How a stint as interim CFO prepared this finance exec

Alexander Davis recently completed a six-month dry run as the finance chief of Pie Insurance, where he was already working as deputy CFO. It’s safe to say the trial went well, as Davis took the reins as full-time CFO in July.

Davis, who joined Pie as deputy CFO in June 2024, told CFO Brew that the interim period helped him better prepare for the permanent job.

It’s common at Pie “for internally promoted executives to serve on an interim basis,” he said, and it helped him gear up for the “external-facing relationship management aspect to the CFO role.” Davis discussed his game plan for building relationships with internal and external stakeholders, and the other opportunities and projects he’ll be focusing on in the next 12 months, including changes to the company’s forecasting plans.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What did you see as the benefit of first serving on an interim basis?

It’s a test-and-learn [period]. The role of the deputy CFO and the role of the CFO are different. There is much more of an external-facing relationship management aspect to the CFO role that I did not have when I was a deputy CFO. I had plenty of board exposure, but I wasn’t the point of contact for all CFO organization matters, and I think our board wanted to see that I was an adequate candidate. They’re very willing to follow the lead of our CEO, who also wanted to see that I was an adequate candidate.

I think for highly visible, highly senior executive roles, a little bit of prudence is important, and so this test-and-learn period gives me the opportunity to see if this is a role I want. It gives the company the opportunity to see if I am the person they want in this role, and it allows for feedback at all levels of the organization, which I know our CEO collected before making the decision to appoint me.

What are the other differences between your role and responsibilities as deputy CFO and now the CFO?

There is no safety net or no next person to go to when a decision is complicated or when there is something that requires resolution. It stops at me now. And that’s not to say that I don’t rely on my CEO and that we don’t make decisions together—we certainly do—but for much of the technical matters within the office of the CFO, it is my responsibility now to make the final call, and to stand behind that call and defend that call.

The external-facing [responsibilities include] meeting with the rating agencies, the regulators, the banks, the investors, the board and the audit committee chair, and it’s that kind of stuff where I have to build relationships…That doesn’t happen overnight. It requires time.

What do you think is key in building those relationships?

The key to any relationship is trust. Whether you’re an auditor, or a regulator, or a rating agency, you want to know that what I’m telling you is correct, it’s truthful, [and] it’s not grossly omitting anything.

One of the things I’ve also employed, particularly with outside parties, is oftentimes they’re asking a question and they’re getting at an important topic but they’re not exactly asking it in the right way, and I am typically willing to offer additional context or additional response beyond directly what was asked. I have found that that’s very well received.

What else in the coming 12 months will you be occupied with as the new CFO?

One of the things I’m focused on is gaining broader market and macroeconomic insight in our group, and using that to influence our forecasts and plans. A lot of my career, I [did] forecasting and planning agnostic to external markets…I think in this business, particularly in insurance, the market can have a significant impact on future and forward-looking financial results and projections, and so just kind of building out that capability and leveraging that in our planning and forecasting is something I would like to accomplish in the next year.

In what way can you better incorporate some of those macro factors into forecasting?

It is [about] getting the right data, but it’s distilling it down to what’s important for us…We primarily insure boots-on-the-ground, hammer-swinging, hard-working small businesses, and they are influenced and impacted by job creation, by interest rates, by inflation—both producer and core. [We ask,] “Can we take a look at what’s going on in the macroeconomic environment, understand how it impacts those that we deeply care about, our insureds, and what it’s likely going to mean for them?”