AI-Powered Finance Transformation with Billy Newman, CFO at Redwood Software
October 14, 2025
In this episode of CFO Weekly, Billy Newman, CFO at Redwood Software, joins Megan Weis to explore how modern CFOs are transforming finance operations through AI-powered automation and strategic oversight, drawing from his experience navigating Cvent through a pandemic, two public offerings, and successful process transformation initiatives.
In this episode of CFO Weekly, Billy Newman, CFO at Redwood Software, joins Megan Weis to explore how modern CFOs are revolutionizing finance operations through AI-powered automation and strategic oversight. Billy brings extensive experience from his tenure as CFO at Cvent, where he navigated the company through a pandemic, two public offerings, and private equity transactions while implementing transformative automation initiatives.
With his deep background in FP&A and financial transformation across SaaS companies, Billy shares how finance teams can leverage AI to automate repetitive processes, implement predictive analytics, and position finance as a strategic partner rather than a task master. Currently serving as CFO of Redwood Software, Billy oversees the financial operations of a workload automation company while applying lessons learned from successfully transforming broken manual processes into automated, scalable systems.
What You'll Learn:
- How to identify which finance processes are prime candidates for automation versus those requiring human expertise
- The "Clean Data Framework" for ensuring AI implementations deliver accurate, reliable results
- Why AI enhances rather than replaces finance talent by enabling more strategic work
- How to balance automation with human oversight to maintain strong financial controls
- The critical success factors for implementing automation at scale in fast-moving organizations
- How to transform quote-to-cash processes through strategic automation and system integration
- Why AI strengthens compliance and risk management through continuous monitoring and anomaly detection
- How to prepare finance teams culturally and technically for the AI transformation journey
- The importance of establishing clear KPIs and governance frameworks for automation initiatives
- Why cross-departmental collaboration improves when manual data sharing is automated
Learn more about Billy:
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Previous guests include: Tom McDermott, CFO at Career Certified, Claire Bramley, CFO at Teradata, Chris Miles, Founder of Money Ripples, Ranil DeSilva, CFO & COO at CARE, Jordan Grumet, Financial Independence Expert & Host of Earn & Invest & William Washington, Global CFO at Baker McKenzie
Check out some of our most recent episodes:
- Driving Value Beyond Finance with Tom McDermott
- Why CFOs Are the Chief Everything Officers with Claire Bramley
- Why Traditional Financial Advice Fails and What To Do Instead with Chris Miles
- NGO Finance Secrets: CARE’s $900M Strategy with Ranil DeSilva
- What Lights You Up? with Jordan Grumet
- Become a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with William Washington
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