The Finance Chief Podcast

Finance Chief

What does it take to lead the financial and capital strategies at the world’s largest businesses? The Finance Chief Podcast, from Finance Chief, has the answers. We speak with global heads of finance and senior C-suite executives, looking beyond the spreadsheets to dissect the intricacies of successful corporate strategy. Our guests discuss the full scope of modern finance operations from leadership and technology to business transformation, people, culture and capital strategy, to provide essential listening for financial leaders. Discover more at www.financechief.com

  1. 1d ago

    Ep.13 | Why Agentic Treasury Is the Future of Finance

    Most finance teams are still managing treasury across eight or more platforms, with Excel holding its role as the glue stitching them together. Tom Steer, CFO at Sokin, joins host Matt High to explain why the real bottleneck isn't moving money – it's the manual work that surrounds it. From what Agentic Treasury actually means to why regulated infrastructure matters more than AI features, and how one Sokin customer reduced an 80-person payments team to 15, this is a practical, forward-looking conversation about where the CFO role is heading.

  2. Jul 17

    Ep. 12 | How Can CFOs Balance Growth, Governance and Getting it Right?

    What separates good finance leaders from great ones? Tom Tildesley, CFO at Innovo Group, has a clear answer: it's not what you do, it's how you do it. In this episode, he joins guest host Charlie King to discuss governance, entrepreneurial growth, AI in financial planning and capital allocation across the UK, UAE, Egypt and Canada. Drawing on senior roles at BP, Imperial Brands and Vistry Group, Tom shares why clean data comes before AI and and why the CFO of the future will spend less time writing reports and more time challenging the business on what they mean. Get set for a candid, commercially-minded conversation about what finance leadership looks like in 2026.

  3. Jul 10

    Ep.11 | Is Real-time Settlement Finance's Next Big Challenge?

    The next major shift in financial markets isn't another AI tool or regulatory update. It's the move towards real-time settlement, and Stephen Roche believes organisations that fail to prepare risk higher costs, operational disruption and losing competitive advantage. In this episode of the Finance Chief Podcast, host Matt High sits down with Stephen Roche, President and Co-Founder of Saphyre, to discuss the US Treasury clearing mandate, automation, AI and the future of post-trade operations. With more than 20 years' experience helping financial institutions modernise trading infrastructure, Stephen explains why manual processes are reaching their limits and how finance leaders can prepare for a market that is moving faster than ever.

  4. Jul 3

    Ep. 10 | AI, Finance and the Cost of Getting It Wrong, with Philippe Daoust

    Most organisations think they're adopting AI. Philippe Daoust thinks most are underestimating it in two very specific ways. The VP of Innovation and MD of NAventures at National Bank of Canada joins host Matt High to discuss token-based pricing, why AI must be treated as process change and how CFOs can measure real ROI rather than chasing hype. One of the more practical and honest conversations you'll hear about where AI in finance is actually heading.

  5. Jun 26

    Episode 9 | Benyam Hagos on Payments, Resilience and the Modern CFO

    Modern payments infrastructure isn't the most visible part of financial services. But for the banks and fintechs that get it wrong, it's the thing that holds everything else back. In this episode of the Finance Chief Podcast, host Matt High sits down with Benyam Hagos, CFO at Form3 and Chairman and NED at Trust Payments, to discuss what building modern payments infrastructure actually looks like, and what it means for the finance leaders overseeing it. Benyam brings nearly two decades of experience across corporate finance, legacy banking and high-growth fintech, and talks about all of it with the clarity that comes from having lived through each stage of the industry's evolution.

  6. Jun 19

    Episode 8 | How to Become a Value-Creating CFO with Amit Agrawal

    Most CFOs are trained to report what happened yesterday. Amit Agrawal has spent his career trying to shape what happens tomorrow instead. In this episode, host Ella Wilkinson sits down with Amit, Group CFO at Al Faris Group, to discuss strategic finance, capital allocation and value creation. Drawing on experience from Tata Steel to private equity in the Middle East, Amit explains why finance leaders must understand the business as well as the balance sheet, why cash matters more than EBITDA, and how to build the next generation of strategic finance leaders.

  7. Jun 12

    Episode 7 | How AI is Transforming Spend Management with Coupa's Jeff Collier

    What does 26 years at the forefront of procurement technology teach you about where AI is really taking finance and spend management? In this live episode of the Finance Chief Podcast, recorded at Coupa Inspire in London, host Aaron McMillan sits down with Jeff Collier, Chief Revenue Officer at Coupa. Fresh into his role, Jeff reveals what drew him to Coupa and why now is the moment finance and procurement leaders can't afford to stand still. From autonomous spend management and AI agents to accounts payable automation and Coupa's landmark acquisitions of Rossum and Tonkean, Jeff breaks down how organisations can ditch years-long rollouts for iterative monthly wins, and why Coupa’s US$10tn in historical spend data is the AI edge that matters.

  8. Jun 5

    Episode 6 | Finance Chief Podcast: Zach Hemmant-Low on Navigating Hyper-Growth in FinTech

    What does it take to move from a "scrappy" startup mindset to being acquired by a global powerhouse? In this live episode of the Finance Chief Podcast from the Coupa Inspire event in London, host Aaron McMillan sits down with Zach Hemmant-Low, Chief Sales Officer for Rossum. Fresh off the announcement of Rossum's acquisition by Coupa, Zach shares an inside look at the evolution of Intelligent Document Processing (IDP), the shifting landscape of AI adoption, and the core philosophies that drive high-performance leadership.

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What does it take to lead the financial and capital strategies at the world’s largest businesses? The Finance Chief Podcast, from Finance Chief, has the answers. We speak with global heads of finance and senior C-suite executives, looking beyond the spreadsheets to dissect the intricacies of successful corporate strategy. Our guests discuss the full scope of modern finance operations from leadership and technology to business transformation, people, culture and capital strategy, to provide essential listening for financial leaders. Discover more at www.financechief.com

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