Ramp’s AI-powered push to automate expense management ft. Geoff Charles

I recently sat down with Geoff Charles, Chief Product Officer at Ramp, to discuss the rapidly evolving landscape of corporate finance technology. Recently promoted to CPO, Geoff has been with Ramp since its early days when the company was just 10 people. His journey from product manager to C-suite exemplifies Ramp’s growth trajectory as a company now hiring hundreds of employees annually. The Big Ideas AI as a Financial Co-Pilot: “The average employee doesn’t have a degree in finance… our models are more accurate than the average employee,” Charles explains, highlighting how AI can democratize financial expertise. Unified Financial Operations: “Why is it that you see receipts for expenses in one product and accounts payable in another? Makes no sense,” says Charles about the fragmented finance software landscape Ramp aims to consolidate. Selective Automation: Charles emphasizes their approach to automating what makes sense: “Where there’s high criticality and where humans are very good at it… we need to be very cautious with where we apply AI.” Financial Data as an Asset: “Because everything happens on Ramp… we know with your location, we know the receipts, we know the actual request,” Charles explains how comprehensive data improves AI accuracy. Self-Disruption as Strategy: “If you don’t build the thing that kills you, someone else will,” says Charles on Ramp’s proactive approach to reimagining their products in an AI-first world. “We’re continuing to really push leaders to build capabilities with their reporting lines,” says Charles. “It’s important for us to continue scaling and promoting internally, which is a big part of our culture at Ramp — to find early talent, to mentor them, to grow them, and to give them unlimited growth potential within the company.” Geoff describes the product culture at Ramp as “intense,” with product managers serving as the “pace keepers and pacemakers” of the tech organization. This culture of speed, decision-making, and customer-centricity has helped position Ramp as an innovator in the corporate finance space. The conversation explores how AI is transforming traditional expense management, the strategic importance of owning transaction data, and the opportunities in automating financial workflows.