Lindsey Martens, VP Finance at fintech company, Valera (Formerly PSCU/Co-op Solutions) talks about her transition from accounting to finance- and how she manages a remote FP&A team that has business partnering and storytelling at its heart. “Business partnering is my favorite thing about FP&A” Martens says, “I love being the translator. I think of myself as taking all this data, accounting data, and then all these other sources that come into it, and I’m packaging it up in a way that is very digestible by the rest of the organization, especially the leaders who are making decisions.”

In this episode:

Connect with Lindsey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseymartens/

In more than 12 years at PepsiCo Tariq Munir, has held roles including FP&A Manager, Head of Integrated Business Planning, Head of Finance Supply Chain, and more recently APAC Finance Transformation Lead (based in Australia) delivering Financial Planning process simplification. This included founding the first-ever APAC Finance Digital Academy to build a digital mindset and culture. Tariq is sought out as an international keynote speaker and is a regular columnist for CFO Magazine ANZ, sharing insights on digital trends, strategies for digital resilience.

In this episode:

• Running digital transformation at large companies

Laurynas Zabulis, CFO at Nord Security, is playing a starring role at one of Lithuania’s most famous success stories. Cybersecurity unicorn, Nord Security, went from being bootstrapped to a $3billion valuation in 12 years. Laurynas became CFO after a stint at Surfshark (which  merged with NordVPN in 2022). His achievements at NordSecurity include leading the first funding round for $100m – technically a “seed” round he says  (unusually the bootstrapped enjoyed revenues of over $100m when it approached investors). Laurynas is also building a purpose-driven finance team of 90 talented people across the department to deliver a “forward looking finance function” that propels growth at the leading startup. Laurynas has set out a powerful mission for FP&A whose vision to “earn respect from stakeholders at the company”, “have a seat at the decision-making table”, and use data and detailed knowledge of growth drivers to “make strategic decisions that drive our business”.

In this episode:

Connect with Laurynas on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurynas-zabulis-0206333/

Nate Kaemingk is Chief Forecaster for BetterForecasting.com, where he has built a financial forecasting AI for mid-market finance teams. Previously he has been a  Fractional CFO for two Montana based companies. Nate started his career as a mechanical engineer using inferential statistics to model chemical reactions in Diesel engines!  Later, during his MBA, he applied an inferential statistics background to forecasting and scenario analysis.  Nate has had the opportunity to apply these methods in roles with multiple Fortune 500 companies, including Cummins, and subsequently as CFO and Chief Forecaster at Better Forecasting. 

Episode links: www.BetterForecasting.com

Connect with Nate (LinkedIn) https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathankaemingk/

On this episode: 

A $1billion new museum which is the vision of film director, George Lucas, is providing A New Hope for FP&A.  Michael M. Landman-Karny, Interim Controller at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art , reveals the finance context at the Los Angeles project set to open in 2026 (and how he got the job). 

Landman-Karny says: “George Lucas has a vision for the museum. It’s really centering the power of storytelling through visual media."

But Melody Hobsonthe museum’s co-founder [co-chief executive officer of the asset management firm Ariel Investments] and wife of George Lucas “is very hands-on” says Landman-Karny.

He explains: “Melody’s view of FP&A has really characterized the ability to provide strategic insights that drive decision-making beyond traditional financial reporting and budgeting. She’s a big believer in data analytics, a believer in leveraging real-time information to forecast trends and value creation, and corporate type FP&A and even Wall Street type forecasting within nonprofits.

“Melanie’s a big believer in automation and technology, streamlined processing, enabling faster, more accurate reporting.”

Beyond the galaxy of the museum, Michael talks about his FP&A career including Experian, in aerospace, and the worst budgeting experience of his career

In this episode:

Further Reading from Michael M. Landman-Karny:

Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) for the Aerospace and Defense Industries: A comprehensive guide to best practices

From Legacy to Leadership: Upgrading Accounting and FP&A in Acquired Entities

Comparing and Contrasting Popular FP&A Tools

Follow Michael M. Landman-Karny on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/interimcontroller/

In this episode we are joined by Brent Dykes, the bestselling author of Effective Data Storytelling (Wiley, 2020), founder of Analytics Hero, and Forbes contributor. He has helped  thousands of finance leaders at companies including Microsoft, IKEA, Nike, Sony,  and Pfizer, enhance their data storytelling, visualization, and interpretation skills. “I strive to ensure analytics is always aligned with business priorities and maximizing business value.“

• Early college days choosing between marketing vs accounting as my focus 

https://www.effectivedatastorytelling.com/contact

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentdykes

Effective Data Storytelling (Wiley, 2020)

Anna Tiomina has faced multiple FP&A challenges in a 15-year finance career. This has included budget nightmares, all-nighters, and the  stark realization that “politics” is central to any FP&A or finance role.

• The challenges for anyone  in a full time finance role when you don’t have enough time to look at new things

Saaya Nath is a partner of Jump Capital, a VC firm specializing in investments in software and infrastructure (their portfolio includes treasury software to products helping companies visualize and understand their cloud bills). 

In this episode talks to Glenn about:

• How the CFO’s Office can automate workflows around finance  and  AI 

Follow Saaya Nath on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saaya-nath-12ba82a3/overlay/about-this-profile/

Christian Franz Hansen is a seasoned management consultant and finance thought leader. He’s made it his mission to bridge the gap between strategic decision making and data analysis with a background that includes roles at EY and a finance consultant helping big-names including General Motors, Lego Group, and Maersk. He’s now a member of the Business Partnering Institute, where he’s revolutionizing how finance professionals approach their roles.

In this episode:

• From Excel Wizard as a stepping stone to career growth (“ I still love the beauty of a well designed Excel model”)

Connect with Christian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frantzhansen/

Tobias Zwingmann is an ex-Senior Data Scientist-turned managing partner of RAPYD.AI - which is empowering companies from B2B SaaS startups  to leading financial institutions towards a unified AI strategy.  His data insights are shared in his books including “AI-Powered Business Intelligence” (O’Reilly 2022) and “Augmented Analytics” (Co-author, O‘Reilly 2024) as well as weekly newsletter “The Augmented Advantage” read by 4,500+ business leaders from brands like Amazon, Mercedes-Benz, Gucci, and Santander. 

In this episode:

• My rise in data science

Connect with Tobias Zwingmann on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobias-zwingmann