This “Back @ IT” episode is part of the “Future Office of the CFO” program and is brought to you by Vertex, an official underwriter. Vertex is creating opportunities for companies around the world, helping them stay compliant in an ever-changing tax ecosystem.
Understanding the practical uses of data and AI is a growing challenge for Chief Financial Officers. It’s critical that CFOs ask strong questions, enabling them to become data arbiters and navigate technology investment decisions.
In this “Back @ IT” episode, Pulak Sinha, CEO of Pepper, joins me to chat about data growth and stewardship, examples of how data and AI are empowering finance, and how the CFOs role has shifted.
Highlights
00:30: Pulak shares a bit about Pepper, an investment management platform company. And, he is proud of the 20+ year transition from an immigrant from India to CEO of a major company.
03:46: A central theme of platform development is data management. Not only as a core back-end component but a true asset.
These CFOs…have to be using data in ways that other organizations are not. Data and AI are going to be critical
07:10: Some business elements are now considered “table stakes” such as resilient security and data stewardship.
09:56: Diversification is an important aspect in financial teams, credit management, asset management, and portfolio management.
[CFOs] actually can do much more than others can do in asset management…they can create a level of transparency, which is very important for whichever firm they’re working for.
17:22: The pressure on CFOs to be “data ready” is vital today. On one hand, this means being technically savvy and understanding the data. On the other hand, CFOs need to be prepared to present the data, no matter the audience.
22:08: Making practical sense of “buzzwords” is crucial to CFOs. This points to where investment dollars will go, what tools to use for forecasting, and following rules-based governance.
24:56: While industry cloud solutions are providing huge gains in speed to “go live”, not one solution is the answer to all organizational needs. CFOs that are reviewing FinTech solutions need to realize that a blend of solutions might be needed to address the unique company requirements.
29:15: When deploying new technology, CFOs must consider the long-term impacts. How often will a system need to be replaced? Did we invest in a bad system? Is the current system creating opportunities for us to grow and scale?
Vertex offers tightly coupled sales and use tax solutions for D365 Finance & Operations as well as integrations to many Microsoft Dynamics ERP platforms, including D365 Business Central and Commerce, Dynamics AX, GP, NAV, available in single- or multi-tenant cloud and on-premise deployment models.
To learn more about Vertex, to book a demo, or schedule a discovery call, check out their briefing center here: https://cloudwars.com/listing/vertex-inc/
