Xero’s CFO: Why Finance Is Taking On More of the Business

In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ Gustafson sits down with Xero CFO Claire Bramley to discuss how the CFO role is expanding beyond finance into strategy, operations, transformation, and technology. Claire also shares how she builds teams around her weaknesses, what small businesses actually want from AI, and why she views diversity as a business performance decision.—SPONSORS:Maximor is an autonomous finance platform that runs order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, the close, cash management, and reporting on self-learning agents instead of a dozen disconnected tools. One PE-backed customer posts 98% of transactions directly to its ERP, with the remaining 2% routed to a human for review. You pay for outcomes, not seats. See it at https://www.maximor.ai/Brex is an intelligent finance platform with AI-powered workflows that enforce expense policies at the point of sale, match receipts automatically, and reduce month-end close from weeks to hours. Thousands of companies, including Anthropic, Coinbase, and DoorDash, already run on Brex. Stop asking A-level finance talent to do B-level admin work. Learn more at https://www.brex.com/metricsAnrok is the sales tax platform that watches your exposure everywhere, automates compliance, and flags risk before it turns into a surprise back-tax letter from a state you've never set foot in. Companies like Anthropic, Notion, and Vanta already trust Anrok to stay ahead of rules that move faster than any spreadsheet can. Talk to a sales tax expert for a personalized exposure estimate at https://www.anrok.com/rtnRightRev is a revenue recognition platform built for the AI economy, helping finance support usage-based pricing, credits, hybrid contracts, seats plus consumption, and whatever commercial model comes next. It gives product teams the freedom to keep innovating without outdated revenue systems slowing them down. Learn how RightRev can help at https://rightrev.com/cjPulley is an equity management platform that lets you issue options, model dilution, and complete 409As without your cap table turning into a spreadsheet disaster. Founders raising, hiring, and scaling use Pulley to keep equity clean and stay focused on building. Learn more or request a demo at https://pulley.com/mostlymetricsRillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj—LINKS: Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsNGuest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-bramley-133b7174/Company: https://www.xero.com/CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com—TIMESTAMPS:0:00 Preview and Intro3:00 Xero and CJ's History With It4:12 Xero's Size and Scale Today5:10 The Expanding CFO Role7:06 Hiring Experts You're Not8:47 Imposter Syndrome11:00 Getting Better at Asking Questions15:04 Asking the "Stupid Question"16:21 Finance as the Corporate Junk Drawer17:48 The Trial Period Idea18:24 Tripwires: Leading Indicators for CFOs25:35 AI Hype vs. Main Street Reality26:44 What Small Business Owners Actually Want28:45 What Big Corps Underestimate31:10 Trust as a Competitive Moat33:45 Why the Line Is Thinner for Small Biz35:12 AI Inside Claire's Finance Team37:23 AI for Investor Relations39:28 Diversity as Capital Allocation42:07 A Decision Diversity Changed44:45 Lightning Round Begins46:06 Advice to Her Younger Self48:49 Craziest Expense Ever#RunTheNumbersPodcast #CFOLife #FinanceLeadership #AIinFinance #WomenInFinance