Spend Culture: Stories Of Cfos And Company Culture

How AI, Speed, and Visibility Are Transforming Mid-Market Procurement In this episode, we’re joined by Xavier Olivera, Procure-Tech Lead Analyst at Spend Matters, and Jeffrey Hardy, Chief Revenue Officer at Procurify, to explore how mid-market finance and procurement teams are adapting to new challenges with the help of AI, automation, and better visibility. You’ll learn: What’s changing in mid-market procurement—and why it matters The top priorities for finance and procurement leaders in 2025 How scalable tools are closing workflow and visibility gaps Real-world stories of procurement transformation in action Whether you're a CFO, procurement leader, or ops manager, this conversation will help you better understand how modern teams are boosting agility and control across spend processes. Topics Include: AI in procurement Workflow automation and visibility Unified platforms for smarter decision-making Best practices for scaling mid-market procurement For more resources, visit procurify.com

Candid conversations about what really happens behind the numbers.   In this episode, we sit down with Vikas Kante, Head of Finance at Mitra Chem, for an unfiltered look into the decision-making moments that shape high-growth companies. From navigating complex tradeoffs to aligning strategy across investors, boards, suppliers, and customers, Vikas shares how finance leaders can stay agile without losing control.   We unpack: The inflection points that actually moved the needle — from tech stack shifts to workflow redesigns How to scale finance operations without compromising strategic vision The role of AI and automation in shaping the next era of spend management   About Our Guest Vikas Kante brings a rare blend of investor insight and operational rigor to his role at Mitra Chem, a pioneer in domestic cathode manufacturing. With over $200M raised in private and government capital and a career spanning private credit to startup leadership, he offers a front-row view into what it really takes to scale strate

In this Digest edition of Spend Culture, we break down key insights from Procurify’s 2025 Procurement Benchmark Report. Built on $20B+ in real procurement data, this episode explores how organizations can use benchmarking across 11 key KPIs to spot inefficiencies and identify opportunities for optimization. The KPIs are tied to major procurement objectives like maximizing supplier value, cutting costs, and tracking procurement’s impact on financial health. We walk through the report’s major objectives, highlight the critical metrics, and share how you can use these benchmarks to assess performance and guide future improvements. This episode was generated using AI narration to deliver insights quickly and efficiently.

Can charter schools beat budget pressure? In this episode, Raj Thakkar, Founder & CEO at CSBM, shares proven strategies from his Fiscal Responsibility Method to help charter schools tackle financial challenges, optimize spending, and ensure fiscal responsibility. Gain actionable insights from an award-winning financial leader with 20+ years of experience in charter school finance, and discover how to prepare your school for long-term stability and growth.

How are finance leaders preparing for 2025–2026 budgeting? In this episode, school finance leaders share strategies for financial stability, transparency, streamlined operations, and compliance. Get ahead of the curve with insights from experienced leaders on adapting to funding shifts, rethinking staffing models, and navigating the complexities of modern charter school finance.

Hear how real charter school leaders are streamlining purchasing and AP workflows in this episode featuring four charter school leaders on the cutting edge of procurement transformation. Hear firsthand how they’ve optimized purchasing workflows, improved budget visibility, and leveraged technology to streamline operations. Learn how to tackle rogue spending, gain real-time spend visibility, and stay compliant as budgets tighten and regulations increase.

What does smarter school spending look like in action? This episode explores how AI-powered procurement and AP tools are helping schools cut costs, reduce manual work, and gain control over every dollar—just in time for budgeting season. Listen to learn about Procurify’s latest features, including AI-powered contract management and AP automation, and learn how these tools can help your school save time, stretch your budget further, and eliminate procurement headaches during budgeting season.

In this episode of Spend Culture Stories, Darrell Cox, CFO at Vena Solutions, explains how technology is bridging the gap between finance and everyone else, why self-created uncertainty can be a boost, and the importance of being a business partner as well as a numbers guy.

In this episode, Anna McGovern, the Chief Supply Chain Officer at Food Bank for New York City and procurement/supply chain influencer shares how procurement can truly have a seat at the executive table as a business partner. Procurement is often seen as a cost-cutting role, but Anna gives specific case studies and examples on how procurement can truly become a value-driver, and how it can influence innovation within organizations big and small.

Twyla Verhelst joins us to chat about how accounting leaders can adopt an entrepreneurial mindset to their work, and how to elevate themselves to become better business partners to the organizations they work for. In addition, Twyla provides some great tips to deal with change management and automation issues, and how to overcome them.

In this episode, Sam Gupta, the Principal Consultant at ElevatIQ and host of the WBS Rocks podcast joins us to discuss how growing companies can identify whether they are ready for an ERP, and also how to make the best decision on behalf of their organization. We chat about ERP implementations gone wrong, how to evaluate a solution, and getting the right stakeholders on board to make your tech stack a success.

Pamela Steer, CFO of Payments Canada and CFO of the Year™ award winner for 2019 joins us in this episode to chat about the newest developments in Payments, and also her experiences being a woman finance leader. We chat about how organizations can leverage the newest payment technology to stay competitive in 2021, and how to elevate other women in the finance and accounting sector.   

In this episode, Softbank Vision Fund's CFO and Managing Partner Navneet Govil shares his insights on scaling the vision fund's finance team, how he was able to use technology to make finance strategic, and his opinions on how finance leaders can be better business partners. In addition, he gives a glimpse into how Softbank Vision Fund selects their portfolio companies and how portfolio company CFOs can benefit from being a part of the Vision Fund ecosystem. 

In this episode, Evan Wells, the VP BizOps & Financial Services at Jirav shares the biggest challenges organizations face when budgeting in a remote world. We discuss how finance leaders can make accurate forecasts when we're still in a world of uncertainty, and how Jirav is also navigating the new year as an organization.

In this episode, Scott Omelianuk, Editor-in-Chief of Inc. joins us to chat about the biggest learnings business owners had from 2020, and strategies on how small-medium businesses can regain momentum for success in a new year. Scott also shares his lessons as an entrepreneur himself, and how he helped other companies pivot and scale even within a crisis.

In this episode, Pinder Sekhon, the Sr Director of Finance at Vancouver-based company Unbounce shares her experience as a people-first finance leader who made her transition from the more bureaucratic, traditional industries to the agile, fast-paced culture at Unbounce. She shares how to build a proactive spend culture using technology, and how finance leaders can balance control with trust in fast-scaling organizations.

Shouvik Roy, the CFO of Drop joined the company during the 2020 pandemic, having to adapt to a new team and environment while being completely remote. As a seasoned financial executive in the fintech sector, Shouvik discusses the challenges in tech startups during downturns, as well as the CFO's role in setting vision, strategy, and fundraising in 2021

In this episode, Jenny Bloom, the Chief Financial Officer at Zapier shares her learnings as a seasoned finance executive at multiple fast-growing tech companies. She chats with us about how to support team members during remote work, how Zapier has adapted throughout the downturn, and their plans for growth in 2021.

Wajdi Goussoub, the Director of Finance at Plooto gets honest about the changes and sacrifices made during the pandemic, and how he built a successful spend processes that empowers the individual team members within the company. Wajdi also draws to his prior experience as a VC and identifies what makes successful startups stand out from the rest.

Managing Hypergrowth and Achieving IPO in a Downturn Economy In this episode, Jim Kelliher, the CFO at Drift shares how Drift became the fastest growing tech company in Boston, and how they navigated strategic challenges during a downturn by being customer-centric, trusting the team, and investing in the right processes and people. In addition, Jim shares his advice on IPO best practices from his previous CFO roles, and what a finance executive needs to think about before going public. Speakers: Jim Kelliher, Chief Financial Officer, Drift Jim Kelliher is the Chief Financial Officer at Drift, a Boston-based tech company. Drift is a Revenue Acceleration platform that uses Conversational Marketing and Conversational Sales to help companies grow revenue and sales. He is an expert at building tech startups through escalating organizational processes and expanded systems of growth as a financial executive. Jim shares his skill set on adapting towards long term market scale and how investing in people-based tr