Strategic Finance Lab

Insights from Mastercard’s Nima Sepasy on finance use cases for solutions built with emerging tech like generative AI. Finance leaders who may be a tad tired of questions from senior executives or board members on how they plan to put the magic of generative artificial intelligence to work should not let the hype overshadow this reality: Gen AI has “inherent superpowers” they can tap to reach higher levels of accuracy, efficiency and transformation in areas including cash forecasting, liquidity management and cross-border payments. That’s one takeaway from this week's interview about AI, machine learning and other emerging technologies with Mastercard Senior Vice President for Innovation, Insight and Engagement Nima Sepasy.

Todd Thorsen, who overhauled the 401(k) plan while at Medtronic, says ‘cognitive empathy’ is key to collaboration. Mr. Thorsen’s 27-year career in corporate finance and investing has not been carefully choreographed. “I’d love to say there was a master plan, but there really isn’t for me,” he says in the in the latest episode of the Strategic Finance Lab podcast. The road he took includes stints at General Mills, Blue Cross Blue Shield, working as investment advisor for high net-worth clients, and more than a dozen years at Medtronic, where he rose to be head of global investments. Today, the former NeuGroup member is CEO of a family-owned holding company called Hunter, Keith Industries, where he oversees private equity investments. “Sometimes those off-the-beaten-path opportunities, embracing those, gives you some experiences and some confidence you wouldn’t necessarily get just kind of staying on the narrow path,” he tells NeuGroup’s Antony Michels. Other advice: “Don’t be afraid to say, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ Don’t be afraid to make a change.”

Breaking down traditional barriers between finance and technology teams is transforming the way treasury departments tackle digital transformation initiatives. At Bechtel Corporation, assistant treasurer Dan Degagne embraced this approach by recruiting fintech expert Shayly Nguyen from the company’s IT team to join treasury, significantly enhancing efficiency and productivity. In this episode, NeuGroup’s Justin Jones speaks with Mr. Degagne and Ms. Nguyen about how hiring someone with a technology background—rather than experience in finance—has improved treasury’s day-to-day operations through increased automation.

Zac Nesper worked long and hard to become treasurer of HP in 2018 after being, in his words, “passed over five times” for the job. He thrived in the role, has a passion for treasury and has high praise for “great bosses” who gave him opportunities and responsibilities in treasury and other areas within finance. So why did Mr. Nesper decide to leave treasury in 2023 and exit HP this year after more than two decades? In this newest episode of the Strategic Finance Lab, he tells NeuGroup founder and CEO Joseph Neu that he realized several years ago that his two daughters—both highly-skilled softball players—would only be in the house three more years. And “I have this crazy hunger to just spend time with them.”

In this episode, Bristol Myers Squibb’s Bill Brewer, a member of the company's financial risk management (FRM) team, shares insights with NeuGroup’s Justin Jones on the risk mindset he developed in previous roles within audit, and how that informs his current approach. He also shares about the FRM team, a small group within treasury that focuses on foreign exchange and interest rate hedging, commodities exposure, counterparty risk and the company's short-term cash portfolio. Earlier in his career, Mr. Brewer was a certified public accountant who spent time at Deloitte, and joined BMS initially in internal audit. In the podcast, he says his experience in IA gave him a unique view of the company’s different functional areas, helping him to bridge the gap of working with business units outside of treasury.

The most sophisticated finance and treasury teams are ahead of the curve in turning heaps of data into actionable insights, often with the aid of visualization tools that tell a story better than just facts and figures. A fintech called Treasury4 wants to make data-driven decision-making more accessible than ever for corporates of any size. In this episode of the Strategic Finance Lab podcast, NeuGroup founder and CEO Joseph Neu speaks with the fintech’s three founders about how the company’s software solutions can help treasurers and other finance professionals make better use of data. One of the founders and Treasury4’s chief product officer is a longtime friend of NeuGroup and a former member of several of our peer groups: Ed Barrie. In a previous role at Itron, Mr. Barrie met his two co-founders: Steve Helmbrecht, president and CEO of Treasury4; and Nathan Brown, the fintech’s chief analytics officer—and a former NeuGroup member. Please listen to the podcast now to hear the three founders discuss Treasury4's tools, as well as the company’s journey from inception—with a vision tracing back to Mr. Barrie’s experience as treasurer at Tableau, where he embarked on a mission to unravel the intricacies of treasury data.

C2FO CEO Sandy Kemper describes how the fintech he founded in 2008 provides fast, flexible access to low-cost working capital to suppliers, some of whom struggle to get bank loans. C2FO’s platform enables large corporations to pay their suppliers early in exchange for a discount set by the supplier. Mr. Kemper says early payments help eliminate “friction” in a banking system he calls antiquated and rife with pain points. As he tells NeuGroup founder and CEO Joseph Neu, Mr. Kemper’s opinions about the banking system are grounded in hands-on experience in an industry whose role in economic growth he greatly respects.

Companies face cooling inflation but elevated wage growth amid a slowing economy with recession unlikely. In this episode, Fitch Ratings’ head of US Regional Economics Olu Sonola paints a relatively positive picture of the economic outlook in 2024, thanks in large part to the strength of the US consumer and declining inflation. “The balance sheet of the US consumer is very, very strong,” he tells NeuGroup Peer Group leader Andy Podolsky in the podcast recorded in December 2023 and sponsored by Fitch. This week, Fitch raised its annual real consumer spending forecast for 2024 to 1.3% from 0.6%, “reflecting the ongoing willingness and ability of consumers to draw down buffers of excess savings.” That said, Mr. Sonola forecasts that both consumer spending and US GDP growth will slow this year from 2023, with negative implications for corporate revenues, especially for companies whose customers are on the lower end of the income scale, he explains in the podcast.

Citi’s Ron Chakravarti discusses the keys to treasury success on a new episode of the Strategic Finance Lab podcast.Few people in the world of banking know as much about how corporate treasury teams can raise their games and bring more value to companies than Ron Chakravarti, head of global treasury advisory at Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions. His insights are backed by the experience of advising hundreds of companies looking to improve their management of liquidity, working capital and risk. In the latest episode of NeuGroup’s Strategic Finance Lab podcast available on Apple and Spotify, Mr. Chakravarti shares those insights with NeuGroup founder and CEO Joseph Neu. Their conversation includes takeaways from Treasury Leadership: Does it Matter?, a Citi GPS study Mr. Chakravarti co-authored. Based on a survey of over 300 Citi clients, the study concludes that companies that deliver superior financial performance also have top-performing treasury leaders and teams.

Tadd Fowler wears two big hats at Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest consumer goods company. He’s head of global tax operations—a natural fit for a former PwC tax partner—and also took on the treasurer role in 2021. In the newest episode of The Strategic Finance Lab, he explains how an accountant steeped in the world of tax “got very comfortable very quickly” also running treasury at a multinational that sells products in 180 countries. He gives lots of credit to P&G treasury team members whose mastery of areas including capital markets, insurance and pensions helped him learn the nuances of bond deals, cross-currency swaps and how to manage banking relationships. He also praises peers and peer groups for his quick education in treasury. His deep commitment to learning, as well as knowing what questions to ask, also played a crucial role. “When opportunities presented themselves, I tried to be very engaged in things that normally someone at my level might not be engaged in. I just tried to take advantage of it and learn from it," he said.