At Thomson Reuters, David Larson repositioned a Hyderabad shared services team from transactional support to strategic finance talent, unlocking capacity for reinvestment. He built buy-in through listening, planning, and influence rather than authority. The initiative endured—and taught him that lasting change comes from changing minds, not issuing mandates. Now Watch our Complete Episode Featuring CFO […]
1178: From Numbers to Narrative: Seeing the Business End-to-End | David Larson, CFO, Feedzai
David Larson still recalls the moment he challenged conventional thinking inside Thomson Reuters. A shared services team in Hyderabad, long viewed as transactional, held untapped potential. Rather than accept the status quo, Larson pushed to integrate the team into the broader finance function—despite resistance tied to time zones and skepticism. The effort required planning, persuasion,…
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When a CFO Questions the KPIs | Andrew Bender, CFO, BNI Global
Early in his tenure at BNI Global, Andrew Bender found himself preparing the company’s financial package for the board. Something didn’t feel right. There were plenty of KPIs.But the connection between those metrics and financial performance was unclear. So he paused and asked a question many finance leaders hesitate to voice: Now Watch Our Complete […]
1169: Thinking Bigger on the Road to the CFO Role | Andrew Bender, CFO, BNI Global
Andrew Bender still remembers a moment from high school football practice when a coach challenged him with a simple question: “Do you want to be all conference or all state?” The comment surprised him. At the time, Bender tells us he wasn’t even sure he had the potential to reach the lower bar. Yet the…
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1155: Scaling Growth Without Sacrificing Outcomes | Bruce Schuman, CFO, Universal Technical Institute
At Intel, Bruce Schuman remembers walking into a meeting as a controller, proud of a product change his team had worked on “for months.” Then CFO Andy Bryant asked one question—one that reframed the proposal around customer impact. “Nobody had thought about (it),” Schuman tells us, and that question “completely changed the entire conversation,” leading…
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1150: Making AI Practical in Finance, Not Theoretical | Matt Novick, CFO, Triplelift
Matthew Novick traces one of his earliest business lessons not to a boardroom, but to a furniture store in Portland, Maine. Growing up in his family’s business, he learned how to read credit reports, price products, and assess who was “credit worthy,” skills that showed him how decisions affect a business long before he ever…
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1145: Creative Capital, Tough Cuts, and the Power of “Why” | Jayme Brooks, CFO, Limbach
The email with the term sheet arrived first, then the bottle of champagne from the CEO, Jayme Brooks tells us. The lender had agreed to a nontraditional structure that allowed Capstone to borrow against intangible assets, creating a lifeline at a moment when revenue had dropped about 40% and market cap had fallen from roughly…
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The AI Ops Experiment That Reframed Finance Partnership | Chris Sands, CFO, InvoiceCloud
Chris Sands’ defining moment came when he realized success as CFO depended less on accounting or FP&A expertise and more on influencing the organization. He restructured his team to gain leverage, freeing time to build relationships and drive cross-functional change. By prioritizing collaboration and clarity over control, he amplified finance’s strategic voice across the organization—a […]
1134: When Finance Becomes a Force for Influence | Chris Sands, CFO, InvoiceCloud
“InvoiceCloud is not just payments,” Chris Sands tells us. Sitting inside the company’s finance organization, he sees a platform built to change habits—helping businesses shift customers from paper invoices and mailed checks to fully digital transactions. The success metric, he adds, is simple: “Do more of their customers stop receiving paper invoices, stop mailing in…
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1121: Agility Through Scenario-Driven Finance | Ademir Sarcevic, CFO, Standex International
During what he calls a “terrible soccer game” his son was playing, Ademir Sarcevic picked up a recruiter’s call that would change his career. The game was lopsided, but the timing was fortunate. Within months, Sarcevic was interviewing with Standex International’s leadership team. By 2019, he was CFO of the diversified manufacturer, helping guide a…
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Prepared for the Unexpected: Steering Finance Through Volatility | Ademir Sarcevic, CFO, Standex International
When rhodium costs spiked from $2,000 to $30,000 an ounce, Ademir Sarcevic led Standex to redesign switches with cheaper ruthenium and raise prices. The dual response protected margins, revealed stronger pricing power, and created a playbook for future crises—proving agility and preparedness are critical in finance leadership. Now Watch the Complete Episode Featuring CFO Ademir […]
Why the AI Revolution Won’t Look Like the Cloud | Eric Brown, CFO, Cohesity
Facing an existential crisis at MicroStrategy, Eric Brown led a massive restructuring—cutting two-thirds of staff and shifting operating margins from -40% to +30% in under three years. Market cap rebounded from $55M to over $1B, proving that decisive, sweeping change can revive a company against impossible odds. Now Watch the Complete Episode Featuring CFO Eric […]