“Maybe it was a little bit of beginner’s luck,” Georgy Egorov tells us, reflecting on his first CFO appointment at a biotech startup. Although the life sciences firm’s blend of knowledge-driven resources and AI placed it at the forefront of drug discovery innovation, Egorov identified a critical vulnerability: the company’s model depended too heavily on a small set of major pharmaceutical customers, leaving its growth in the hands of external decision-makers. This realization sparked a pivotal shift: broaden the client base, refine the strategic narrative, and cultivate a more stable, scalable revenue foundation.
Egorov began his career in audit at PwC Moscow, building an understanding of financial fundamentals before transitioning into more high-stakes investment banking. Over seventeen years at institutions like Goldman Sachs and UBS, he navigated complex emerging markets, forged trusted relationships with mentors, and honed an ability to think both broadly and deeply, Egorov tells us.
Read MoreUpon arriving at the biotech company, Egorov found a structure that was inherently fragile. “We needed to rethink our strategy,” he tells us, recalling how he led the leadership team to diversify partnerships, introduce new revenue channels, and better position the firm’s AI capabilities. By presenting a more compelling story to investors and stakeholders, the management team transformed the organization from a vulnerable enterprise into a platform poised to weather future market uncertainties.
Today, Egorov’s CFO mindset is firmly anchored in building strategic value. From his poised demeanor to his forward-looking insights, he exemplifies a generation of finance leaders determined to transcend conventional boundaries inside the age of AI.
“Consensus is often the worst approach to decision-making a company can take, as it leads to compromise at the expense of quality. Choose consent over consensus when making decisions—the worst decision is often the one that is never made.” —Georgy Egorov, CFO, ZeroAvia
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CFOTL: Tell us about this company—what does it do, and what are its offerings today?
Egorov: At ZeroAvia we see ourselves as true pioneers in clean aviation. In 2017, when the company was founded, we recognized that aviation—among all industries producing CO₂ emissions—had remained one of the least disrupted in terms of climate change solutions. People keep flying and want to fly more, yet we’re still using technologies developed largely in the 1960s. After analyzing numerous approaches, we concluded that hydrogen-electric engines are the most scalable solution to decarbonize aviation. Our mission is to enable a clean future of flight and deliver truly zero-emission aviation as early as 2026.
Read MoreHydrogen-electric engines are practical, economical, and well-suited to our mission. Hydrogen stored in both gaseous and liquid forms is injected into fuel cells, producing electricity and water as byproducts. This electricity powers electric propulsion, creating a genuinely clean solution. We don’t claim to have invented this technology, but we’ve perfected it to a degree that’s hard to replicate. This positioning makes us one of the leaders in clean aviation.
Over time, like many pioneers, we’ve expanded beyond hydrogen-electric engines. Our components—such as fuel cells and motors—can be applied to other clean aviation modalities, including battery-electric aircraft, drones, and rotorcraft. As a result, we’ve grown into much more than a hydrogen-electric company. We’re (going) to leverage our technologies across a range of applications, helping transform the entire clean aviation ecosystem.
ZeroAvia www.zeroavia.com Hollister, CA