A flood of 15 million intercompany transactions in one month showed Ed Hagan that finance was drowning in data, not driving decisions. He realized the CFO must act as the true information leader, not the cleanup crew—prompting him to reorient his career toward fixing data quality and unifying finance and technology to create real strategic […]
From Data Roots to an AI Playbook | Zane Rowe, CFO, Workday
Rowe’s strategic moment came when he recognized Workday needed to lean harder into AI—both organically and through acquisitions. Instead of defaulting to cost cuts, he shifted focus to targeted investment, partnering across teams to identify the highest-return opportunities. The result: a smarter, faster AI strategy designed to outpace competitors and deliver long-term shareholder value. [ssp-player] […]
Building the Finance Engine for a Market in Motion | Cristina Kim, CFO, Octaura
CFO Cristina Kim’s second week brought a pivotal shift: she caught herself stress-testing the company’s aggressive targets like an outside investor, then realized her role had changed. As CFO, her job wasn’t to score the plan but to help build it—guiding the team toward ambitious goals with discipline and shared ownership. Now Listen to our […]
Turning Finance Into An Unlocker | Aneal Vallurupalli, CFO, Drata
By tracing retention through 200 customer calls, onboarding flows, and product gaps, Vallurupalli realized the breakthrough wasn’t a single metric but the journey itself. His holistic diagnosis reframed retention as a system problem—shaping Airbase’s cross-functional fixes and guiding its existing-revenue engine through scale. Now Watch Our complete Episode Featuring CFO Aneal Vallurupalli of Drata In […]
Crisis-Tested Finance In Volatile Markets | Michael Bourque, CFO, Convera
Kiavi’s pivot revealed two distinct customer segments—first-timers and high-volume professionals. Michael Bourque helped steer the company toward redesigning acquisition, service, and experience around each group using disciplined unit-economics. When the business remained unprofitable, he supported the move of operations from costly San Francisco to Pittsburgh. Now Watch the Complete Episode Featuring CFO Michael Bourque of […]
Pilot, Learn, Scale What Works | Troy Anderson, CFO, Kelly Services
Troy Anderson stepped into a troubled $2B Xerox unit and uncovered mispriced contracts, communication gaps, and failing operations. After renegotiating key agreements and restoring transparency, he recommended shutting down an unsalvageable business. His decisive analysis saved years of wasted investment, restored credibility, and allowed the company to plan with clarity and confidence. Now Watch the […]
The Power Behind Story-Driven Growth | David lee, CFO & COO, WEBTOON
During Best Buy’s Renew Blue turnaround, David Lee helped redirect over $1 billion in savings to reinvent stores as “omnichannel showrooms,” blending digital and in-store experiences. By aligning consumer insight with disciplined finance, the team defied predictions of retail decline—driving one of the fastest stock recoveries in the S&P 500. Now Watch the Complete Episode […]
Sequencing Growth For Scalable Outcomes | Erik Wissig, CFO, SureCo
Realizing his high-growth startup lacked the cash to fund earned bonuses, Erik Wissig shifted the leadership team toward long-horizon cash-flow planning. By aligning growth expectations with cash realities, he prevented future liquidity gaps and created a finance discipline that shaped SureCo’s scaling years. Now Watch our Complete Episode Featuring CFO Erik Wissig of SureCo Erik […]
When Finance Teaches Innovation How to Scale | Michael Levine, CFO, Fireblocks
Upon joining Fireblocks, Michael Levine discovered engineers building “$400,000 cars” without ROI discipline. He introduced a financial lens to product development—teaching teams to balance innovation with economic viability. By reframing decisions around capital allocation and scalability, he aligned engineering excellence with business outcomes, turning finance into a shared growth language. Now Watch the Complete Episode […]
Turning Numbers Into Conviction | Amy Foo, CFO, Ignition
By listening to enterprise sales calls, Amy Foo uncovered why deal sizes had plateaued. Customers needed pricing flexibility to match seasonal demand. She introduced a pooled-seat model—annual rather than fixed monthly pricing—which let clients scale usage up or down. The result: enterprise deal values jumped six- to seven-fold. Now Watch the Complete Episode Featuring CFO […]
Breakthrough Beats Incremental | Joe Custer, CFO, Intrado
Joe Custer’s strategic moment came when he stopped treating strategy as a project and learned the Hoshin Kanri planning process at Stanley. By starting with “breakthrough performance” and building a quarterly execution rhythm, he transformed planning into an operating system—driving alignment, accountability, and growth “two to three times faster than competitors.” Now Watch our Complete […]
Inside the Metrics That Unite a Company’s Language | Clayton Kossl, CFO, Basis
As co-head of enterprise sales at Paintzen, Clayton Kossl applied a metrics-based approach to deal-making—analyzing pipelines, commissions, and creative financial structures. Within two years, enterprise and national accounts surged to 80–90% of revenue, attracting PPG Industries’ acquisition. The experience reshaped his CFO mindset: data-driven, risk-ready, and deeply aligned with sales execution. Now Watch the Complete […]