From Microsoft Teams to Zoom

Michelle Chang saw the start and end of the pandemic at two of the companies most associated with remote work. During 2020, she was the CFO of Microsoft Teams. In 2024, as masks became a rarer sight and return to office mandates ticked up, she became the CFO of Zoom.

Chang has also worked under some of the most prominent tech CFOs, Nvidia’s Colette Kress and Microsoft’s Amy Hood.

CFO Brew spoke with her about her CFO career.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

As we’re seeing more return to office mandates, how are you thinking about that trend for Zoom?

We’re a company that is deeply rooted in, believes in hybrid. I think you see some companies swinging the pendulum, especially in the Seattle area—it’s a hot topic right now with Amazon and Microsoft. But from a Zoom perspective and a personal belief perspective, I think there’s a healthy balance in that. Sometimes you are at your most effective when you’re at home, in the groove, getting that deep work done. And then there are times where the interactions with your coworkers and the face-to-face meetings and the feeling part of something is also deeply important. And so Zoom and I [are] deeply aligned with, “let’s find the balance between the two dialogues.”

What was one of the most surprising things about the transition to Zoom from Microsoft Teams?

There’s a lot of differences in moving from a large, very mature behemoth of a company like Microsoft, down to Zoom, which is also a large company. So there’s all those transitions, but honestly, I’ve loved the ability to really enact change, to enact strategy pushes. It’s been a delight. This is a good fit. This is stuff where I feel like I can really help an iconic company.

How has the CFO role changed for you over your career?

When I was early stages in my career, there was sort of the ‘CFO is the Department of No,’ or the CFO is like ‘the looking-back person,’ or the CFO that just saw things as numbers.The two CFOs that I’ve worked for that probably had the biggest shape on my life were Colette Kress, who’s the CFO of Nvidia, and Amy [Hood], the CFO of Microsoft. You couldn’t get two more powerhouse examples of the CFO of the future…Of course, the job was to push on strategy. Of course, the job was to push on accountability frameworks and broad systems and the operations and guts of the company. Of course you were to ask the challenging questions. Of course, you had a seat at the table. And so I feel blessed to have never really grown up with a mentality that the job is anything other than that. But certainly reflecting on that, I think earlier in my career, it was about getting a seat at the table, being the trusted advisor.

Do you have any advice for CFOs?

There are so few jobs that really see left to right across a company…Lean in to the idea that really the CFO is about making the business healthier in every dimension. Really, see far less limits on the job than the opportunity.