CFOs

Coworking with Gina Mastantuono

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· 4 min read

Coworking is a weekly segment where we talk to CFOs and others in the finance space about their experiences, their companies, and the larger economy. And let us know if you are—or you know—a CFO we should interview.

Gina Mastantuono is CFO of SaaS company ServiceNow, which provides enterprise software for companies across IT, HR, customer service, and other systems—as she puts it— “making the world of work better for everyone.”

How does your company help clients navigate this very strange space? A lot of folks are in a hybrid where they have some employees at home and some employees in the office. How do you help companies that are negotiating with what’s really a new frontier for a lot of them?

So when COVID-19 first hit, we brainstormed as a leadership team: How could we help? So first of all, within weeks, we created what we call the emergency-response applications on our platform, and it really helped customers—also governments and cities and states—think about emergency response and how to help their citizens and/or employees when COVID-19 first hit. It was: “Think about reporting issues. What do you need? How can we help automate it?”

We fast followed that with our return-to-workplace applications. So coming back to the office now, how can you [get] folks a health screening? How can you reserve a workplace now? How can you make sure that people know where you are and if you need help? And so we have these return-to-workplace applications that really are all about helping employees and companies get their employees and their people back to the office safely.

What are some of the things that you have under your purview that maybe you didn’t expect when you first got into the world of finance? What’s different about being a CFO now?

So I have the normal purview of a CFO; I’ll have planning, accounting, investor relations, tax, treasury, a lot of all the normal CFO pieces. I also own workplace services and real estate, but I also own for the last 18 months the ESG strategy for the entire company, which I think is very unique and actually is pretty awesome. And the reason for this is ESG tech and finance, I think are inextricably linked, right? This is a shift that is fundamentally reshaping the role of the CFO.

Is there a type of CFO or people maybe that you say, ‘Hey, that’s the kind of CFO I aspire to be,’ or ‘That’s someone that I’ve learned a lot from?’

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If you think about what Amy [Hood] has been able to do at Microsoft, and Ruth [Porat] at Alphabet, they have been true role models, I think for me, and my generation, as well as for the next generation. And again, it goes back to that evolving role: They’re not seen as just bean-counters. They’re not seen as just the holder of the purse strings. It’s about being a strategic thinker. It’s about being able to see around corners. It’s about that enterprise leadership. Not only thinking that you’re responsible for the numbers, but really understanding that you’re not going to be able to achieve your strategy without incredible talent, you’re not going to be able to achieve your goals without an incredible tech backbone to the organization.

What is something about you that people couldn’t get from your LinkedIn page?

What they probably wouldn’t know is that I am the first in my family to go to college. I’ve been working since I was 13 years old. And I take that responsibility really seriously. And it’s part of what’s inside me and what drove me always to be better and to always strive and have goals and think longer term about the future.

What’s something that you would recommend to someone newer to the field to help them get a better feel for what it’s like beyond their classes, or their MBA?

What I would say is that to really understand finance, you have to come out of the books. You’ve got to really just experience it. What I would actually say is more important is to get varied experiences. Raise your hand for those challenging assignments and really push yourself outside of your comfort zone to do the things that you don’t know. The path to the top is never straight, right? Mine certainly wasn’t; it was very zigzag and you need to be willing to push yourself outside your comfort zone to get there. My favorite quote—and I wish I had come up with it—is Ginni Rometty, the ex-CEO of IBM, who said, ‘Growth and comfort don’t coexist.’ And that, to me, is how I live my career. Outside your comfort zone are really the nuggets where I think people really can learn and be their best selves.


News built for finance pros

CFO Brew helps finance pros navigate their roles with insights into risk management, compliance, and strategy through our newsletter, virtual events, and digital guides.