Learning from award winners and elite practitioners

Treasury Today Group’s Finance Leaders Forums bring together industry practitioners and past winners of our awards programmes to discuss best practice and leadership skills for a modern generation of corporate leaders.

For the last 18 years, Treasury Today Group’s prestigious awards programmes – which now include the Adam Smith Awards, Adam Smith Awards Asia and Women in Treasury & Finance Awards – have been a highlight of the modern treasury professional’s calendar, shining a light on achievement and best practice around the world.

Our community of award winners represents a rich pool of expertise. And the Finance Leaders Forum – an initiative that we launched in 2024 – provides an opportunity to tap into this knowledge.

“The idea is that this is a network of award winner alumni,” explains Sophie Jackson, CEO of Treasury Today Group. “We also cherry-pick other elite practitioners to join the group, with an eye to creating strong peer groups that encourage each other, support each other and inspire each other.”

As well as discussing technical achievement and best practice, the forums also look at best practice on a personal level, giving attendees the opportunity to discuss topics such as career development, communication skills and leadership.

Sharing best practice around the world

Over the last year, the Finance Leaders Forum initiative has gone from strength to strength, bringing together award winners, thought leaders and finance and treasury professionals at key locations across Europe, Asia and the US.

HONG KONG

Reflecting on best practice

At Treasury Today Group’s first forum in Hong Kong, award winners and industry leaders came together to discuss everything from stablecoins to FX management and sustainability. During the opening panel discussion, Hobson Chan, Treasurer, CNOOC Shell Petrochemicals Co Ltd, discussed his team’s management of a standalone treasury function at a joint venture between Shell and CNOOC. He related the team’s experience of raising funds for a US$5.5bn long-term loan facility, despite a deteriorating credit rating. “Securing a mega-sized financing is challenging, but the outcome has been fantastic,” he remarked.

Vivian Peng, Vice President and Asia Treasurer at Flex Ltd, spoke about the importance of leadership in persuading people to support change. “The culture of the company is critical,” she reflected.

“You also need a team that is willing to pursue success.” Turning to technology, the panellists also discussed how stablecoins could enable treasurers to settle and clear transactions in real time.

In a later discussion, Chris Tang, Group Treasurer of Haier Group, discussed the challenge of finding work-life balance in a job that sometimes requires long working hours. His suggestions included scaling up team members, sharpening skills and advocating for more resources and internal training.

Recalling his experience of juggling academic qualifications with a demanding role, he observed: “We don’t regret what we’ve done – we normally regret what we haven’t done, and failure makes us stronger.”

PALO ALTO

Future-proofing finance and treasury

Coming to Palo Alto for the first time, the forum heard from high-profile industry voices including Anita Mehra, who recently retired from her role as Corporate Vice President of Global Treasury & Financial Services at Microsoft and Catherine Portman, VP, Treasurer at Palo Alto Networks.

Mehra spoke about the importance of creating the right environment to develop team members. “There are never enough people,” she said. “There’s never enough money. There’s never enough technology in our teams, whether you work for a startup or a large company. So how do you create that space for team members to have the time to continuously learn while delivering results?”

Portman described a recent summer internship programme focusing on AI projects across the finance functions. “The summer intern programme helped accelerate our team’s thinking around how AI and new technology will enable faster decision-making and reduce manual efforts,” she explained.

Following the programme, the company hired five AI Financial Analysts to continue the work and maintain momentum.

In a second panel discussion, Google/Alphabet’s Kenny Tse explained that Google is currently “doubling down and tripling down” on various AI technologies. “When we’re talking about AI and agentic workflow, it’s not just applying the AI and ML technology on the cash forecasting portion,” he said. “Ultimately, even if you have the perfect cash forecast, you have to do something with that number.”

NEW YORK

Rising to the challenge

At the final forum for 2025, treasury professionals, bankers and industry thought leaders came together in New York. Highlights of the discussion included a focus on treasury’s increasing prominence within the organisation, as well as the importance of investing in personal growth.

Shreeram Lakshmanan, Director of Treasury at Regal Rexnord noted that in many organisations, the treasury team would previously report to tax or accounting – “whereas now there’s increased acceptance of the specialised and strategic nature of treasury, resulting in it rolling up directly to the CFO.”

Sunny Gutta, Director/Treasury at Reddit, observed that treasury has traditionally been highly siloed, with its own KPIs and objectives, and limited awareness of developments elsewhere in the business. But she noted that “things have changed systemically”, adding that treasurers need to build cross-functional relationships in order to make the most of their skills.

On the topic of personal growth, Aditi Agarwal, Global Treasury Operations Leader and Chief of Staff, GE HealthCare said that succession planning has been a particular buzzword for her in the last couple of years, adding that the concept is not limited to retirement planning.

She argued that succession planning means knowing the next two moves for every member of her team. “The other aspect is to identify the roles which require niche capabilities, or the roles which can be disruptive to business if you do not have a good successor in that role. Once you’ve identified those critical roles, then you start thinking about who the next person could be to take on that role.”

AMSTERDAM

Building connections

The first Finance Leaders Forum of 2026 took place at Soho House in Amsterdam.

Barış Gökalp, Director of Treasury at Şişecam, spoke about his previous success in the Adam Smith Awards. He also described the company’s digital treasury transformation, with highlights including a significant bond issuance, a country-first treasury management system implementation, and becoming the first corporate in Türkiye to obtain a unique SWIFT code.

Alexander van den Heuvel, Director Treasury Operations at dsm-firmenich, spoke about his team’s priorities, including the separation of one of four business units, as well as a treasury management system project.

He noted that his team’s success in the Adam Smith Awards has proved helpful in discussions with the CFO: “The fact that we’ve received awards helped us make the claim that we are good at running projects, and that we are credible when bringing a next project to his attention.”

Attendees also discussed the rise of AI and the importance of psychological safety when adopting new technologies. Ana de Sousa, Global Treasurer, Senior Director at global payroll and employment infrastructure company Remote, observed: “the one thing I think we have to look for, and encourage consistently, is curiosity. Because when you’re afraid of the technology, that can have a very negative impact on how you’d be willing to use it.”

What’s next?

Looking forward, the Finance Leaders Forum initiative continues on its journey with events in New York, Mumbai, Silicon Valley and Hong Kong later this year. In 2027, we will host an event in Dubai for the first time.

“The next phase is to connect these events and practitioners digitally, so that people can learn more about best practice from their peers globally. So we’re planning to turn these local peer networks into a global community as well.”

Sophie Jackson, CEO, Treasury Today Group

In addition, the scope of the initiative is set to expand beyond individual events. Moving forward, the programme aims to build a rich and vibrant global community of practitioners who are passionate about raising the bar in senior corporate finance functions.

“The next phase is to connect these events and practitioners digitally, so that people can learn more about best practice from their peers globally,” says Jackson. “So we’re planning to turn these local peer networks into a global community as well.”

Explore the key highlights from previous Finance Leaders Forums, keep up to date with the programme and our future locations.

Treasury Practice