“If the data's wrong, it doesn't matter how advanced your model is" - Tom Hinkle on AI and data strategy in FP&A

What does it actually take to move FP&A activities into a shared service organization at Coca-Cola— and then transform how a global marketing giant manages billions in spend? Sébastien Privel, Senior Director Financial Services FP&A, has done both.

Sébastien Privel career spans pharma controllership in late-'90s Beijing to country CFO for France, being involved in the implementation Coca-Cola's global FP&A shared services from scratch, before leading a multi-year marketing finance transformation

In this episode 

Building finance infrastructure from scratch in 1990s China — from rice paper ledgers to SAP, with floppy disks in between. 

Business partnering and being the finance voice in multi functions projects (including Coca-Cola buying Tropico an iconic French brand) 

Driving transformation in the FP&A area standardizing processes and moving key activities to a shared service organisation

Experimenting with AI including baseline forecasting and the real impact

Cindy Vindasius is the founder and CEO of Vindasius Advisory, and former Corporate Controller, and has spent more than 30 years helping high growth and enterprise companies build scalable finance systems. She's led more than a dozen ERP implementations across platforms like NetSuite, SAP, and Oracle, and has supported multiple IPOs, M&A transactions, and global compliance efforts. Her interview provides a wealth of information for FP&A professionals

• Why FP&A need to be involved in ERP implementation for enhanced reporting 
• New wave of AI-driven ERPs: what I really think 
• The ROI of an ERP Implementation 

ERP Mastery Program 6 video course: https://www.vindasius.com/mastery-program

Mykola is Finance Business Partner at Merlin Entertainments – offering some of the most popular attractions in the world including LEGOLAND Resorts, Thorpe Park and Alton Towers. Merlin welcomes more than 62 million guests annually to its diverse global estate in over 20 countries. Before Merlin, Mykola spent several years as a finance director at a fast-growing law firm, where the business tripled in size in just a few years.

In this episode:

• Finance in a law firm - getting from technical finance to business partnering
• Reducing risk as the Ukraine war started 
• The business of Merlin Entertainment - from forecasting to cost control
• Working with procurement on validation of costs
• key metrics including attendance, guest spends and promotion
• The power of business partnering: consistency, curiosity and understanding your business 

Adam Hibbs has pretty non-linear paths into finance:New Zealand telecom regulator, OfCom, Vodafone, Cable & Wireless, UK Ministry of Defense, and now Global Director of Commercial Strategy at AICPA & CIMA. Financial modeling, commercial contracts, cloud infrastructure, and leadership across blue-chip organizations was preparation for building Josie, that is AICPA & CIMA's generative AI tool for accounting and auditing.

In this episode:

• What makes Josie genuinely different from ChatGPT or Claude for technical accounting work
• Curated dataset of 40,000 pieces of proprietary IP, real-time updates to FASB, PCAOB, and auditing standards
• Josie ($550 per subscriber) named after Josiah Wedgwood and a new form of cost accounting
• CGMA vs CPA
• Where AI and finance intersect in the next 12-24 months