Explore every episode of the podcast CFO Weekly

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Shirley Shu-Hurley, Chief Financial Officer at Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART), joins Megan Weis to explore how today's finance leaders are shaping strategy, strengthening governance, and building the organizational capacity businesses need to grow and adapt in an increasingly complex world. Drawing on two decades of experience across the energy sector, entrepreneurship, and global nonprofit finance, Shirley shares her framework for becoming a decision architect rather than a financial operator.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, John Wise, Director of Finance and Accounting at The Armstrong Company, joins Megan Weis to explore how the CPA designation can become a foundation for strategic business leadership, the cultural growing pains that come with scaling a middle-market business, and where finance leaders should start when transforming a decentralized finance function into one built for growth.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Mark Gaudiosi, Chief Financial Officer at Burro, joins Megan Weis to explore why AI adoption in finance succeeds or fails on one question: what decision does this actually change? Drawing on more than twenty-five years scaling finance functions at Gopuff, Medical Guardian, and now an outdoor autonomous robotics company, Mark shares how CFOs can separate real AI value from hype, why data ownership is shifting from IT to finance, and how operational data from robots is becoming a core financial metric.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Mike DePrisco, President and CEO of IMA (Institute of Management Accountants), joins Megan Weese to explore why AI cost and ROI are becoming CFO problems rather than pure technology problems, drawing on IMA's own research showing 63% of finance leaders have now deployed AI and 37% of CFOs still don't trust their own data, and outlining what it really takes to evaluate AI investments and build measurable business value.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Bojan Belejkovski, Vice President of Finance and Treasurer at Voltava, joins Megan Weis to explore why AI adoption in finance is fundamentally about data discipline and operating-model design, not the AI tools themselves, drawing on his path from law to treasury, his work leading major ERP transformations, and his book, Treasury 2.0: Future-Proofing Finance with AI.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Jessica Trimmer, Senior Director of Revenue and Transformation at Intapp, joins Megan Weis to explore what it really takes to build a finance organization that scales, how leaders should think about people, processes, systems, and governance as companies grow, and why finance operating models must evolve alongside the business. Drawing on more than twenty years of experience leading enterprise-wide finance transformation, Jessica shares why the operating model, not headcount, is usually the real constraint on scale.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Abir Syed, Co-Founder of UpCounting, joins Megan Weis to explore why the best finance leaders move beyond producing numbers to actively shaping business decisions, drawing from his path from Big Four auditor to hands-on ecommerce operator and fractional CFO for high-growth direct-to-consumer brands.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Rick Hasselman, Chief Financial Officer at Clari + Salesloft, joins Megan Weis to explore what it takes to lead a finance organization through a major merger, why finance and sales must operate as true partners in driving revenue, and how AI is turning the CFO into an orchestrator of agents rather than just a steward of the numbers. Drawing on more than thirty years of experience spanning PwC, Google, Sumo Logic, Podium, and Expel.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Wassia Kamon, Chief Financial Officer at ACE | Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, joins Megan Weis to explore the journey from controller or FP&A leader to modern CFO, the mindset shifts that matter most, and how aspiring finance executives can prepare for a role that extends far beyond the numbers. Drawing from her experience across manufacturing, technology, pharmaceuticals, and the nonprofit sector, Wassia shares practical advice on building a personal board of directors, leading through people, and using AI without losing sight of leadership.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Jeremy Ung, Chief Technology Officer at BlackLine, joins Megan Weis to explore why general-purpose AI agents are not automatically safe for high-stakes financial operations. Drawing on more than two decades of engineering and product leadership at Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, and Apptio, Jeremy explains why deploying AI agents in finance requires the same rigor as onboarding a new employee, and how BlackLine is building toward a future where agents, not just people, are the primary users of finance software.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Jack McCullough, Founder and President of the CFO Leadership Council, joins Megan Weis to explore the Rodman Paradox, the idea that a company's most valuable employee may not be its best-performing one, but the one whose irreplaceable skill set keeps the organization running. Drawing on decades of experience as a CFO, CEO, and board advisor, Jack shares how leaders can identify, reward, and retain the quiet specialists that traditional org charts and performance metrics too often overlook.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Mike McLain, Chief Accounting Officer at Transwestern, joins Megan Weis to explore what separates mid-sized businesses that scale successfully from those that stall, and how finance leaders can help organizations grow with both discipline and agility. Drawing from his upbringing around his father's insurance brokerage, his public accounting career at Arthur Andersen and Grant Thornton, and fourteen years leading finance and accounting at Transwestern, a founder-led commercial real estate firm.

In this greatest hits episode of CFO Weekly, Kevin Appleby, Head of Partnerships at GrowCFO and host of the GrowCFO Show podcast, joins Megan Weis to explore how new CFOs can successfully navigate their critical first hundred days, drawing from his extensive experience mentoring finance leaders through the challenging transition from technical finance roles to strategic enterprise leadership.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Keith Causey, SVP of Cloud ERP Transformation at Oracle, joins Megan Weis to discuss the transformative impact of AI on finance, how AI-driven tools are enabling touchless operations, and the role of CFOs as change agents and offers actionable advice for overcoming resistance to innovation.

In this greatest hits episode of CFO Weekly, Devin Weil, Chief Financial Officer at ShipMonk, joins Megan Weis to explore how modern CFOs are transforming operational finance by embedding themselves directly in warehouse and logistics operations, drawing from his experience building field finance organizations at XPO and leading finance for one of the fastest-growing tech-enabled fulfillment platforms managing 1,600 employees across 12 global locations.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Jill Howe, Chief Financial Officer at Lineage Cell Therapeutics, joins Megan Weis to explore how finance leaders can modernize their organizations through technology while keeping people, flexibility, and fit-for-purpose thinking at the center of every decision drawing from more than two decades of building finance infrastructure in the San Diego biotech sector.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Ed Bleacher, Chief Financial Officer at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, joins Megan Weis to explore how federal funding decisions shape patient care on the ground, why the healthcare-versus-defense budget debate is more complex than a simple pie chart, and what it takes for finance leaders in healthcare to drive change, influence policy, and build the operational partnerships that will define the CFO role for the next decade.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Anne Napolitano, CEO and Founder of Anne Napolitano Consulting, joins Megan Weis to explore how food and beverage operators can move beyond basic bookkeeping to leverage finance as a true competitive advantage, drawing from her experience as a former Hermès Controller, working chef, and decade-long advisor to restaurant and bar owners navigating thin margins, cash flow challenges, and growth decisions.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Courtney Colmenares, Chief Financial Officer at Crane Stationery, joins Megan Weis to explore why owning the data stack has become the defining responsibility of the modern CFO. Drawing from her time at Spanx, her experience building data infrastructure from scratch at a fast-growing startup, and her current work scaling a two-hundred-year-old brand into a data-driven organization.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Alex Curran, Chief Executive Officer at Aptitude Software, joins Megan Weis to explore why AI adoption in finance is fundamentally an architecture problem, how a new category of AI-native finance ERP is emerging to close the gap between AI ambition and data reality, and what CFOs must do now to become truly AI-ready, drawing from over two decades of experience implementing finance and accounting systems for some of the world’s largest and most complex organizations.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Jared Shulman, Co-Founder and CEO of Daylit, joins Megan Weis to explore how AI agents are transforming the finance function from cost center to value driver, drawing from his background in credit and hedge funds, his experience building Daylit into the leading AI agents platform for accounts receivable, and his role teaching entrepreneurial finance at Babson College.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Ashok Manthena, CFO and Chief Finance AI Officer at ChatFin, joins Megan Weis to explore what practical AI adoption inside finance functions really looks like, drawing from his experience working with CFOs across FP&A, treasury, tax, and controllership to automate manual work, improve decision-making, and unlock productivity through AI long before ChatGPT made the topic mainstream.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Derek Paulson, Vice President of FP&A at Pura Vida, joins Megan Weis to explore how a generalist mindset, cross-functional curiosity, and the discipline to never outsource critical thinking are defining the next generation of finance leadership, drawing from his journey across manufacturing, consumer brands, and the MBA classroom to his current role at a purpose-driven lifestyle brand.

In this Greatest Hits episode of CFO Weekly, Stephen Heath, Accounting Professor at the College of San Mateo, shared timeless wisdom on financial planning for college students, including why it matters, what mistakes to avoid, and how young adults can build a strong financial foundation before life gets complicated.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, David Liu, Chief Financial Officer at SuccessKPI, joins Megan Weis to explore the non-linear path to the CFO seat, drawing from his experience in GE’s Financial Management Program, roles at Amazon and Framebridge, and leadership across high-growth SaaS companies, sharing how breadth of experience, cross-functional curiosity, and a willingness to embrace uncertainty shaped his journey to finance executive leadership.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Ignacio “Nacho” Redondo, former Senior Vice President of Finance at Nextpower, formerly Nextracker, joins Megan Weis to explore what it truly takes to prepare an organization for an IPO, drawing from his twenty-five-year finance career spanning engineering, private equity, and global technology, including his experience as CFO of Nextracker during its transformation from a Flex subsidiary into a publicly traded solar energy company.

In this “Greatest Hits” episode of CFO Weekly, Megan Weis revisits an insightful conversation with Angie Paglinawan, former Director of Finance IT at Aristocrat and now a Finance Accounting Consultant. With over 25 years of experience spanning utilities, gaming manufacturing, hospitality, IT, and construction, Angie shares her journey from traditional accounting into strategic finance leadership. This episode is a masterclass in standardization, automation, and the evolving role of the CFO as a storyteller and change driver.

In this "Greatest Hits" episode of CFO Weekly, Megan Weis revisits a masterclass in leadership with Jessica McClain, current CFO of the American Staffing Association. Recorded during her tenure as CFO of Girl Scouts Nation's Capital, the 2023 Nonprofit CFO of the Year shares her roadmap for transitioning from public accounting to the C-suite by prioritizing continuous learning, emotional intelligence, and team development. Jessica’s insights offer a timeless guide for navigating technological disruption and mastering the strategic agility required of the modern finance professional.

In this Greatest Hits episode of CFO Weekly, Sara Wyman, CEO & Founder at Stackpack, joins Megan Weis to explore how modern CFOs are transforming vendor management through AI-powered automation and strategic oversight, drawing from her experience as former VP of Strategic Partnerships at Affirm, where she witnessed the chaos of managing hundreds of vendors without proper systems at high-growth companies.

In this Greatest Hits episode of CFO Weekly, Aaron Levine, Chief Financial Officer at Prophix, joins Megan Weis to discuss the challenges and opportunities of being a CFO at a company whose technology is built for CFOs. Aaron shares insights on the evolving role of the CFO in today's tech-driven landscape, the importance of data stewardship, and how innovative financial solutions can enhance collaboration across teams.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Patrick Villanova, Chief Financial Officer at BlackLine, joins Megan Weis to explore how agentic AI is shifting the office of the CFO from binary, "yes/no" automation to autonomous decision-making. Drawing from a decade of leadership at BlackLine and deep experience in SEC reporting, Patrick discusses the critical need for "deterministic" AI, systems where perfection is the only allowable outcome and how these agents act as a strategic "fifth person in the room". He shares why the future of finance belongs to "data-savvy" professionals who embrace technology to transition from manual doers to high-impact reviewers.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Hari Sankar, Senior Vice President of Applications Development at Oracle, joins Megan Weis to explore how AI, automation, and cloud technology are transforming finance from a reactive, manual function into an automated, insightful, and connected strategic force, drawing from his fifteen-year journey at the intersection of finance and technology and Oracle’s mission to embed AI directly into core finance platforms.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Sara Daw, CEO of The CFO Centre Group Limited, joins Megan Weis to talk about the role of a fractional CFO in the growth of modern entrepreneurial businesses. Learn when growing companies should consider bringing on a fractional CFO, how experienced executives can successfully transition to fractional work, and why this flexible model is reshaping the future of executive leadership.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Todd McElhatton, COO and CFO at Zuora, joins Megan Weis to explore how the CFO-CEO relationship has evolved from reporting history to engineering outcomes, drawing from his three decades of experience leading finance and operations at SAP, Oracle, VMware, HP, and his role guiding Zuora through its $1.7 billion acquisition by Silver Lake and GIC.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Chris Garber, Chief Financial Officer at Guild, joins Megan Weis to explore how AI and automation are transforming finance leadership from technical specialists to cross-functional business generalists, drawing from his experience leading diverse teams across FP&A, analytics, sales ops, IT, and his fifteen-year journey with a transformational mentor who consistently pushed him into new functional areas to drive company impact.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Mark Dempster, Founder & Chief People Officer at The Circle by Founders Circle Capital, joins Megan Weis to explore how peer community has become essential infrastructure for CFOs navigating pre-IPO pressure, drawing from his experience building The Circle, a private leadership community serving 350 venture-backed CFOs, and his background as the first non-investor role at Sequoia Capital.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Kevin Appleby, Head of Partnerships at GrowCFO and host of the GrowCFO Show podcast, joins Megan Weis to explore how new CFOs can successfully navigate their critical first hundred days, drawing from his extensive experience mentoring finance leaders through the challenging transition from technical finance roles to strategic enterprise leadership.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Evan Schwartz, Chief Innovation Officer at AMCS Group, joins Megan Weis to explore how modern CFOs can avoid the Gartner-cited 70% ERP failure rate through strategic vision setting, vendor partnerships, and proactive change management, drawing from his 30+ years of experience driving digital transformation across resource-intensive industries and his Amazon best-selling book on ERP implementation.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Devin Weil, Chief Financial Officer at ShipMonk, joins Megan Weis to explore how modern CFOs are transforming operational finance by embedding themselves directly in warehouse and logistics operations, drawing from his experience building field finance organizations at XPO and leading finance for one of the fastest-growing tech-enabled fulfillment platforms managing 1,600 employees across 12 global locations.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Claire Bramley, former Chief Financial Officer at Teradata, joins Megan Weis to discuss the modern CFO, how technology and AI are reshaping the CFO's responsibility, and defining what a successful executive looks like. Claire also dives into career growth, leadership strategies, and the underestimated power of storytelling in finance.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Jim Benson, Chief Financial Officer at Dynatrace, joins Megan Weis to share insights about modernizing the finance function, developing succession strategies, and what CFOs should focus on as we enter 2025.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, John Glasgow, CEO & CFO at Campfire, joins Megan Weis to explore how modern CFOs can balance financial discipline with product innovation in dual leadership roles, drawing from his experience at Bill.com and Adobe where he mastered the intersection of financial strategy and product development while building an AI-native ERP platform.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Dan Wheadon, Partner and CFO Advisory Leader at Cherry Bekaert, joins Megan Weis to discuss how finance leaders can transform their function from a back office to a strategic catalyst by focusing on data accuracy, building FP&A capabilities, and embracing a culture of continuous improvement, drawing from his twenty-five years of experience guiding companies through strategic and technological challenges.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Siqi Chen, CEO & CFO at Runway, joins Megan Weis to explore how modern CFOs are revolutionizing finance operations through real-time forecasting and connected systems, drawing from his experience as former CEO at Sandbox VR where COVID-19 exposed the painful inadequacy of traditional planning tools when rapid scenario planning became mission-critical.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Jacob Moelter, COO & CFO at SupportNinja, joins Megan Weis to explore how modern CFOs are transforming customer experience from a cost center into a strategic growth lever, drawing from his extensive background in investor relations, FP&A, and outsourcing services where he's witnessed firsthand how data-driven CX investments drive retention and lifetime value.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Tony Jarjoura, Chief Financial Officer at Gigamon, joins Megan Weis to explore how modern CFOs and CISOs are collaborating to balance AI innovation with security, drawing from his experience leading revenue operations, controllership, and financial reporting at a leading network intelligence company.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Jason Godley, Chief Financial Officer at Xactly Corp, joins Megan Weis to explore how Agentic AI is transforming the CFO's role from financial overseer to business architect, drawing from his twenty-plus years of experience across public accounting, Wall Street, and technology leadership where he's pioneered AI deployment while maintaining rigorous governance standards.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Matt Collis, Chief Financial Officer at PairSoft, joins Megan Weis to explore how modern CFOs are transforming from traditional financial overseers to strategic leadership partners who craft compelling financial narratives that drive business growth, drawing from his extensive experience scaling companies across different industries and implementing financial automation solutions.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Hemant Kapadia, CFO at Anaplan, joins Megan Weis to explore how modern CFOs are transforming financial planning through AI-powered scenario modeling and connected enterprise planning, drawing from his unique background as an electrical engineer turned finance leader with over 30 years of experience helping organizations eliminate inefficiencies and accelerate decision-making.

In this episode of CFO Weekly, Matthew Spencer, Chief Accounting Officer at Global Partners LP, joins Megan Weis to explore how modern CFOs build future-ready finance teams through curiosity-driven innovation, strategic automation, and effective offshore talent integration, drawing from his 20+ years of experience, including a decade at Ernst & Young and transformative work at SharkNinja.