In this episode of CFO Weekly, Billy Newman, CFO at Redwood Software, joins Megan Weis to explore how modern CFOs are revolutionizing finance operations through AI-powered automation and strategic oversight. Billy brings extensive experience from his tenure as CFO at Cvent, where he navigated the company through a pandemic, two public offerings, and private equity transactions while implementing transformative automation initiatives.


With his deep background in FP&A and financial transformation across SaaS companies, Billy shares how finance teams can leverage AI to automate repetitive processes, implement predictive analytics, and position finance as a strategic partner rather than a task master. Currently serving as CFO of Redwood Software, Billy oversees the financial operations of a workload automation company while applying lessons learned from successfully transforming broken manual processes into automated, scalable systems.


What You'll Learn:

• How to identify which finance processes are prime candidates for automation versus those requiring human expertise
• The "Clean Data Framework" for ensuring AI implementations deliver accurate, reliable results
• Why AI enhances rather than replaces finance talent by enabling more strategic work
• How to balance automation with human oversight to maintain strong financial controls
• The critical success factors for implementing automation at scale in fast-moving organizations
• How to transform quote-to-cash processes through strategic automation and system integration
• Why AI strengthens compliance and risk management through continuous monitoring and anomaly detection
• How to prepare finance teams culturally and technically for the AI transformation journey
• The importance of establishing clear KPIs and governance frameworks for automation initiatives
• Why cross-departmental collaboration improves when manual data sharing is automated
  
  

Learn more about Billy:

• Billy Newman on LinkedIn
• Redwood Software Website
  
  

Episode resources:

• Personiv's Website
• Personiv on LinkedIn
• Personiv on Facebook
• Personiv on Twitter
  
  

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Previous guests include: Tom McDermott, CFO at Career Certified, Claire Bramley, CFO at Teradata, Chris Miles, Founder of Money Ripples, Ranil DeSilva, CFO & COO at CARE, Jordan Grumet, Financial Independence Expert & Host of Earn & Invest & William Washington, Global CFO at Baker McKenzie

Check out some of our most recent episodes:

• Driving Value Beyond Finance with Tom McDermott
• Why CFOs Are the Chief Everything Officers with Claire Bramley
• Why Traditional Financial Advice Fails and What To Do Instead with Chris Miles
• NGO Finance Secrets: CARE’s $900M Strategy with Ranil DeSilva
• What Lights You Up? with Jordan Grumet
• Become a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with William Washington
  
  

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