose when we ask for a single finance strategic moment.
Nevertheless, without hesitation, he takes us back in time to when the giant chipmaker was experiencing a recurring mismatch between the products that it was developing and the market’s purchasing trends—specifically in the PC sector.
“If you were to map both what people wanted to buy and what we were building, you would see this kind of disconnect,” recalls Woolard, who upon closer observation realized that while consumer buying behaviors had remained consistent, Intel’s product designs and manufacturing processes had evolved without alignment.
Read MoreWoolard would propose a novel approach: redesigning Intel’s product road map to focus on four specific cost points that matched consumer demand and the company’s margin goals. This strategic insight led to a shift in how Intel approached product development, ensuring that new products were designed with these cost targets in mind from the outset.
A recurring theme in Woolard’s career journey has been the necessity of continuous learning and adaptability. He underscores the significance of making an impact and adding value within an organization. He illustrates how, at Intel, the expectation and opportunity to influence business outcomes were directly pivotal in his career growth. This aspect of being able to see and measure the impact of his work is highlighted by him as a distinctive and rewarding part of his experience at Intel.
Made Possible By
CFOTL: Tell us about Velocity Global … what does this company do, and what are its offerings today?
Woolard: At Velocity Global, we use technology and expert service to give companies the power to build teams anywhere in the world—and at a scale. One of the things that I learned after being a CFO at Intel was that if you don’t have that big company infrastructure and everything else set up, it’s really hard to hire globally. It’s very difficult, it’s very time-consuming, it’s very expensive. The role of CFO comes with a lot of the complications and problems associated with managing and maintaining a workforce internationally. Doing this just creates a lot of work for the CFO and the CFO’s staff. Velocity Global takes this work and worry away from you.
Read MoreWe make things simpler not only by helping companies to get and maintain talent but also by providing the employees with their compensation in the form of benefits and equity in any kind of ways that the firm wants. We’ll also be the employer of record. What really appeals to me about Velocity Global from a CFO’s standpoint is that we free up your time and also the hard costs of managing these things—not to mention the opportunity costs of you and your team spending your own time on them.
I had not heard about Velocity Global before I found out about it, but when I started talking to Frank Calderoni, our CEO, I got excited because I felt that I would’ve been a customer if I’d known that it existed. I think that there’s a big opportunity for us. Maybe the employer-of-record model has been around for a while, but it hasn’t been fueled by technology and AI to deal with the kinds of compliance that you now need.
The world really is borderless now, right? People need to expand. You need to find talent. You can’t be restricted. You often can’t find it in your backyard anymore, and sometimes you can’t even find it in your own country. You’ve got to branch out, which presents a huge opportunity for companies. But this opening also comes with a great deal of complications—which we solve in order to take them off a CFO’s plate. jb
“Being a successful CFO is a team sport. A strong corporate culture and authentic values that employees want to embrace will not only drive deep cross-functional relationships across the organization but also ultimately create and capture value.” –Jeff Woolard, CFO, Velocity Global
Velocity Global | www.velocityglobal.com | Denver, CO