Finance Chief Uncut

Procurement has a direct impact on an organisation’s financial performance, but its contribution extends far beyond negotiating lower prices.For finance leaders, effective procurement can help control costs, reduce operational and supplier risk, strengthen governance and protect profitability.In this episode, Mahbub Chowdhury FCIPS, Senior VP & Head of Procurement at City Bank PLC, explores how more than 31 years in procurement and supply chain have shaped his approach to cost, efficiency and risk.Beginning his career with a finance and accounting background, Mahbub first moved into procurement while working across cost management, budgeting and inventory control. He quickly saw the connection between procurement decisions and the bottom line.Today, that financial perspective remains central to his approach.

James Briers of Intelligent Delivery Solutions explores why data quality, governance and visibility are essential foundations for successful enterprise AI adoptionAI adoption is accelerating across businesses, but the technology is only as reliable as the data behind it.For finance leaders, poor data quality can have consequences far beyond inaccurate reporting. It can affect decision-making, operational efficiency, compliance, customer relationships and, in extreme cases, the financial stability of the business.In Episode 18 of Finance Chief Uncut, host Matt High is joined by James Briers, Founder and Board Member at Intelligent Delivery Solutions (IDS), to explore why organisations need to get their data foundations right before scaling AI.Drawing on a career spanning software, data quality and enterprise transformation, James explains why businesses need greater visibility over their data and AI, how poor information can translate into financial risk and why governance must become an ongoing business process rather than a periodic exercise.His message to finance leaders is clear: AI may offer significant opportunities, but businesses cannot expect reliable results if the data feeding it is inaccurate, fragmented or poorly governed.

Rod Freeman, VP of Customer Success at Globality, explores how finance leaders can use AI to drive ROI, unlock savings and transform procurementAI investment is accelerating, but board expectations are changing just as quickly.Businesses are moving beyond experimentation. Leaders now want to know where AI can reduce costs, improve productivity and deliver measurable returns.In Episode 17 of Finance Chief Uncut, host Matt High is joined by Rod Freeman, VP of Customer Success at Globality, to explore what Global 2000 organisations actually need from AI and why procurement could become one of the clearest areas for demonstrating its financial impact.With more than 20 years of top-tier management consulting experience and work across more than 100 global organisations, Rod has helped businesses navigate large-scale transformation.His message is simple: adopting the technology is only part of the challenge. Businesses need to rethink how they operate if they want AI to deliver meaningful value.

Finance leaders spend their careers managing risk, scrutinising decisions and protecting the financial health of their organisations. But being too risk-averse can come at a cost.From knowing when to hold your position to recognising when it is time to walk away, many of the skills required around the poker table have direct parallels with the decisions finance leaders make every day.In Episode 16 of Finance Chief Uncut, host Ella Wilkinson meets Jo Living, Founder of Aces High, to explore what poker can teach finance professionals about negotiation, risk, assertiveness, emotional control and decision-making under pressure.After a decade in investment banking followed by 10 years across startups, innovation and entrepreneurship, Jo founded Aces High to use poker as an immersive way of helping professionals understand how they behave in high-stakes situations.Rather than focusing on gambling, Aces High strips that element away and uses the strategic principles of poker to explore how people communicate, negotiate, assess risk and respond when the pressure rises.

What does AI-native finance actually mean for SMEs and growing businesses? Adam Barbera, Co-Founder and CEO of Dost AI, joins host Matt High to explain how AI is democratising financial intelligence, why the trust problem is harder to crack than the technology one and what it looks like when a business owner can finally make financial decisions with the same quality of insight as a large organisation. Practical, grounded and directly relevant for finance leaders thinking about what comes next.

The role of the CFO is evolving faster than ever. As AI automates routine work and businesses demand greater agility, finance leaders are expected to understand operations, drive strategy and make decisions that extend far beyond the balance sheet.In this episode of the Finance Chief Podcast, host Ella Wilkinson meets Aidana Zhakupbekova, Chief Operational & Financial Officer (COFO) at Rydoo, to discuss the changing face of finance leadership, why operational knowledge is becoming essential for CFOs, how AI should augment rather than replace human judgement, and why creating equal opportunities is key to building stronger finance teams.Having built her career from a junior finance role at IBM at just 19 years old to executive leadership across startups and scaleups, Aidana shares the lessons that have shaped her approach to leadership, business growth and 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.