Finance and Investing is pleased to announce The Top 25 CFOs in Software for 2023. Software is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. However, to participate in this dynamic landscape, companies around the globe are embracing automation, cloud computing, data analytics, social media, AI – and any other area that can provide some competitive advantage. As a result, the role of CFOs in software companies has evolved significantly. No longer just a traditional accountant, today’s CFO is also a forward-looking strategist. Enhanced accounting and reporting systems have streamlined processes, empowering CFOs to oversee budgets, identify opportunities, and lead strategies like mergers and acquisitions, among others. In fact, many of this year's recognized leaders have dedicated years to growing as executives within and beyond their organizations. Without a doubt, their evolving roles in company leadership teams are making CFOs one of the most influential positions in one of the fastest-growing industries in the world.
Among this year’s awardees is David Burt, the CFO of ServiceTitan, the preferred software for the world's most successful plumbing, HVAC, and electrical companies. Burt, who holds a Harvard MBA, most recently served as Netflix's VP of Content Planning & Analysis and Co-Head of Corporate Development, where he helped the company rapidly expand its international footprint from a U.S.-only to a global player. This year, we'd also like to acknowledge the success of Karan Bhople, the CFO at strongDM. An industry leader, Bhople previously served as VP of Finance at SentinelOne, a company he helped scale from $15 million of annual recurring revenue to $300 million and beyond. Lastly, we have Epicor Software's CFO, Sam Monti, who has more than 25 years of public and private equity experience. Monti’s M&A track record includes 16 successful closures ranging from technology purchases, market expansion, market adjacency, and a software merger.
Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of The Top 25 CFOs in Software for 2023.
1. Sonja Simon
Chief Financial Officer, SAP
Sonja Simon has served as CFO for SAP’s Latin America and the Caribbean business since November 2020. Notably, she has over 19 years of experience in the technology industry. In her current position as CFO, she is responsible for driving SAP’s commercial support, operational excellence, and finance transformation in the Latin American region. Simon, who first joined SAP in 2008, has held multiple key leadership roles in the global finance team.
As Global Head of Local Chief Accountants (LCA) based in Germany, and later in the United States, Simon has supported SAP's growth and transformation, including how the company reports its results to its shareholders, with SAP’s first Integrated Report as well as globalization of accounting services. Prior to joining SAP, Simon was a manager at Ernst & Young Germany, overseeing audits of US-based companies. Simon holds an MBA from the Mannheim Business School and dual BS degrees in Accounting and Business Management from the University of Maryland’s European Division. She is based in Norfolk, Virginia.
2. Dan Durn
Chief Financial Officer, Adobe
Since October 2021, Dan Durn has served as Adobe’s CFO and EVP. In these roles, he is applying his years of technology and finance experience – overseeing Adobe’s company-wide operations, driving enablement at scale, and powering innovation across the organization. Durn most recently served as SVP and CFO of Applied Materials from 2017 to 2021. He was also previously EVP and CFO at NXP Semiconductors N.V. – following its merger with Freescale Semiconductor.
Before Freescale, Durn was CFO and EVP of Finance and Administration at GlobalFoundries; and served as managing director, and head of Mergers and Acquisitions and Strategy at Mubadala Technology Fund. Before that, Durn was VP of Mergers and Acquisitions in the technology practice at Goldman Sachs & Company. Durn received his MBA in Finance from the Columbia Business School. He also graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a BS in Control Systems Engineering. On top of that, Durn served in the Navy for six years, reaching the rank of lieutenant.
3. Randy Gelber
Chief Financial Officer, Epic Games
Randy Gelber is the CFO at Epic Games, a leading interactive entertainment company and provider of 3D engine technology. Epic operates Fortnite, one of the world’s largest games with over 350 million accounts and 2.5 billion friend connections. Through Unreal Engine, Epic Games Store, and Epic Online Services, Epic provides an end-to-end digital ecosystem for developers and creators to build, distribute, and operate games and other content. Epic has over 40 offices worldwide with headquarters in Cary, North Carolina.
As CFO at Epic, Gelber is responsible for Finance (Accounting, FP&A, Treasury, Tax, and Procurement), Corporate Development, Corporate Strategy, Investor Relations, IT, Safety & Security, and Facilities/Real Estate. Before Epic, Gelber was an investment banker for over 25 years. During that time, he gained experience in both the US and Asia. Gelber graduated from The Wharton School with an MBA in finance and from the University of Michigan with an undergraduate degree in economics.
4. Dustin Driggs
Chief Financial Officer, Veeam Software
Dustin Driggs began his professional career 31 years ago. Today, he is the CFO of Veeam Software, a company that provides organizations with resiliency through data security, data recovery, and data freedom for their hybrid cloud. The Veeam Data Platform delivers a single solution for Cloud, Virtual, Physical, SaaS, and Kubernetes environments. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with offices in more than 30 countries, Veeam protects over 450,000 customers worldwide. This includes 82% of the Fortune 500 and 72% of the Global 2,000.
Driggs is an accomplished finance leader with more than 30 years of experience in successfully building and managing large multinational businesses. He joins Veeam from Barracuda Networks, where he worked for over 16 years, most recently as CFO and Senior Vice President. Prior to Barracuda Networks, Driggs held senior leadership roles at Cisco Systems and PwC. Driggs graduated from Santa Clara University with an MBA in finance and from Loyola Marymount University with an undergraduate degree in accounting.
5. Samuel Monti
Chief Financial Officer, Epicor Software
Sam Monti joined Epicor Software in January 2021 as CFO, bringing more than 25 years of public and private equity experience covering consumer goods, industrials, and software, with a specialized background in leading acquisitions. As CFO, Monti leads finance, accounting, and operations. Epicor is a global company, employing over 4,100 people with offices in 34 countries. Prior to his role at Epicor, Monti spent the first 20 years of his career with two Fortune 500 companies in multiple roles, ranging from international finance to software division CFO. In 2013, Monti moved into the world of private equity at Mitratech Holdings as CFO/COO, helping lead eight acquisitions and two successful exits.
In 2017, Monti was recognized by the Austin Business Journal as the Best CFO of the Year for a large, privately held business. After Mitratech’s second exit in 2018, Monti accepted the CFO position with Khoros, where he participated in three acquisitions and helped establish a development center of excellence in Bangalore. Monti’s M&A experience includes 16 successful closures – ranging from technology purchases, market expansion, market adjacency, and a software merger. Additionally, he holds a bachelor’s in accounting from Miami University of Ohio, an MBA in finance from Case Western Reserve’s Weatherhead School of Business, a CPA certificate in Ohio, and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.
6. Tony Tiscornia
Chief Financial Officer, Coupa Software
Tony Tiscornia is the CFO at Coupa Software, a provider of a cloud-based Business Spend Management (BSM) platform that allows organizations to manage business spend across Procurement, Supply Chain, and Finance. Coupa empowers organizations around the world to maximize value and operationalize purpose through their business spend. Notably, Tiscornia has over 20 years of finance experience. He has been with Coupa since 2012, holding various progressive leadership positions.
Tiscornia has helped oversee Coupa’s 2016 IPO and its secondary offering in 2017. He’s also helped lead the company’s multiple convertible debt offerings, more than a dozen acquisitions, and overall global expansion. After beginning his career in public accounting with KPMG, Tiscornia held various finance positions at the Clorox Company, Chiron Corporation, Robert Half, and Soraa. Furthermore, he played an integral role in the sale of Blade Network Technologies to IBM. Tiscornia earned a BS in Managerial Economics from UC Davis and is an inactive California CPA.
7. David Burt
Chief Financial Officer, ServiceTitan
David Burt is the CFO of ServiceTitan, a mobile, cloud-based software platform that helps home services companies streamline operations, improve customer service, and increase sales. ServiceTitan's end-to-end solution for the multi-billion dollar residential home services industry includes CRM, intelligent dispatch, custom reporting, marketing automation, a mobile solution for field techs, and accounting integrations with Sage Intacct and QuickBooks. ServiceTitan brings a fully operational modern SaaS infrastructure to an industry traditionally underserved by software. ServiceTitan is the preferred software for the world's most successful plumbing, HVAC, and electrical companies. Burt first joined the company in 2018.
Burt most recently served as Vice President of Content Planning & Analysis and Co-Head of Corporate Development for the online streaming service Netflix, where he helped the company rapidly expand its international footprint from a U.S.-only to a Global player, while also overseeing its rapid investment in Original Content around the globe. Burt earned an MBA from Harvard University and a bachelor's in Accounting from the University of Technology, Sydney. Before joining Netflix, he worked for J.P. Morgan Securities as an investment banker and for Bain & Company as a strategy consultant.
8. Jim Lejeal
Chief Financial Officer, Absolute Software
Jim Lejeal is the CFO for Absolute Software, an American–Canadian company that was founded in 1993 and provides products and services in the fields of endpoint security and zero trust security. As CFO, Lejeal oversees all global finance, accounting, financial reporting, audit, tax, investor relations, and capital planning functions. Notably, Lejeal is a seven-time CFO, having held the role at companies like VictorOps Inc., Sphero, Inc., and Rally Software Development Corp.
Throughout his successful career, Lejeal helped VictorOps through a successful acquisition by Splunk, scaled Sphero’s growth while balancing costs, and led successful IPOs at Crucible Acquisition Corporation, Rally Software, and Raindance. His extensive experience also includes serving as CEO, COO, and CFO of various companies that he founded. Lejeal holds a BS in management from the U.S. Air Force Academy and an MBA from Loyola Marymount University.
9. Ninos Sarkis
Chief Financial Officer, Bloomreach
Ninos Sarkis serves as the CFO for Bloomreach, where he leads the company’s financial strategy and legal function. Prior to joining Bloomreach, Sarkis was the chief accounting officer at Amplitude. During his tenure, amongst other strategic initiatives, he led Amplitude through a successful public listing. Before that, Sarkis was a partner at PwC, where he spent many years working with brand-name multinational technology companies going through transformations, initial public offerings, debt/equity raises, and M&A transactions.
On top of that, Sarkis has also held other operational leadership positions with a focus on high-growth Software and SaaS companies. Sarkis holds a master's in Mechanical Engineering from the University College of London, and a chartered accountancy (CA) qualification. He also holds the distinction of being a CPA in the state of California.
10. Kevin Hadlock
CFO, Energy Exemplar
Kevin Hadlock is the CFO of Energy Exemplar. The company is a global energy simulation SaaS platform, working at the center of the world’s most challenging issues surrounding energy transition. Notably, Hadlock has more than 25 years of public company and private equity experience in accounting, acquisitions and divestitures, capital markets, corporate strategy, financial planning and analysis, legal, risk management, taxes, and treasury.
During his career, Hadlock has held numerous leadership positions at General Motors, Morgan Stanley, Constellation Energy, Baltimore Gas and Electric, Questar, and Conservice. He earned a bachelor’s in international finance from Brigham Young University and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
11. Anand Govind
Chief Financial Officer, o9 Solutions, Inc.
Anand Govind began his professional career 26 years ago. Today, he is the CFO of o9 Solutions. The company provides a leading AI-powered Planning, Analytics & Data platform called the Digital Brain that helps companies across industry verticals transform traditionally slow and siloed planning into smart, integrated, and intelligent planning and decision-making across the core supply chain, commercial, and P&L functions. Before joining o9 late last year, Govind spent over a decade in leadership roles in the technology investment banking groups of J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley.
While he was at Morgan Stanley, Govind focused on advising clients on IPOs, M&A, capital raising, and other strategic corporate finance areas. Prior to his investment banking career, Govind held various senior operating and strategic roles in the technology industry. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with an MBA, from the University of Maryland with an MS in mechanical engineering, and from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras with an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering.
12. Stu West
Chief Financial Officer, Grammarly
Stu West is the CFO of Grammarly. Founded in 2009, Grammarly is one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential Companies, one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in AI, a member of the Forbes Cloud 100, and one of Inc.’s Best Workplaces. The company’s product offerings—Grammarly Free, Grammarly Premium, Grammarly Business, and Grammarly for Education—deliver secure, contextually relevant support across over 500,000 apps and websites. Every day, 30 million people and over 50,000 teams worldwide trust Grammarly’s AI and human expertise to help ideate, compose, revise, and comprehend communications.
West began his career in 1992. Previously, he worked at Automattic, the company behind the open-source blogging and publishing platform WordPress. As CFO at Automattic for eight years, West was responsible for business and operations, including international operations, marketing, administration, and financial strategy. Before Automattic, West served as CFO and other executive roles at TiVo, Yahoo!, and other technology companies. Currently, he is an advisor and former long-term board member and trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit behind Wikipedia. Before that, he worked in investment banking at J.P. Morgan; and worked for the U.S. State Department at the United Nations. West received a bachelor’s in history from Yale University.
13. Tricia Benedix
Chief Financial Officer, Higher Logic
Tricia Benedix is the CFO of Higher Logic. She first joined the company in 2018. Higher Logic is an industry leader in cloud-based engagement platforms. Its data-driven approach gives organizations an expanded suite of engagement capabilities, including online communities and marketing automation. From the initial web visit to renewal and ongoing engagement, Higher Logic helps clients track and manage interactions along each stage of the digital customer experience. Benedix brings over 20 years of financial operating experience in the technology industry.
She focuses on enabling fast-growing companies to maximize their potential by developing and implementing strategies to drive financial and operational performance and sustainable business growth. Previously, Benedix held several executive roles for private equity-backed technology companies, serving as CFO for Social Solutions, Relias Learning, and Mitratech. She also held numerous financial roles for Sunquest Information Systems and Misys Healthcare Systems. Benedix earned a BS in Finance from Bentley University.
14. Rich Gaffney
Chief Financial Officer, Vice President and Controller, Eton Solutions LP
Rich Gaffney is the CFO, VP, and Controller of Eton Solutions LP, a software and services company founded to handle the complexities of servicing ultra-high-net-worth families. Created by family office leaders, Eton Solutions’ flagship product is AtlasFive®, an integrated family office software platform with over $737 billion managed on platform.
An industry veteran, Gaffney began his career in 1988. Before joining Eton Solutions LP, he was a CFO at The Rich Gaffney Group. Before that, he served as a CFO at Haynes Group, Inc. Earlier in his career, he worked with Coppers & Lybrand as a manager. Gaffney graduated from Northeastern University.
15. James Stewart
Chief Financial Officer, Catchpoint Systems Inc.
James Stewart is the CFO of Catchpoint Systems Inc. He first joined the company in 2016. Catchpoint is a leading digital performance analytics company that provides unparalleled insight into customer-critical services to help clients consistently deliver amazing digital experiences. Catchpoint is the only performance monitoring platform that provides integrated synthetic and real user monitoring, comprehensive test types, real-time analytics, and a diverse node network to help you continuously preempt performance issues and optimize service delivery. More than 380 customers in over 30 countries trust Catchpoint to strengthen their brands and grow their businesses.
Stewart brings over 13 years of hands-on SaaS finance experience across public and private sectors, including international M&A and corporate finance expertise. He was previously VP of Finance at Return Path, an email marketing technology startup. He also served in several finance leadership positions at Thomson Reuters, most notably as VP of Finance for Emerging Markets and CFO for Middle East & North Africa, based out of Dubai. Stewart originally hails from the UK, where he earned a bachelor’s in Japanese and Business Studies at the University of Sheffield. He is also a CPA.
16. Jim Fitzgibbons
Chief Financial Officer, LeaseQuery
Jim Fitzgibbons is the CFO of LeaseQuery, an accounting technology company that was built by accountants for accountants. More than 10,000 finance professionals globally rely on LeaseQuery’s cloud-based platform for accounting compliance, financial decision-making, data centralization, lease management, and lease accounting.
Fitzgibbons began his career in 2004. Before joining LeaseQuery, he was a CFO at Personify Corporation. Before that, he served as a CFO at 4tell™ Solutions. Earlier in his career, he worked with NDCHealth as a VP of finance. Fitzgibbons graduated from The University of Alabama with an undergraduate degree in accounting.
17. Nick Dearing
Chief Financial Officer, Singlewire Software
Nick Dearing is the CFO of Singlewire Software. Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Singlewire is the developer of InformaCast and Visitor Aware, two solutions that enable organizations to detect threats, notify everyone, and manage incidents. More than 5,000 organizations in over 80 countries use these tools to enhance safety and communication.
From screening visitors to sending alerts and handling critical events, Singlewire Software offers solutions for every safety challenge. Dearing began his career in 2003. Before joining Singlewire Software, he was a VP of finance at Fiserv. Before that, he served as a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Dearing graduated from the Wisconsin School of Business with an undergraduate degree in accounting and finance.
18. Karan "K" Bhople
Chief Financial Officer, strongDM
Karan "K" Bhople is the CFO at strongDM. He is responsible for continuing strongDM’s momentum and establishing a foundation for a growing enterprise business. Bhople was previously VP of Finance at SentinelOne, a company he helped scale from $15 million of annual recurring revenue to $300 million and beyond. Bhople has a strong background in security from SentinelOne and played a key part in the company’s successful IPO.
Furthermore, Bhople has a proven track record of success in building and managing finance and operations teams. Before his current role, he was at FinancialForce (now Certinia) and Salesforce. Earlier in his career, he was a Financial Analyst at The Walt Disney Company. Bhople graduated from Stanford University with a BS in chemical engineering.
19. Jacob Fitch
Chief Financial Officer, High Voltage Software
Jacob Fitch began his professional career 29 years ago. Today, he is the CFO of High Voltage Software, a company that has been crafting amazing games since 1993. They are driven, passionate, creative, and highly caffeinated. They are the ones sprinting toward the next cutting-edge, and they are always looking for people to run alongside them.
Fitch got his start in 1994 as an accounting manager at MICRA Scientific. From there, he went on to Eichrom Technologies LLC, before eventually rising to director of finance & operations at GCI, his most recent position before joining High Voltage Software. Fitch graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with an undergraduate degree in accounting.
20. David Yan
Chief Financial Officer, Treez Inc.
David Yan is the CFO of Treez, a leading SaaS and Fintech platform for the retail cannabis industry. After joining in late 2019, he completed both the Series B and Series C financings with new and existing private and growth equity investors while the company grew over 5x in revenues and market share. In his role, he is functionally responsible for Financial, BizOps, and People and works across all aspects of the business.
David came to Treez with a track record of success in leadership of high-growth SaaS and data companies for both SMB and enterprise markets. Prior to being CFO of Treez, he held VP of Finance positions at both Womply and Wrike (exited to Vista Equity Partners) as well as various positions at Twitter and other growth-stage venture-backed startups after starting his career at KPMG.
21. Vince Catino
Chief Financial Officer, GigSmart
Vince Catino joined GigSmart in October 2017 as its CFO. GigSmart is a software development company focused on providing modern solutions to meet the needs of a rapidly evolving economy. GigSmart's apps, Get Workers and Get Gigs, connect businesses and residential users looking for labor with local workers. Available in all 50 states, GigSmart's apps serve many industries including construction, manufacturing, food service, delivery services, transportation, retail, customer service, and professional services.
Before joining GigSmart, Catino managed the Financial Planning and Analysis of Clorox’s Emerging Brands department. There, he worked to improve profitability and performance for the Fortune 500 Company’s high-growth brand incubator. Previously, Catino worked as a Capital Markets and Investment Banking Analyst at Credit Suisse in their Healthcare and Biotech group. Catino was also the lead analyst on multiple IPOs and facilitated the issuance of debt and other capital instruments for pre-clinical and early-stage biotech companies. Catino started his career with Deloitte in their Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group. He attended Miami University, where he studied Accounting and Entrepreneurship.
22. Drew Stovall
Chief Financial Officer, SafetyChain Software
Drew Stovall is the CFO of SafetyChain Software. He first joined the company in 2022. SafetyChain is the #1 Plant Management Platform that improves yield, maximizes productivity and ensures compliance for process manufacturers. Trusted by over 1,500 facilities, SafetyChain is the only enterprise solution uniting production, quality, safety, and supplier management.
Previously, Stovall was a director of FP&A at Waystar. Before that, he served as an FP&A manager at Navicure, a Waystar Company. Stovall earned an undergraduate degree in finance from The University of Georgia.
23. Marc Arseneau
Chief Financial Officer, Procare Software
Marc Arseneau began his professional career 30 years ago. Today, he is the CFO of Procare Software, the largest provider of childcare management software, integrated payment processing, technology, and services. Founded in 1992, the company supports over 30,000 preschools, daycare centers, after-school programs, camps, and related facilities – with a broad product suite that serves the complex and unique demands of the childcare market. Procare offers both a desktop solution and cloud hosting. It supports customers of all sizes: from single-center operations to complex multinational enterprises.
Arseneau has over 25 years of experience in the software and technology services industries as a financial leader. Most recently, he was CFO for Oildex, where he led the finance, treasury, and accounting functions – as well as the human resources and legal team, culminating in the successful sale of the company to DrillingInfo. Before Oildex, Arseneau held a variety of senior financial positions at industry-leading companies like TeleTech, TriZetto, Microsoft, and Capgemini. Arseneau holds a BS in finance and international business from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.
24. Mor Lakritz
Chief Financial Officer, SafeBreach
Mor Lakritz is the CFO of SafeBreach. She first joined the company in 2022. Combining the Mindset of a CISO and the Toolset of a Hacker, SafeBreach is the pioneer in breach and attack simulation (BAS) and is the most widely used continuous security validation platform. SafeBreach continuously executes attacks, correlates results to help visualize security gaps, and leverages contextual insights to highlight remediation efforts. With its Hacker's Playbook™, the industry's most extensive collection of attack data enabled by state-of-the-art threat intelligence research, SafeBreach empowers organizations to get proactive about security with a simple approach that replaces hope with data.
As a seasoned finance leader with nearly 20 years of professional finance leadership and accounting experience, Lakritz has supported multiple public, late-stage, pre-IPO, and growth companies. She most recently served as VP of finance at Exabeam and was responsible for all financial, accounting operations and facilities. With her broad business and financial acumen, she has a proven track record of building a world-class finance structure that drives growth strategy and execution. In her current role at SafeBreach, Lakritz leads the company’s worldwide finance organization as the company continues its global expansion and fast-paced growth. Lakritz earned an MBA in finance from Tel Aviv University and an undergraduate degree in accounting and economics from Bar-Ilan University.
25. Cody Lancaster
Chief Financial Officer, ChatLingual
Cody Lancaster is the CFO of ChatLingual. He first joined the company in 2015. ChatLingual’s enterprise multilingual messaging platform enables customer service delivery teams to support native-language customer interactions. This includes assisting customers in over 100 languages across any digital channel such as chat, email, SMS, and social media. With ChatLingual, clients can enjoy significant cost savings and provide a best-in-class multilingual CX by leveraging English-proficient agents.
Furthermore, ChatLingual’s suite of cloud products offers several deployment options and integrates seamlessly with a client’s existing tech stack. Previously, Lancaster was a management reporting and treasury controller at Och-Ziff Capital Management. He earned an MBA in accounting and finance from The University of Texas at Austin.
