Swati Bagri, an experienced finance professional, shares insights on finance transformation, predictive analytics at Nestlé, and business partnering roles at Amazon and Nestlé. She discusses the importance of strategic planning, technology, and risk management in FP&A. Swati also talks about her co-founding venture, coaching non-finance individuals, and FP&A-led transformations. The podcast delves into her career journey and key learnings from working at major corporations.
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insights INSIGHT
Key Success Factors in FMCG Finance
Top FMCG companies excel in strategic planning, technology investment, and risk management.
These pillars helped them grow during market crises like COVID when others struggled.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Finance Transformation Defined
Finance transformation means using technology to free people's time for value-added work.
Automation and analytics improve reporting speed, accuracy, and business partnership across functions.
insights INSIGHT
Incorporating External Data in FP&A
Incorporating external factors like consumer behavior, commodity prices, and geopolitical risks improves financial models.
Using local market knowledge helps anticipate currency impacts in hyperinflationary economies.
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From being the First kid in her family to finish high school, Swati Bagri began as a role as auditor at Deloitte (“I did what any 17-year-old smart kid would do. I just followed my friends”). At Deloitte she discovered a “love of finance” realizing it’s “what I want to do for the rest of my life”.
Swati cemented her FP&A career at some of the world’s biggest brands: Nestlé, Mars, Amazon, and Kraft Heinz. At these giants she absorbed and built a playbook to get from “good” to “great” FP&A. Behing the success of FP&A at these teams, she explains is 3 things: strategic planning and forecasting, technology and risk management.
In this episode Swati talks about:
Finance transformation as a significant part of her role (the slippery term of “finance transformation” defined as the “effective use of technology to free up people’s time”)
How predictive analytics was used at Nestlé from rainfall data, and the wider playbook of building financial models with consumers in mind
Hyperinflationary markets like Turkey and Egypt and FP&A and the lessons learned
Business partnering roles at Amazon and Nestlé and what I have learned about successful relationship building towards common objectives
Co-founding The Strategy Story (including learning about Marriage insurance for wedding days)
Start by Explaining the P&L and coaching non-finance folk
War stories – annual planning cycles
FP&A-led transformation at an ecommerce marketplace business and getting buy-in from senior management through a data story
The power of podcasts to keep your at the top of your finance game
FP&A Today 