Nicholas Mann, founder and CEO of Stratos Consulting, shares his expertise in optimizing data strategies for businesses. He discusses the journey towards a unified data architecture and emphasizes the crucial role of FP&A in a company’s overall strategy. Mann highlights the impact of AI on variance analysis and the importance of collaboration across departments. He also opens up about his personal journey living with achromatopsia, showcasing resilience in the face of challenges while transforming financial planning through data-driven approaches.

In this engaging conversation, Maria del Dado Alonso Sanchez, a seasoned CFO with a robust background in finance across major corporations like Amazon and Booking.com, shares her transformative journey. She discusses essential strategies for financial adaptability in fast-growing sectors, revealing lessons from launching Amazon Prime and navigating Booking.com's acquisition. Maria emphasizes the importance of aligning KPIs with industry challenges and the promising role of AI in finance. Plus, she shares some fun personal insights about kickboxing and karaoke!

Christian Wattig, former FP&A leader at major companies, shares insights on creating the Wharton FP&A Certificate Program. Topics include FP&A in multinational companies, startup vs big FP&A, new analysis techniques, building an FP&A team, AI in FP&A, and key trends in finance. He also discusses the importance of FP&A tools and the evolution of FP&A teams towards strategic value creation.

Joe Knight, author of 'Financial Intelligence', discusses the importance of storytelling in finance, empowering small businesses through financial literacy, evolving financial roles, addressing financial literacy challenges, empowering decision making through financial literacy, and exploring the impact of automation and technology on knowledge and power.

Researcher Alex Kim discusses groundbreaking study showing AI outperforms humans in financial analysis. Topics include AI accuracy, practical implications for finance pros, combining AI with human intelligence, and future research projects in AI and finance. Podcast also touches on Alex's background, self-taught coding skills, and the importance of staying updated on AI trends.

Learn career progression tips from Nick Gribbon and Laura Streather at Essenta in the finance industry. Topics include getting noticed by headhunters, transitioning to CFO roles in private equity, importance of behavioral competencies, referrals, and salary negotiation.

Geetha Ramachandran, an FP&A change agent, discusses her career journey from big corporations to startups, focusing on transforming operations. She shares key achievements like reducing days of closing, establishing KPIs aligned with business goals, and addressing challenges at multinational companies. Geetha also talks about her approach at Triangle Home during COVID, lessons from two decades in business partnering, and the impact of AI on finance professionals.

Soufyan Hamid, FP&A leader, and Matthew Herbert, Chewy Director of Finance, discuss the importance of storytelling in FP&A. They cover topics such as transitioning from numbers to storytelling, the gap between perception and reality in storytelling, actionable tips for presentations, and the significance of providing insights in FP&A.

Expert Nicolas Boucher and panel discuss AI in FP&A, addressing common misconceptions, practical uses, and challenges in adoption. They highlight the significance of data maturity, automation, ChatGPT 4o, forecasting, and AI integration in finance techstack. The conversation explores FP&A processes benefiting from AI, practical starting steps, and Python as a key tool for breaking AI barriers in 2024.

Len McFall, senior finance consultant at Windstream, discusses the role of FP&A in business intelligence. He shares insights on data curation, sales forecasting accuracy, improving finance reporting timelines, and the importance of communication in finance. McFall delves into managing vast telecom data, separating useful insights, and proving business hunches with data analysis.