Growcfo Show

Recent Episodes

1. #301 Could Your High Standards Be Hurting Your Team? Jeanné Els GrowCFO Mentor

   Sep 15, 2026

   Jeanné Els, founder of coaching and facilitation practice Sailor and new GrowCFO Mentor, discusses how high-performing leaders' drive for excellence can inadvertently harm team confidence and autonomy. Drawing on over a decade in corporate finance across Luxembourg, investment management, and real estate, Jeanné shares her personal journey from perfectionism and burnout to building psychologically safe, high-performing teams. The episode explores how finance leaders can maintain high standards while fostering trust, delegation, and sustainable ambition—key themes in GrowCFO's finance business partnering curriculum.

2. #300 Will AI Reduce Finance Team Headcount? Dan Wells Founder & CEO, GrowCFO

   Sep 8, 2026

   Dan Wells, Founder & CEO of GrowCFO, joins host Kevin Appleby for the landmark 300th episode to discuss whether AI will reduce finance team headcount and how CFOs should prepare. The episode examines how automation, machine learning, and generative AI are reshaping core finance activities—from reporting and month-end close to forecasting—and what this means for resource planning, role design, and capability building. Dan and Kevin also announce the launch of GrowCFO Academy, a bespoke AI-powered learning platform designed to help finance leaders develop personalized competencies while staying current with rapid AI evolution.

3. #299 What It Takes to Become CFO by 33 Audrey Lagresle CFO, Automobile En Direct

   Sep 1, 2026

   Audrey Lagresle, CFO of Automobile en Direct (Quebec's largest used-car retailer), discusses her accelerated path to the CFO role by age 35, achieved through diverse experiences spanning global finance transformation at Bombardier, FP&A development in a fast-growth automotive business, and strategic leadership during market volatility. She shares how non-traditional routes—project management, M&A, and operational partnership—equipped her better for modern CFO responsibilities than traditional accounting paths, and explains her approach to AI governance, ERP transformation, and value creation in a 400-person organization.

4. #298 How Can You Fast-Track Your Career to CFO? Becky Glover Chief Financial Officer, Mazuma

   Aug 25, 2026

   Becky Glover, CFO at Mazuma, discusses her unconventional fast-track career to the CFO role without a traditional university degree, having qualified through the AAT and ACCA routes instead. She shares how diverse experiences—including running an e-commerce wine business, sitting on professional boards, and founding Connection Career Collective—accelerated her development as a modern, technology-enabled CFO. The episode explores how exposure to technology, automation, business operations, and genuine networking can significantly advance finance careers, and how CFOs can use AI and automation to create more human-centered organizations.

5. #297 How Tax Professionals Can Become Fractional CFOs with Scott Winters CEO & Chairman of the Board Financial Gravity

   Aug 18, 2026

   Scott Winters, CEO & Chairman of Financial Gravity and author of the "Good to Growing" series, discusses how tax professionals can transition into fractional CFO roles as AI commoditizes traditional tax compliance work. He introduces a five-stage business evaluation framework (evaluate, resolve weaknesses, model, scale, execute) designed to help tax advisors shift from backward-looking compliance to forward-looking strategic partnership. The episode addresses the mindset and skill shifts required, pricing models, and why the $1M–$30M revenue market segment represents a critical opportunity for fractional CFO services.

6. #296 AI Is Giving CFOs Confidently Wrong Answers Don Rogers Managing Partner & Founder, Invictus Global Advisors, LLC

   Aug 11, 2026

   Don Rogers, Managing Partner & Founder of Invictus Global Advisors, discusses why AI is amplifying finance dysfunction rather than solving it. He explains that layering powerful AI tools onto broken operating models and poor-quality data produces confidently wrong answers at scale, and introduces his 10-component Strategic Finance Operating Model as the foundation CFOs must build before implementing AI. Rogers emphasizes that change management, talent activation, process discipline, and governance are non-negotiable prerequisites for successful finance transformation.

7. #295 Can AI Replace the CFO? Rick Sanchez Managing Principal and CEO, Robyn Consulting Group

   Aug 4, 2026

   Rick Sanchez, Managing Principal and CEO of Robyn Consulting Group, discusses whether AI can replace the CFO role in SaaS and tech companies. He explores how AI accelerates decision-making and automates routine financial tasks, while emphasizing that strategy, stakeholder leadership, and unit economics expertise still require experienced finance executives. Rick outlines the three critical levers for SaaS growth (price, quantity, and retention), the importance of cash flow over profit, and how fractional CFOs blending FP&A expertise with AI tools will be best positioned to serve founder-led businesses.

8. #294 The Skills Every CFO Will Need by 2030 Myles Corson EY Global Financial Accounting Advisory Services, Strategy and Markets Leader

   Jul 28, 2026

   Myles Corson, a partner at EY leading the Global Financial Accounting Advisory Services practice, discusses EY's 15-year longitudinal survey on the DNA of the CFO role. The research reveals a significant gap between CFOs' ambition to lead value creation (60%+) and their actual involvement in strategic decision-making (only 25%), driven largely by perception challenges and finance's traditional 'keeper of the books' image. Corson explores emerging trends including AI adoption challenges, the critical importance of leadership adaptability in transformation, and the primacy of human skills—communication, collaboration, and strategic thinking—over technology in driving successful organizational change.

9. #293 Why Profitable Businesses Still Run Out of Cash, Scotty Palmer, Fractional CFO and Founder, Palmers Advisors

   Jul 21, 2026

   Scotty Palmer, founder of Palmers Advisors, discusses his transition from corporate accounting at Honey Baked Ham to fractional CFO services specializing in food and beverage businesses. The episode explores why profitable companies run out of cash, using real client examples including a craft distillery that discovered it was operating at 18.7% capacity while bleeding $40,000/month in its restaurant operations. Palmer shares his approach to helping small food and beverage businesses understand true product margins, manage growth without crashing, and avoid the 50% failure rate that affects businesses in their first five years.

10. #292 The Reporting Change Every CFO Needs to Prepare For, Paula Kensington, GrowCFO Mentor

    Jul 14, 2026