Jack Sweeney

2 weeks ago | cfothoughtleader.com | Jack Sweeney

“It wouldn’t surprise me. No, it would be exciting.”That was Adam Ante’s initial response when asked if five years from now, he could imagine himself still in the C-suite—but not as a CFO. The comment seemed to linger in the air, hinting at a deeper current in his career journey. Ante, who had led Paycor through an IPO, a pandemic, and most recently, a $4.1 billion sale to Paychex, wasn’t just closing out a CFO chapter—he may have been opening something entirely new.

3 weeks ago | cfothoughtleader.com | Jack Sweeney

Fresh out of a hedge fund analyst role, Erik Rothschild walked into an interview at a Chicago-based trading firm and did something unexpected—he pitched actual trade ideas to the portfolio manager across the table. That bold move earned him a spot on the team, and eventually, a portfolio of his own. “That whole experience taught me how to assess decisions through the lens of an investment,” Rothschild tells us. It’s a mindset that has quietly shaped every leadership decision he’s made since.

3 weeks ago | cfothoughtleader.com | Jack Sweeney

Upon joining SailPoint, Brian Carolan seized the opportunity of private ownership to transform the finance function—shifting the fiscal year, leading a full ERP overhaul, and driving a SaaS business model transition. In our discussion with Brian Carolan, CFO of SailPoint, he shares the pivotal moments that shaped his career—from his early days at Ernst & Young to a two-decade run at Commvault, where he helped scale the company from private startup to public enterprise.

3 weeks ago | cfothoughtleader.com | Jack Sweeney

It was a late-night meeting room lit by the glow of Excel spreadsheets and cluttered with half-empty coffee cups. Brian Carolan, then a rising finance leader, looked around the table and saw not just fellow accountants and analysts but a collection of people relying on him to bridge data and strategy. In that moment, he felt the weight of a CFO’s responsibility keenly. “Finance is never only about numbers,” Carolan tells us.

3 weeks ago | cfothoughtleader.com | Jack Sweeney

In this episode of Planning Aces, three forward-looking finance leaders share how they’re transforming planning and forecasting inside their organizations. CFO Kevin Rhodes of Extreme Networks discusses the dual lens through which he evaluates AI—external monetization and internal productivity. Brendon Sullivan, CFO of 2X, reveals how a post-PE investment reality check led him to pioneer a weekly reporting cadence to drive faster decision-making.