The Covid-19 pandemic transformed the role of the CFO.

In 2020, the CFO was already evolving into a strategic partner of the CEO, involved in many business decisions. But the pandemic put that evolution in overdrive.

The work of CFOs and their teams—scenario planning, cash management, FP&A, digital transformation—became key to businesses’ survival when the world went into lockdown and the global economy came to a screeching halt.

CFO Brew spoke with pandemic-era CFOs in a variety of industries, including a toilet paper company, fast food chain Chipotle, a multicity church, and others. They told us stories from the first days of shutdowns, how they planned on the fly, and what they learned from the pandemic.

Here’s CFO Brew’s oral history of the Covid-19 pandemic, as told by finance and accounting professionals.

Keep reading.—JK

While Erica Gessert, the CFO of Upwork, has been on the finance teams of some big household name brands including PayPal and Sprint, this is her first time in the CFO chair.

Gessert describes herself as an operational CFO, who oversees everything “end to end, from product and production to delivery, adoption, and financial outcomes.”

CFO Brew asked her about prioritizing revenue streams, preparing for a possible recession, and how AI is impacting her industry.

How is being the CFO of Upwork different or similar to your role at PayPal?

One of the things that attracted me to Upwork from PayPal is that they are two-sided networks. Upwork’s a marketplace. PayPal is what we call a network, but it has two sides: merchant and consumer. [At Upwork], it’s client and knowledge worker or talent. That’s where the similarities end.

Keep reading.—JK

Identity is a tricky concept. It can encompass personal signifiers, core beliefs, and other distinctive qualities. For an industry-leading identity security company like Okta, it’s much more straightforward: It ensures you are who you say you are when navigating IT infrastructure.

Now, thanks to AI, Okta has built a completely new AI agent product, a response to growing customer demand for nonhuman identity protection. In the days before AI, that meant machines or servers; now, it means digital agents.

Here’s how Okta retooled its teams to take advantage of a burgeoning revenue stream.

Read the whole story on Revenue Brew.—BS

Skip the noise and cut to the jobs that matter. CollabWORK curates openings from top employers and shares them directly in trusted spaces like CFO Brew—click here to see the full list for readers like you.

• Vice President, CUSO Treasury Operations at SMBC Group (hybrid)
• Financial Reporting Manager at Lyric (in person)
• Investment Officer at Rockefeller University (in person)
• Risk Finance Manager at The Friedkin Group (in person)
• Director of Accounting at Principal Financial Group (in person)