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 […]
1149: Predictable, Profitable Growth in an AI-Native Business | Ed Hagan, CFO, Satisfi Labs
At 19, working part-time in a bank branch while attending college, Ed Hagan made a simple recommendation: expand the branch. The idea was taken seriously enough that he was transferred to the bank holding company’s finance and accounting department, where he suddenly found himself helping with acquisitions, preparing board materials, and contributing to an IPO.…
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Inside Hybrid Cloud Growth Strategy | Dilip Upmanyu, CFO, Cloudera
A Finance Strategic Moment While preparing IBM variance reports, Dilip Upmanyu first realized numbers persuade only when tied to the actions that create them. He dissected every P × Q driver, practiced explaining causes clearly in NetIQ earnings prep, and won credibility to recommend improvements—transforming finance from scorekeeper to strategic influencer. Now Watch our Complete Episode Featuring […]
1094: Mapping Revenue Levers for Next‑Gen Data Businesses | Dilip Upmanyu, CFO, Cloudera
Back in the 1990s, Dilip Upmanyu sat in a room filled with servers as he pieced together a homegrown database of costs and SKUs. His employer at the time couldn’t tell which products paid the bills; by dawn, the young financial analyst could. That improvised profitability model, he tells us, still informs his investment mindset today.…
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670: Judgment: At the Heart of Every Decision | Gary Golden, CFO, Cherwell Software
If we were asked to boil down our discussion with CFO Gary Golden to a single word, our answer would be: “judgment.” It perhaps goes without saying that having good judgment is a prerequisite for every finance leader, and the quality frequently tops the list of reasons that CEOs give when asked to describe what…
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