FEI Podcast

What happens when a finance team lacks the capacity to keep transformation moving? Host Heather Cole talks with Jill Eubank, Executive Vice President of Randstad Professional Talent Solutions, about manual debt – the legacy workarounds, brittle processes, and key person dependencies that hold back AI ROI – and the operational insurance that keeps daily work flowing while teams transform. In this e...

Keith Ferrazzi wrote Never Eat Alone , the book that defined modern relationship building. He became chief marketing officer of Deloitte by age 30, and today, as founder and chairman of Ferrazzi Greenlight, he coaches executive teams at some of the world’s largest companies through transformation. In this episode of the FEI Podcast, he turns to the ideas in his latest book, Never Lead Alone , and...

If your budget is technically accurate but disconnected from where your company is headed, you don’t have a numbers problem – you have an alignment problem. In this sponsored episode of the FEI Podcast, Ryan Langenbrunner, Worldwide Leader for Planning Analytics with IBM’s Chief Data Office; Bill Primerano, Worldwide CTO for AI Analytics at IBM; and Michael Bernaiche, Director of AI Analytics Soft...

CFO and Member of FEI Dallas Mark Dendle joins the FEI Podcast to discuss the frameworks that have guided his career leading financial transformations across public companies, private equity-backed businesses, and family-owned enterprises. Dendle shares his approach to acquisition integration, his ABC method for prioritizing competing initiatives, why compensation must align with the outcomes an o...

Recorded live at the FEI Financial Leaders Forum in San Antonio, this episode features Jill Nelson, CFO of Texas811, who went from call center representative to the C-suite. Nelson discusses how she blends art and finance through her Wander Workshop program, the neuroscience behind creative practice, and how clear vision and change management help teams move past fear, resistance, and manual work...

This episode explores the reaction tax, a concept describing the hidden costs businesses pay when decision windows close before leadership sees the warning signs. Thomas DeFabrizio, CFO of Impellam Group Americas, walks through the KPIs, shared definitions, and compensation strategies financial leaders can use to move from reactive firefighting to proactive, future-focused leadership, along with h...

Dolly Lalvani, a CPA and FEI Central Pennsylvania Chapter Leader, joins the FEI Podcast to share how a promise to her father shaped her path to the CPA license, why she treats mentorship as a two-way commitment rather than a transaction, and what active involvement in FEI Chapters, state boards, and NASBA has taught her about belonging to a profession. The conversation closes with her perspective...

What if your AI strategy is already at risk, not because your team is behind on AI, but because finance is trying to run the future on systems built for the past? In this episode, Alex Curran, CEO of Aptitude Software, discusses why AI success in finance is an architecture issue, a data issue, and a leadership issue. Curran shares her SCALE framework for assessing whether a finance function is rea...

What happens when a CFO trades the structure of a traditional corporate finance career for the unpredictability of a startup? In this episode, recorded live at FEI's Financial Leaders Forum in San Antonio, host Heather Cole sits down with Chrissy O'Hara, CFO of SoftLedger , to talk about the real tradeoffs of entrepreneurial freedom: cash flow stress, family members who keep asking when the “real...

What happens when a CFO realizes AI could replace her job, and decides to master it instead? In this episode, host Heather Cole sits down with Kevina Purmanund, CFO of the 1826 Group, live from the FEI Financial Leaders Forum in San Antonio. Purmanund shares how a single conversation with an investor sparked her AI journey, how she now runs ChatGPT, Claude, and Copilot side by side to compare resu...

What if the biggest AI challenge for CFOs is not the technology itself, but the culture and processes required to use it well? In this episode, host Heather Cole sits down with Jennifer Witts (Partner) and Kyle Vroegh (Director) of CohnReznick's Client Advisory Services Practice to unpack what separates financial leaders seeing real AI results from those spinning their wheels. They cover where CFO...

In this episode of the FEI Podcast, Tom Alexander and Scott Peck of CrossCountry Consulting discuss findings from the Evolution of the Finance Function Report by Financial Education & Research Foundation (FERF). The conversation explores how the role of finance is expanding beyond reporting to include strategy, transformation, and enterprise leadership. It also highlights key challenges, inclu...

In this special Icons edition of the FEI Podcast, Brenda Zamzow, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles , discusses how financial leaders can stay relevant in a rapidly changing world. Drawing on decades of experience across public accounting, entrepreneurship, and nonprofit leadership, Zamzow shares how to transform finance from a gatekeeping function int...

In this FEI Podcast Icons episode, Dana Bober, retired EY partner and C-suite advisor , discusses how financial leaders can bridge the gap between strategy and execution, lead through influence, and adapt to the rapid rise of AI. Drawing on decades of global experience, she explores the importance of listening, stakeholder alignment, and building future-ready finance teams. This episode is part of...

In this special Icons edition of the FEI Podcast, Teri Reinseth, Senior Vice President, Corporate Controller, and Chief Accounting Officer at 3M discusses how financial leaders can keep pace with rapid change by simplifying processes, strengthening cross-functional alignment, and enabling finance teams to move faster without sacrificing accuracy or compliance. She also shares insights on preparing...

In this special edition of the FEI Podcast leading up to Financial Executives International’s ICONS: Leaders in Finance event, Heather Cole interviews Alice Jolla, Chief Accounting Officer at Microsoft and Board Director at Rockwell Automation . Jolla reflects on her journey from counting cash for her father’s businesses as a child to leading finance at one of the world’s largest technology compan...

In this special Icons edition of the FEI Podcast, Heather Cole interviews Catherine Hoovel, former SVP, Chief Accounting Officer, and Controller of McDonald’s Corporation . Hoovel shares insights from her nearly 30-year career, including how articulating long-term aspirations reshaped her leadership trajectory, why AI is redefining entry-level finance roles, and how financial leaders must rethink...

In this special edition of the FEI Podcast, Heather Cole interviews Muneera Carr , Executive Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer, and Controller of Wells Fargo & Co. Carr shares her journey from minimum wage jobs to senior-level financial leadership, emphasizing performance, advocacy, and building career “range.” She also offers insights into the future of finance, the integration of acco...

What does it take to become an Icon in finance? In this compelling episode, Heather Cole, Executive Coach and Business Analytics Advisor at Lodestar Solutions, interviews Judy Wright, CFO of BTM Global Consulting, LLC, FEI Board Member, and incoming 2026 President of FEI Twin Cities. Judy’s journey is anything but conventional. Early in her career, she quit her job to test her resilience—borrowing...

This episode is the second in a special FEI Podcast series spotlighting past speakers from Financial Executives International’s ICONS: Leaders in Finance event – designed to build momentum toward ICONS 2026. Heather Cole, Executive Coach and Business Analytics Advisor at Lodestar Solutions, Inc., interviews Patti Humble, former Chief Accounting Officer at UPS, Institute of Management Accounta...

Nobody becomes an icon by staying comfortable. In this special ICONS: Leaders in Finance edition of the FEI Podcast, Heather Cole – Executive Coach and Business Analytics Advisor at Lodestar Solutions – interviews Amber Kinney, Chief Financial Officer of the American College of Emergency Physicians . Amber’s career path is anything but traditional. From a background in the performing arts to execu...

Nearly half of all companies say their B2B payment processes need major improvement. Over 70% still rely on manual AP workflows, and nearly 60% of suppliers cite high acceptance costs as a top concern. In this episode, based on a recent webinar hosted by Boost Payment Solutions and Financial Executives International (FEI), we explore the current state of B2B payments and the strategic shift toward...

In this episode of the FEI Podcast, we explore key insights from a recent webinar hosted by the Financial Education & Research Foundation (FERF) and CohnReznick, focused on Financial and Accounting Outsourcing in the Age of AI. Based on new research, this conversation highlights how finance leaders are using outsourcing to overcome resource constraints, drive strategic priorities, and adapt to...

In this episode of the FEI Podcast, Sam Peterson, EY’s Global Innovation Leader for Financial Accounting Advisory Services, explores the transformative impact of generative AI on the finance function. From the evolution of AI since its breakout moment to real-world use cases in FP&A, treasury, and financial reporting, Sam shares insights on how finance leaders can harness AI to drive efficienc...

In this deep-dive conversation, Isaac Heller (CEO, Trullion) and Shlomo Agishtein (Director of AI, Trullion) share how AI is reshaping the future of finance and accounting. From their origin stories to the development of Trulli, Trullion’s domain-specific AI, they break down what AI agents can really do, and what’s just hype. You’ll learn : How Trullion evolved AI specifically for accounting workf...