When Josh Schauer joined Longview, a Toronto-based software company, he had no idea that a transformative chapter of his career was just a few years away. In 2020, Longview was acquired by insightsoftware—a turning point that brought both uncertainty and opportunity. “It’s kind of equal parts fear and optimism,” he tells us. “You wonder: Am I going to have a job coming out of this?”
But his then-CFO advocated for him, making clear to the acquiring company, “they can’t lose you.” That moment, Schauer tells us, “swung the pendulum to the opportunistic side.”
Rather than move on, Schauer leaned in—ultimately rising to become CFO of insightsoftware five years later. Today, he leads finance for a company that has completed 31 acquisitions and delivers AI-powered tools for CFOs—tools Schauer uses himself.
Early in his career, a mentor CFO gave Schauer full ownership of budgeting, board reporting, and strategic analysis. That experience shaped his belief that finance is “a strategic operating partner.” It’s a mindset that drives his approach today, from implementing daily agile forecasting to integrating AI across functions.
“We are an AI-first organization,” he explains, with AI liaisons and company-wide training supporting adoption. Though measuring ROI can be tricky, he sees clear returns in efficiency and insight.
Still, he keeps people at the center: “Is the team taken care of? Do they feel engaged?” For a CFO who’s navigated acquisitions and transformation, Schauer tells us, team satisfaction remains one of his top priorities.
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CFOTL: Tell us about insightsoftware today. What does the company represent?
Schauer: As the CFO of a company that sells products for CFOs, I’m probably uniquely positioned to speak to this. Insightsoftware is a comprehensive provider of AI-powered solutions. We’ve been highly acquisitive over the years, and our product suite reflects that—ranging from tools for reporting and analysis, budgeting and planning, tax, transfer pricing, close, consolidation, lease management, and data and analytics.
The vision is to deliver a cohesive package of products for the CFO on a single, unified platform. That means one user interface, one sign-on, and a connected data environment. That last piece—connected data—is really the most powerful differentiator. Whether it’s agility, flexibility, or AI enablement, it all comes back to the data being unified and accessible.
What’s exciting for me is that I’m also the end user of the majority of these products. Sure, we have tax specialists or lease managers who might be closer to specific tools, but most of these areas ultimately roll up through G&A. So when we talk about how AI is influencing the roadmap—creating agentic assistance for FP&A or improving data interpretation through trend analysis and mapping—I’m not just observing, I’m participating.
We’re putting significant focus on how AI can power our tools. It’s moving fast, and we want to be on the leading edge of that transformation. And for probably the only time in my career, I get to be a spokesperson for products that I—and my team—actively use. That’s pretty unique.
insightsoftware | www.insightsoftware.com | Raleigh, North Carolina