In our latest episode of Planning Aces, host Jack Sweeney is joined by resident thought leader, former CFO, and finance technologist Glenn Hopper to explore how modern FP&A leaders are redefining decision-making. Featuring insights from CFOs David Lee of WEBTOON, Cristina Kim of Octaura, and Zane Rowe of Workday, the conversation reveals a shared shift toward disciplined, data-driven systems that enable speed without sacrificing rigor. Glenn highlights how each CFO compresses the feedback loop—using leading indicators, forecasting, and real-time data to reassess priorities before lagging results appear.
Rather than waiting for perfect information, these leaders commit to frameworks that surface better questions earlier, allowing finance to guide strategy as markets, technology, and customer expectations evolve. The episode underscores a defining theme: FP&A is no longer about reporting outcomes—it’s about helping the business learn, adapt, and lead in real time.
David Lee explains how he evaluates growth through three daily priorities: user and creator engagement, financial health, and sustainable expansion. Rather than relying on headline revenue, he focuses on leading indicators like time spent, content uniqueness, and monthly active users by market and language. He emphasizes constant-currency performance to reflect true global health and views AI as an enabler of human creativity—helping creators thrive, improving discovery, and strengthening long-term platform value through data-driven insight.
“David is doing what the strongest FP&A leaders do—elevating leading indicators like engagement and creator interaction that tell you whether strategy is working long before the P&L catches up.” —Glenn Hopper
Cristina Kim emphasizes building disciplined, methodical decision-making as growth accelerates and opportunities multiply. She positions forecasting as a core finance capability, using historical outcomes to calibrate capital and resource allocation. Rather than chasing every partnership or product idea, she advocates efficient evaluation frameworks that dig beneath headline results into client engagement and real impact. This approach helps Octaura learn from past launches, prioritize expansion wisely, and scale without distraction while maintaining strategic focus and discipline.
“Cristina is using forecasting as a calibration tool—not just a planning exercise. By comparing intent to outcome, finance turns every decision into a learning loop that sharpens the next one.”—Glenn Hopper
Zane Rowe describes FP&A as a living discipline built around constant reassessment. He balances long-term investments with near-term accountability by tracking KPIs, validating assumptions, and adjusting timelines as markets and customer needs evolve. Rather than locking into static plans, his approach emphasizes reallocating resources—through pausing initiatives, accelerating priorities, or pursuing talent and acquisitions—to ensure Workday moves faster while maintaining strategic and financial rigor.
“What Zane is describing is planning as a living process—constantly reassessing, reallocating, and learning in real time as assumptions change. That’s the version of FP&A every CFO will need as AI compresses planning cycles.”—Glenn Hopper
This Planning Aces episode shows how today’s CFOs are turning FP&A into a real-time decision engine. By using leading indicators, disciplined frameworks, and faster feedback loops, finance leaders are guiding strategy before results lag—proving finance now leads the business, not just reports on it.