Treasury Today Group’s Ask A CFO podcast has gone from strength to strength this year, with a diverse guest list spanning sectors and regions. Whether their paths ran through investment banking or academia; whether they were drawn to the pace of a start-up or the stability of multinationals; whether they stayed close to home or crossed continents, what’s clear is there is no one journey to the role.
But how they got there is only half the story showcased throughout Ask A CFO. This year’s conversations are equally exploring how Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) lead their teams, the relationships that shape the role and how AI is set to change it.
The pull of start-ups
The variety of routes to CFO is perhaps best illustrated by the pull many guests feel towards start-ups. Take Aidana Zhakupbekova, CFO at Rydoo, who moved from multinational Converse into the start-ups and scale-ups world in search of a role that better suited her. Talking about the move, Aidana said it “would allow me to apply my knowledge in a dynamic environment which I was craving.”
The blank slate is appealing for many CFOs looking for their next challenge. For Sonam Donkar, this challenge spanned industries and geographies, as well as companies at very different stages on the growth journey.
Donkar explained how she left the stability of large multinationals, including previous roles in Dell and PepsiCo in India, to relocate to Canada and join real estate organisation Rohit Group. She described the move as a strategic decision, drawn by the “entrepreneurial mindset” and the “freedom to experiment and the trust to drive transformation” it offered.
Patrick Gildbride’s move into the CFO seat at emergency response start-up Aura came from a similar pull, though he admits it wasn’t without its challenges. He “fell in love with it immediately,” drawn by the alignment of values with a company driven by lives saved, rather than by revenue. But building Aura’s finance function from scratch also tested him: “It took me three months to think that I knew what I was doing. And it took me probably another three to four months to actually really believe in myself.”
That steep learning curve points to a broader pattern in these conversations: as the CFO role evolves, many are being pushed to become more generalist – which is another key draw to start-ups. As Aidana points out, “one thing CFOs from start-ups will tell you is it is rarely just finance.”
Leading a team
It’s not only the path into the role that varies; CFOs must also navigate how to manage and lead a team. For Aidana, the recipe for successful leadership is a combination of being “direct and transparent.”
Svetlana Boldina, Executive Director and CFO, Nestlé South Asia Region, echoes this but adds a caveat: “the communication depends on the cultural environment.” She reflects that some cultures respond better to a softer leadership style.
Hiring the right talent is another thread running through these conversations. “I always take the approach of ‘hire someone smarter than me’,” says Patrick, in his bid to build a team that will eventually “make [him] redundant.” He believes most skills can be learnt but attitude cannot, and that thriving in a start-up environment demands a problem-solving mindset above all else.
Aidana echoes the sentiment: “When I hire, I hire not for the skillset but more for the mindset.”
Trust and empathy matter just as much as capability, says Sonam, who credits her success to authentic leadership. “Leadership is not a solo act – it’s about the team, the mentors that all came together,” she reflects. She points to the importance of building a team for diversity as much as skillset, and creating “the safe environment to speak up, to make sure that everybody gets a chance and a seat at the table.”
For Patrick, that trust is built through explanation rather than instruction. His approach: “not to tell them always what to do but tell them why they’re doing it.” Once a team buys into the ‘why’, he explains, “the output is better, always.”
The CFO-CEO relationship
Just as trust underpins how CFOs lead their teams, it also defines the partnership at the top. Patrick recalls hitting it off with Aura’s CEO from his very first interview, describing the resulting dynamic as “yin and yang”. He explains that while the CEO brings enthusiasm and ideas, the CFO provides the voice of reason. On big decisions, he explains, “even if I agree with the overall viewpoint, I might take up the opposite argument to check we have fully thought it all through.”
Sonam and Svetlana share a similar view. They both describe the CFO as a co-pilot to the CEO’s pilot, working in tandem and, in Svetlana’s words, ready to “step into the CEO’s seat if needed.”
Whatever the dynamic, “ultimately you need to have trust,” says Patrick.
From oversight to foresight
One of the biggest changes shaping the CFO role is down to the impact of AI. It’s a hot topic for everyone right now, and Aidana believes it will shift the CFO role from oversight to foresight. She welcomes this change: “for me it is exciting to look at the whole map and see what needs moving around.”
For Patrick, the opportunity lies in turning finance into “an insight department,” and he shares how his company uses AI to share data across departments in different countries. But he is quick to add a warning: “embrace AI, but don’t outsource your thinking.” Tools like ChatGPT and Copilot, he notes, are designed to reinforce existing ideas, and should be used with care.
Aidana sounds a similar note of caution. She gives her team room to experiment even when time is scarce: “Each quarter we will take one process to play around [with] and try to improve one system.”
But she is also alert to AI’s double-edged nature. As good as the tools can be, she says, “they also get good at faking things”. She adds, “Keep in mind that the flip side can also develop in a way that you would not necessarily want it to.”
For Nigel Glenday, CFO of Masterworks, embracing AI has to start from the top. At Masterworks, this means regular lunch-and-learns where his team discusses its experiments. He encourages people to focus on “human-centric tasks that set you apart” and automate everything else. One such strength is the ability to tell a compelling story – a skill that Nigel says has been shaped by his liberal arts background. He sees this as central to the CFO role: “At the end of the day, it is all about storytelling.”
More than numbers
Taken together, this year’s conversations show that the CFO role is expanding to be about far more than numbers. For the modern CFO, it’s crucial not only to develop technical skills, but to strengthen leadership skills in order to hire, lead and support the right team.
Alongside this, those hoping to follow in these CFOs’ footsteps should take comfort knowing there is no one single path to success. Instead, aspiring CFOs should focus on stepping outside of their comfort zones and taking as many opportunities as possible, working in different countries and departments outside of finance to develop their skills.
