CFO Ed Talks™

If you could increase your income, would it solve a lot of problems? Focusing solely on income is a trap and could put your business at risk. It’s not what you make, it’s what you keep. - Joe Connors, Vice President Relationship Banking Officer

Yes, we looked perfect in the CFO Ed Talks but there were a few mess ups! We hope you have as much fun watching as we had filming. To view the trailers or learn from our suite of full videos click on: CFO Ed Talk

Last year Prashanth’s FInEx Talk was on data management.

He shocked us all when he explained that data’s steady state is a liability. It must be crafted and managed to convert it to an asset.

Fortunately, he shared with us three attributes that must exist to make data an asset. He kicks things off in this CFO Talk by reviewing what those attributes are.

Enjoy the CFO-centric pearls on data and analytics that Prashanth readily delivers to our community. He is a globally renowned expert in this space.

Turmoil is taking place in the recruiting war. The battle for talent, executive level talent especially, seems to be tougher than it’s ever been.

Greg Hodge, and Executive Director at Russell Reynolds Associates, tackles these questions in this CFO Talk:

1. What advice would you give finance leaders about career management?

2. If a finance leader is in job search what specific advice would you give them?

Solange Charas is leading the charge in the quickly growing space of talent measurement.

She recently published book, Humanizing Human Capital: Invest in Your People for Optimal Business Returns, which describes how data based decision making can augment current HR practices to improve the bottom line.

In this CFO Talk Anders highlights ’ the latest and greatest within business partnering’

He notes that CFOs realize they need their teams to have a business partner mindset but acknowledge they are struggling with how to develop those skills and instill that mindset.

In this fun CFO Talk Brian Higgins describes how his engineering background helped him develop Activity Value Management to aid his clients in better cost management and improved enterprise performance.

“AVM leads you to do more of what you should be doing and less of what you shouldn’t be doing.”

Dave Bookbinder, a business valuation expert, author of the new ROI Return on Individuals and host of the Behind the Number show delivers an insightful message on how leaders can manage their talent as their most important asset, rather than the traditional method of treating talent as an expense.

In fact, Dave argues our accounting methods in general do a poor job of capturing the true value of human capital.

Watch Dave’s CFO Talk for more on evaluating our most valuable resource.

Joining Steve on CFO Talk is Victor Ojeleye, Group FP&A and Reporting Manager at Cargill. In this episode they dive into the transformative world of leadership and personal growth.

Victor shares his compelling insights on the parallels between sports mentality and business leadership. With a focus on the criticality of short-term memory and a philosophy rooted in continuous improvement, his approach to leadership exemplifies resilience and adaptability.

In this episode of CFO Talk, Nilly Essaides, Managing Director of Research & Insight at NeuGroup, and Steve discuss the evolving role of the CFO and the finance function in the face of the transformational change taking place in their businesses.

Nilly recently published research on the topic (link below) and shares insights from the study on this episode of CFO Talk.

In this CFO Talk Jesper describes the next evolution in finance partnering, the Analytics Business Partner, as the intersection of great communication skills and powerful insights.

He provides the roadmap for how finance leaders can make the case and create the budget for building a great analytics team.

He answers the question what tools belong in the Analytics Business Partner’s toolbox.

Bernie responds to these questions in this CFO Talk episode:

What is the number one reason you urge your clients to use key performance indicators?

How important is it to experiment with your KPIs?

With all the flux in the economy - inflation vacillating or supply chains shifting or sales plummeting or interest rates rising or banks collapsing there is a lot for the CFO to worry about.

All impact product pricing, which has become an important area of focus for many companies.

There are some great lessons to be learned in this CFO TALK: Humanizing ROI with Solange Charas and Dave Bookbinder

Our conversation dives deep into the importance of people-centric strategies in driving business value.

This episode of CFO Talk: “Transforming Financial Insights - Simplifying Data for Better Decisions” leverages the background - engineering, tech, and private equity - and expertise of Gianluca Bisceglie to overcome obstacles, like “data obesity”, to turn financial data into action oriented information and better decisions. Decisions that can be career-changing for finance professionals.

In this CFO Talk CFO.University Contributor, Gary Cokins describes,

1.The forces that are forcing CFOs to implement Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) methods.

2. How rapid prototyping solves key problems frequently faced in EPM implementations.

3. Why operations trained staff understand costing better than accountants. (yep, you read that right) .

4. Lessons from his past EPM successes.

Enjoy the CFO Talk with Gary and visit his library on CFO.University, https://cfo.university/library/contributor/gary-cokins

In this episode of CFO Talk, we explore talent and its impact on business valuation. Our two distinguished guests, Dave Bookbinder and Mark Iorio, thrive in the human capital and business valuation space. Enjoy.

Welcome to the latest episode of “CFO Talk.” In this sequel to Do You Know What the Income Trap Is? Joe expands on the lessons he shared earlier with more examples to emphasize the perils of ignoring the income trap. In the sequel the wisdom of the balance sheet takes center stage and the nightmares of the Income Trap unfold. Host Steve Rosvold and guest Joe Connors, a premier banker on the U.S. West Coast, dive deep into the world where numbers aren’t just numbers—they’re the very lifelines of our businesses.

In this episode of CFO Talk Jerry Vieira challenges finance leaders to let go of conventional wisdom and embrace a mindset shift. From his rich background as an engineer, MBA, business leader and musician, Jerry crafts a discussion filled with wit and wisdom, offering CFOs the tools they need to decode the complexities of marketing and sales strategies. Jerry will guide us through the pivotal role of perceived quality, the essentials of a strong market strategy, and the often-overlooked power of the intermarket network.

In this CFO Talk with Tamer Abomosalam we explore Tamer’s digital transformation journey as the Global Services Supply Chain CFO at NCR. Tamer is responsible for the data aggregation and reporting for 86 countries. His frustration with legacy systems, disparate data and a fortuitous conversation with a friend were the catalysts behind his successful adventure.

Andrew Codd, a global expert who combines deep finance knowledge with data & analytics to accelerate finance transformations, tackles questions like these in his CFO Talk with Steve:

1. What does the traditional vs modern approach to a data & analytics transformation look like, and why should CFOs care?

2. What is so important about outside vs internal investments in this area?

3. On how to leverage our core skills to keep transformations on the rails

4. How is the diamond organizational structure and why does it better support finance teams today than the traditional pyramid structure?

5. Andrew reflects on how learning from a guild formed back in the 13th century can help us today.

6. Team. Talent. Leadership. Culture.

Visit Andrew’s library on CFO.University here:https://cfo.university/library/contributor/andrew-codd

In this episode of CFO TALK: AI’s Role In Evaluating Business Performance with Prashanth Southekal, we tackle how to integrate AI in finance and how AI can transform storytelling and data interpretation within organizations.

Dr Sean Stein Smith tackles these question on this episode of CFO Talk:

What is blockchain?
What is its most common use is in finance today?
What should finance leaders be leveraging blockchain?
Where will blockchain having the biggest impact on the CFO suite in the next 5 years?
He also provides some great advice on taking the next steps to make blockchain technology an enabler for you.

Elevate your leadership game without breaking the bank! We’re thrilled to release this episode of CFO Talks: “Budget Neutral Strategies to Boost Engagement and Retention” Julie Winkle Giulioni.

Welcome to CFO Talk. Joining us today is Lynn Sheehan, Founder and CEO of Evolve Strategic Ventures, a business transformation firm based out of Vancouver, Washington. Lynn has a degree in laser and optical engineering. He spent eight years in the fusion program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. Before starting Evolve in 2017, he worked for a number of well-known and successful tech companies. I’m excited to share Lynn’s message Crossing the Chasm in Times of Chaos with our member scholars. Welcome Lynn. It’s great to have you on our show.

Get a peek into the future from our CFO Talk, D2A2 (Digital, Data, Analytics and AI) 2025 Predictions and Prescriptions. We cover the dynamic world of digital, data, analytics, and AI with global experts leading the charge in D2A2.

Here are three of the many takeaways:

Welcome to CFO Talk. I am your host Steve Rosvold, Chief Learning Officer at CFO.University. Joining us today is Prashanth Southekal, Founder and Managing Director at DBP Institute a boutique enterprise data analytics firm based in Calgary, Canada. Prashanth has mechanical engineering and IT degrees from two national institutes in India, Master’s degrees from Cornell and Northwestern University in the United States and a PhD in philosophy from the University of commerce in Lille, France. When he is not working with DBP clients, he is an adjunct professor at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain and serves as an executive data analytics advisor to several companies. He has also written a two books. Today, Prashanth will be addressing data analytics for finance leaders with our members scholars. Welcome, Prashanth. It is great to have you on the show.

If you thought the wildest thing to happen to a finance department was a spreadsheet with color-coded tabs, think again. On the latest episode of CFO Talk: Data-Driven Decisions: Unlocking the Power of Analytics in FP&A” host Steve Rosvold and guests Brian Lapidus (Director of FP&A Practice at AFP) and Prashanth Southekal (Founder, DBP Institute) embark on a lively expedition into the jungle of digital transformation in finance.

If you’ve ever tried to wrangle an Excel sheet that resembles a wild rodeo more than a financial report, welcome home. In the second part of this “CFO Talk” double-feature—“Data-Driven Decisions: Unlocking the Power of Analytics in FP&A”—a trio of heavyweights ride into the data, analytics and AI arena to tackle the real questions: Why does our road to data utopia keep winding like a Boston cow path, and why are we all hiding our spreadsheets like contraband snacks? Find the answers to these questions and much more in the CFO Talk.

In this CFO Talk Sophia Matveeva addresses key questions CFOs have about the data profession. She begins by explaining how the roles in the data profession are defining data analytics and data science. She ends with advice on vetting the output of your data professionals.

Roy Nakamura, President at Horizon Web Marketing, draws from his experience to help CFOs better understand internet marketing; its ROI…how to get found in a Google Search… your human interface…coding friendly for people to find you…your website as a hub for marketing…SEO and a whole lot more.

Elliot Felix, the founder of brightspot strategy and global innovator in higher education recently joined us for a CFO Talk.

Welcome to another insightful and engaging episode of CFO Talk, hosted by Steve Rosvold. In this episode, we dive deep into the labyrinth of cross-border accounting with none other than Katrina Nacci, the expert on cross border accounting conversions. If you think understanding GAAP is a dry topic, think again! Katrina, with her encyclopedic knowledge and practical insights, makes navigating these accounting principles as exciting as a treasure hunt—minus the pirates but with plenty of buried treasure!

In this CFO Talk Bram Desmet, author of Supply Chain Strategy and Financial Metrics, describes the Supply Chain Triangle; service, cost and cash. In today’s market, balancing the triangle is a key challenge for supply chain and finance managers.

Welcome to another episode of CFO Talk, the podcast where we dive deep into the world of finance and strategy. In today’s episode, titled “Five CFO Learnings From 10X Growth in ARR”, Steve sits down with special guest Mark Khavkin to discuss the ins and outs of CFOs and their team driving growth within a company.

David Safeer , (https://cfo.university/library/contributor/david-safeer), is passionate about improving cash flow and maximizing the profits of his clients. In this CFO Talk he tackles these questions,

1. In your piece, Cash Flow Management: Being Unconventional, you note some dangers in following traditional cash flow advice. Would you fill in the blanks on why being unconventional is so important?

2. You propose a basic structure for implementing a solid cash management program. What are the steps?

Welcome to CFO Talk. I’m your host, Steve Rosvold, chief learning officer at CFO.University. Joining us today is Dave Sackett, Chief Technology Architect at Visibility Corporation. Dave has a strong interest in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and frequently speaks on topics related to artificial intelligence, block chain, robotic process automation and machine learning. Today, Dave will be updating us on these leading edge technologies.

In this special CFO Talk Steve and Andy discuss finance transformation and how it’s different at every company and for every CFO.

​Kevyn and Steve discuss how a strong relationship between finance and human resources is value creating for our businesses.

Kevyn encourages leaders to develop a strategic view of talent centered on professional development where success is measured in terms of quantifiable performance improvement. An added bonus, recruiting and retention are also enhanced through strong professional development programs.

Enjoy the CFO Talk.

Welcome to CFO Talk, our podcast dedicated to bringing you insights and expertise from industry leaders for the finance world.

In this edition of CFO Talk Steve interviews a special guest from Wichita, Kansas, Lynn Guinn. Lynn is a seasoned business leader with a diverse background in accounting, operations, and trading. With his extensive academic background in finance, accounting, and agricultural economics, and advanced degrees in strategy and innovation, Lynn has built an impressive career.

We are excited to release the latest episode of CFO Talk, where we deliver innovative practices and leading edge ideas to CFOs and other business leaders.

In this episode, Tariq Munir, a seasoned finance professional and artist, shares his insights into the fascinating world of process mining.

Exciting insights from this CFO Talk: Revolutionizing CFO Operations with AI Agents with Anna Tiomina, founder of Blended Balance. Anna shares her experience with strategies for integrating AI into CFO operations. Watch or listen to this CFO Talk for great insights into Agentic AI.

In a recent episode of CFO Talk, seasoned finance leader Anand Soni shares insightful advice on managing boards and ownership as a CFO. His extensive experience in handling complex family-held businesses offers valuable lessons for finance professionals seeking to navigate the challenges of dealing with board members and ownership. Enjoy this CFO Talk with Anand and Steve.

Welcome to CFO TALK, the podcast for finance leaders and aspiring CFOs. In this episode, titled “The 8 Superpowers CFOs Use to Scale,” our host Steve Rosvold has a fascinating conversation with Michelle Kvello, the Managing Director at Lantern Partners. Michelle shares her insights and expertise on how CFOs can better serve their SME customers and help entrepreneurs successfully scale their businesses.

Over the past twelve years, Michelle has identified eight crucial superpowers that CFOs need to possess, including the ability to see stories in the data, identifying key metrics for growth, establishing a single source of truth among others.

Tune in to CFO TALK and discover how these superpowers can elevate your role as a finance leader and drive growth at your organization.

In this CFO Talk Andy defines the business focused finance leader and describes the qualities that make a business focused finance leader.

Andy highlights how the qualities of business acumen and leadership ‘sit on top’ of the tools and techniques that make up our expertise as financial professionals.

Tom Burke, a serial CEO in the pharmaceutical space, shares his experience with senior financial leaders and how their role and their relationship with the CEO has changed during his career.

Welcome to CFO Talk, the podcast where we dive deep into the world of finance and leadership. In this episode, we have a special guest, Vineet Jain, a leading authority on finance transformation and a director at Genpact, sharing his insights and expertise on finance transformation.

In this CFO Talk, Mark Stiving helps CFOs understand how to play a key and value added role in the pricing of products and services for their companies. For more on The Role of the CFO in Pricing read this piece.

Steve had an insightful conversation with Anne Warren, Founder of Price Profitability Advisors, on CFO Talk. They delved into the crucial topic of pricing and the impact CFOs can have on their business by going all in on this key aspect of revenue generation.

In this CFO Talk, Glenn Hopper, describes the evolution taking place in the CFO suite. He describes the CFO role as moving from the transactional and historical to the real time and analytical and explains what this means for finance leaders of the future.

In this CFO Talk Andy and Steve discuss:

1) How finance can move the perception it has as a cost center to one of value creator

2) How Controllers can create a path to the CFO Suite

Here is a link to the interview with Dave Bookbinder Andy kindly references near the end of this CFO Talk.

Andy gives advice to hiring managers on the opportunity they are missing by focusing on experience rather than mindset.

Andy lists 5 ste[s you can take to grow your influence with color commentating by Steve.

1. Build Credibility
2. Value and Focus on Others
3. Be Intentional About Building Trust
4. Reverse Engineer Your Teammates Priorities & Help Them
5. Patience – Trust is a Long Haul Activity

In this episode of CFO Talk Steve Rosvold and Aliyyah Abdullah explore the evolving role of Finance Business Partners and the unparalleled value they bring to organizations. Here’s a sneak peek into what you’ll discover:

In this episode of CFO Talk, host Steve Rosvold interviews John Thackeray, an expert in risk management. Thackeray discusses the seven key elements of effective enterprise risk management (ERM). He emphasizes that strategy plays a crucial role in determining risk appetite and suggests that open discussions and iterative processes can help achieve a common understanding among leaders.

In this CFO Talk Gary helps us understand the importance of strategic influence and how to grow it.

He responds to the question, How do you get influence? this way. “Number one, you need to figure out how to get access to it. And number two, once you get access to it, how do you use that properly. So the person that gave it to you will want to let you use it again. Because people who have influence don’t want that reputation to be tarnished. They want it to be upheld, they want it to have a positive impact on them and you. So imagine someone says that means I can trust you, I’m gonna give you more opportunity to use my influence, which reflects well on them and you. From then on you begin to create your own influence, through reputation and through trust that people have in you. So influence is a progressive thing. It doesn’t happen all at once. It happens slowly, bit by bit over time, it might pick up speed, you build momentum. And all of a sudden you become a person of reputation, a person of influence.

David Safeer from Cash is Clear! shares some great tips on cash flow management and business leadership in this episode of CFO TALK.

Tune in for a refreshing perspective on cash flow management that challenges conventional wisdom and offers actionable advice for both small and large businesses.

On this episode of CFO Talk, we welcome Dan Crumb, a CFO with 13 years of experience at the current Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. Dan shares his insights on building a winning team, drawing from his experience leading a team of skilled professionals in IT, finance, and accounting while being a key member of the Chiefs executive team.

The future of finance was vividly illustrated at the “2024 D&A and AI Predictions and Prescriptions for CFOs” LinkedIn Live event, guided by host Steve Rosvold with deep insights from industry experts - Prashanth Southekal, Arun Marar, Sanjeev Chib, and Tobias Zwingmann - who offered compelling predictions and practical prescriptions for CFOs to navigate the evolving landscapes of Data, Analytics and AI.

The comprehensive research report, The 2024 Data, Analytics and AI Predictions and Prescriptions for CFOs, offers invaluable insights to CFOs navigating these quickly evolving technologies and disciplines, including the 2024 Predictions and Prescriptions for CFOs on Data Science and Data Engineering by Arun Marar

The comprehensive research report, The 2024 Data, Analytics and AI Predictions and Prescriptions for CFOs, offers invaluable insights to CFOs navigating these quickly evolving technologies and disciplines, including, 3 Predictions and Prescriptions for Data Management and Data Governance with Prashanth Southekal.

The comprehensive research report, The 2024 Data, Analytics and AI Predictions and Prescriptions for CFOs, offers invaluable insights to CFOs navigating these quickly evolving technologies and disciplines, including, the 2024 Predictions for CFOs on Data Protection and Risks by Sanjeev Chib.

The comprehensive research report, The 2024 Data, Analytics and AI Predictions and Prescriptions for CFOs, offers invaluable insights to CFOs navigating these quickly evolving technologies and disciplines, including, AI Augmentation vs. Automation the 2024 Predictions for CFOs on Artificial Intelligence by Tobias Zwingmann

We are living longer! Addressing the critical role that financial professionals will play in the lifestyle of generations to come. - Steve Rosvold, CFO.University

Is intellectual property important? Does it have value? Learn how you as a financial professional can find and maximize the value of your company’s IP. - TJ Romano, Intellectual Property Attorney

Are you poised to revolutionize your approach to financial leadership?

This exhilarating journey, taken at the at the FInEx AmeriEuro Summit, draws us into the dynamic evolution of the CFO role

We are thrilled to share this dynamic panel discussion from the FInEx AmeriEuro Summit: “AI and the CFO’s Role in Driving Organizational Success.” This session brings together an incredible ensemble of thought leaders:

Join us on a journey through the world of risk management as viewed from the unique perspectives of a diverse panel of global leaders. They shared their lessons at the FinEx AmeriEuro Summit. We’re diving beyond the basics to explore how playing both defense and offense in risk management is essential to the CFO role.

Check out this panel discussion from the FInEx AmeriEuro Summit: “The Innovation Imperative: Transforming Data into Value.”

This session explores how financial leaders can harness data to drive performance and create a strategic edge.

​Excited to share this Panel, From Talent to Triumph – Driving Success Through People from the FinEx AmeriEuro Summit where we embarked on an exhilarating journey into the world of talent leadership.

Featuring expert panelists

Julie Winkle Giulioni - Best-selling author and leadership expert

Dr. Solange Charas - CEO of HC Moneyball and human capital guru

Dave Bookbinder - Human capital valuation authority

Stacy Colbert - CFO and strategic bridge-builder

Don’t miss this transformative session from the FinEx AmeriEuro Summit 2025!

Our panel, ” Finance on the Fly - Agility as a Competitive Edge,” brought together some stellar finance leaders to explore how agility is reshaping the role of the CFO.

How did you feel the last time you were really stressed out or discontent? Were you thinking about how productive you were or how to move your company forward? We’d like to share with you how to build a team culture that is happier and less stressed leading to increased productivity and profit. - Erik Gillam, Partner at Aldrich CPAs + Advisors

Does the word insurance make you feel tense? Learn how to maximize your return on investment by using a proactive risk management strategy. - Nick Warren, Vice President at Parker, Smith & Feek

​On Rapid Fire Prashanth responds to these questions:

1. ⚪ How can data be a liability for a business?
2. ⚫ What is the purpose of a data strategy?
3. ⚪ Who should be at the center of our Data & Analytics initiatives?
4. ⚫ What qualities are required to successfully apply Data & Analytics in your business?
5. ⚪ What are the top 3 reason CFOs succeed in their Data & Analytics initiatives?

Are you interested in an extra $100K for free every year? The secret is knowing where to look. - Dileep Kulkarni, Director at Expense Reduction Analysts

Steve and Prasanth answer questions on their research report from Suresh Chakravarthi.

A clear cut model, supported with real life case studies, to advise companies to start using lean to increase revenue and stop using lean to cut costs. - Andrea Jones, Andrea Jones Consulting

Some of America’s best run companies fail when implementing an ERP system. We want to talk to you about how 3 simple concepts, Lead, Limit, Organize, can make your system implementation a success. - Andrew Lee, VP of Finance at RealWear,Inc

Come find out how to build long term sustainable success and a team that everyone will want to join! - Robert Baker, Operations Manager at Bagcraft

In many ways, the CFO is responsible for the tax function of your company. Listen in for helpful tips on how to ensure this functions success. - Craig Vagt, Partner Emeritus Talbot, Korvola & Warwick, LLP

M&A is a statistical failure. Tune in for 3 ideas on how to improve the rationale for doing acquisitions as well as improve success rates. - Grant Jones, Investment Banker & Operations/ Finance Executive