FP&A Today

Tom Hinkle, senior leader in data and analytics at TIAA, has  built his career at the intersection of finance, technology, and strategy. He also has a budding YouTube channel (Tom's Data World, which includes instructional videos on Excel, SQL, and AI). He's worked extensively with Excel (is a Microsoft MVP) and SQL, as well as Tableau and Power BI, and has worked with major financial institutions, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and TIAA. 

"Nobody really gets excited about spending money on data governance. They get excited about machine learning, about AI, about data storytelling — everybody wants seminars on that. But data governance? At the end of the day, you're coming up with something you thought was right anyway, and then you're asking someone to spend more money just to make sure it's right."

Why data governance is the foundation of AI 

Trust but verify challenges

The two sides of data governance: master data management vs. data quality and controls

How FP&A teams should think about their role as downstream consumers of data

Why domain expertise is still non-negotiable in the age of vibe coding

Tom's Minesweeper-in-Excel story, and what it taught him about prompting

What does it actually take to move FP&A activities into a shared service organization at Coca-Cola— and then transform how a global marketing giant manages billions in spend? Sébastien Privel, Senior Director Financial Services FP&A, has done both.

Sébastien Privel career spans pharma controllership in late-'90s Beijing to country CFO for France, being involved in the implementation Coca-Cola's global FP&A shared services from scratch, before leading a multi-year marketing finance transformation

 

In this episode 

Building finance infrastructure from scratch in 1990s China — from rice paper ledgers to SAP, with floppy disks in between. 

Business partnering and being the finance voice in multi functions projects (including Coca-Cola buying Tropico an iconic French brand) 

Driving transformation in the FP&A area standardizing processes and moving key activities to a shared service organisation

Experimenting with AI including baseline forecasting and the real impact

Cindy Vindasius is the founder and CEO of Vindasius Advisory, and former Corporate Controller, and has spent more than 30 years helping high growth and enterprise companies build scalable finance systems. She's led more than a dozen ERP implementations across platforms like NetSuite, SAP, and Oracle, and has supported multiple IPOs, M&A transactions, and global compliance efforts. Her interview provides a wealth of information for FP&A professionals

 

Why FP&A need to be involved in ERP implementation for enhanced reporting 

New wave of AI-driven ERPs: what I really think 

The ROI of an ERP Implementation 

ERP Mastery Program 6 video course: https://www.vindasius.com/mastery-program

Mykola is Finance Business Partner at Merlin Entertainments – offering some of the most popular attractions in the world including LEGOLAND Resorts, Thorpe Park and Alton Towers. Merlin welcomes more than 62 million guests annually to its diverse global estate in over 20 countries. Before Merlin, Mykola spent several years as a finance director at a fast-growing law firm, where the business tripled in size in just a few years.

In this episode:

Finance in a law firm - getting from technical finance to business partnering

Reducing risk as the Ukraine war started 

The business of Merlin Entertainment - from forecasting to cost control

Working with procurement on validation of costs

key metrics including attendance, guest spends and promotion

The power of business partnering: consistency, curiosity and understanding your business

Adam Hibbs has pretty non-linear paths into finance:New Zealand telecom regulator, OfCom, Vodafone, Cable & Wireless, UK Ministry of Defense, and now Global Director of Commercial Strategy at AICPA & CIMA. Financial modeling, commercial contracts, cloud infrastructure, and leadership across blue-chip organizations was preparation for building Josie, that is AICPA & CIMA's generative AI tool for accounting and auditing.

In this episode:

What makes Josie genuinely different from ChatGPT or Claude for technical accounting work

Curated dataset of 40,000 pieces of proprietary IP, real-time updates to FASB, PCAOB, and auditing standards

Josie ($550 per subscriber) named after Josiah Wedgwood and a new form of cost accounting

CGMA vs CPA

Where AI and finance intersect in the next 12-24 months