The First Treasury Hire: Jessica Siu on Scaling, Storytelling & AI

Speaker A: Foreign. Welcome to FinTech Corner. Uh, we're here at AFP 2025 and I am joined by Jessica Su. Um, you are from, uh, a brand that most people probably don't even realize exists, but is really important. Um, and I wanted to give you a chance to introduce where you're from and what your role is, um, because I think a lot of people will be surprised.

Speaker B: Totally agree. So, um, my name is Jessica Su. I am the VP of Treasury at Authentic Brands Group. So just like you said, most people might not know of us, but you've definitely heard of our brands. Um, we, uh, uh, own about 50 brands across sports, lifestyle, media and entertainment.

Speaker A: Let me see if I can name a few. Is Reebok one?

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: Is there like a media one in there? So, like Shaq? Yes, I think that was one that I saw. How about like, any, uh, interesting ones that I would have never thought of? What's like, one that most people don't even know?

Speaker B: Juicy couture and Forever 21.

Speaker A: What?

Speaker B: Bringing, bringing back the millennial vibes.

Speaker A: So all kinds of different brands.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: Yeah, that's so interesting. So with that kind of complexity, like, what does that mean in terms like how, how do you manage all of that? So I'm assuming these are brands that you acquire. Um, and it's like an aggressive acquisition strategy every single year. So how do you keep up with all of that?

Speaker B: Yeah, so simply put, we're a M and A shop. Um, we don't develop any brands in house. Uh, we acquire brands, you know, such as, like Reebok Champion, uh, David Beckham, Shaquille o', Neal, like you mentioned. And we grow those brands through our partner network. So we have a licensee network of about, um, 1900. And we're in about. Our licensees are in about 150 countries. So, um, we acquire anywhere between two to four brands a year, and these acquisitions just become bigger and bigger. So very recently we acquired Dockers, and, uh, we've entered in a definitive agreement to purchase the majority stake in Guests in a take private transaction.

Speaker A: Wow.

Speaker B: Um, so the company's been around for about 15 years, and I joined earlier in the year, um, as the first dedicated treasury hire. So it's a very interesting opportunity and company to be a part of. Yeah, and, uh, like I said, it's really just we're the powerhouse behind what most people are wearing on a daily basis. And, um, many of them don't even know that we're behind it.

Speaker A: So you came from Dropbox and Dropbox, obviously, a Tech company, we all know what it is, sophisticated, you know, global, all of the different programs you would expect there. Um, how has the transition been coming from there to, you know, uh, working at Authentic and kind of building things from the ground up?

Speaker B: Yeah. So I, in my entire treasury career I've only worked at public companies. So abg, um, we're private equity owned. And one of the key differences in um, you know, coming from company like Dropbox, abg, is that I've had to learn to be very scrappy here because scrappy is the way that it works and I had to be very comfortable with that. Um, when I came in, um, you know, I really had to define the function from scratch. Um, kind of like you said, really building the foundation and I didn't inherit any systems. Um, you know, there were some people, processes and um, uh, kind of accounting systems that I needed to make sure that whatever I brought in from a Treasury standpoint, so played very well. Um, so it's a very interesting, um, opportunity because it's not often that you get to build a function from the ground up.

Speaker A: Absolutely.

Speaker B: And at a company as cool as

Speaker A: ABG and a complex one, it sounds like international in terms of banks, um, lots of banks, lots of different entities, Complexity in terms of how they're all run, um, sophistication in terms of how maybe allocation pooling, things like that are going on. What has it been like to kind of not have a safety net coming in and having to define all of it and what were your priorities kind of out of the gate, especially from a technology perspective.

Speaker B: Yeah. So I think navigating change through ambiguity is a key one for this year. Um, we have about 100 bank accounts scattered, uh, and most of it is with one banking partner. However, the, uh, we have another banking partner where, um, that's managed out of the uk. So from a cash consolidation visibility standpoint, there was really no one place as a source of truth.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: Um, and for me it was key to make sure that I brought in a solution that can piece all these data together effectively. You know, you kind of have data sitting in the uk, you have data sitting in the US and the systems weren't really talking to each other and the processes were very disoriented. Um, and I think a key part of treasury is that you have to be able to optimize, um, and leverage your data to build, um, um, to drive strategic decision making.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: So for me, um, you know, you can't optimize what you can't see. So cash visibility was Number one. Um, so that's why it's very important that when I brought on Truvada, and we're in the very early stages of implementing right now, that connectivity, um, was at a click of a button.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Um, it was easy to, you know, just streamline and start tagging things so that I could start making sense of my data. I think the biggest part about, you know, treasury is that we are often seen as just like, you know, process system, cost center. But, uh, we derive a lot of our value through storytelling. So it was very important for me to bring on a solution where I could start making sense of the story, explain why Cash went this way, um, to be able to deliver the strategic value driving like our capital allocation or M and A, and really just delivering the strategic priorities. Because as the company has been around for 15 years, there was never like a dedicated treasury person. And, um, for me to come in, it was just a lot of opportunity for me to get all this data into one place and to bring us to the next level. Um, you want a Treasury function that is, ah, dynamic and able to scale, not a static function, um, that is sort of broken up into pieces within accounting, um, and whatnot.

Speaker A: That's immediately that came to mind. When I thought of the list of brands, I thought to myself, they all kind of have their own story because they function differently. Like, take Reebok as an example. You know, the sneaker division versus the lifestyle clothing division versus, et cetera, et cetera. They all have different cash flows versus, like a media company that has, you know, quick burn, then they make the money back. Quick burn, make the money back. All of those flows and cycles look totally different. And I've been curious, as, you know, you've been bringing Truvada to life, what does that storytelling look like? Is it an analytics kind of mindset or is it more kind of making sense of flows through labeling and things like that?

Speaker B: Maybe more so the latter. But to take it a step back, um, we generate our revenue, uh, through guaranteed minimum royalties. So that's based on a percentage of, uh, projected revenue from both, like, retail and wholesale distributors. So cash flow is pretty predictable. We get paid on a quarterly basis. Um, you know, there are some variabilities related to projects. You know, uh, we also own David Beckham Brand and Shaquille O'. Neal. And Shaq obviously has his DJing business, Diesel. Um, and, you know, also recently we launched Authentic Live, um, which is focused on hospitality and live events. So because we own sports, illustrate. And that's also Very like events driven, uh, Sports Illustrated, um, you know, we host events at like F1, Kentucky Derby, Super bowl, etc. So that's where kind of the variability comes in is more so on like the entertainment and live event side. But you know, going back to what you said about like the different brands, like, although they um, appeal to different masses, the way that our company functions is that we're effectively an IP licensing company. So we just get the revenue coming in and you know, we have very strong cash flow. Um, we don't own any inventory or stores, um, that's not part ah of our business and we rely on our licensees to operate. Um, so I would say that I'm really just making sense of you know, the cash flow and the data to be able to explain and you know, maybe go back into you know, licensees and you know, who um, has been paying us on time, um, and you know, be able to have a good dashboard, um, to categorize these flows. So like I said, the business is very simple. Um, but it is kind of like the deal making piece that is more complex. Um, you know, as I mentioned before, it's like two to two to four acquisitions a year. Um, we've primarily, you know, financed it um, with a mix of debt and just cash. Um, we generate a lot of free cash flow and we use it uh,

Speaker A: towards M and A. I love the storyteller aspect of that. That phrase is super interesting because I've heard different mindsets kind of come through the podcast booth. Uh, yesterday for example, um, one of the folks referred to themselves as an architect and I'd never thought of that. You know, putting in business systems and different processes and things like that. You use storytelling and I think that that's also a super interesting way to describe your role in your organization and kind of wider within finance. How has storytelling driven kind of different aspects of strategy, like whether it's better visibility and cash, but then maybe also how all these systems talk to each other and how other organizations can take advantage of what you're doing, whether it's accessibility to bank data or whatever it might be.

Speaker B: Yeah, I think like the democratizing of bank data is something that is often talked about and uh, you know, with API connectivity it's pretty instant. Um, for me in terms of the storytelling piece, it's really making sure that the solution that I brought on plays very well in the ecosystem. Um, so you know, as I've joined about nine months ago, a big part of my role has been stakeholder alignment. So I work A lot with FPA accounting and it's um, and our teams right now are going through a finance transformation. Um, for me, I wanted to make sure that the solution I brought on could plug in very well and talk to the ERP and talk to the FPA planning system so that we can all have a cohesive story to tell, um, as we communicate our messaging to the outside.

Speaker A: Absolutely. And I think another thing that's been interesting just listening to the showroom floor is how important AI is to this whole story as well. It's disruptive for sure, but it's also exciting in a few different ways. I'm curious, how has AI been incorporated in the conversations that you're having with your leadership and how has kind of the experience of treasury been improved through the use of AI, if at all yet?

Speaker B: Yeah. So I will say that we as a company are trying to position ourselves as a AI first licensing platform. So it really starts from the top down and we've had executive um, decision uh, to really have each team come up with AI use cases. So one of the things that I did when I first joined uh, APG was that I built a Treasury roadmap that really identified, you know, the current state and what my future state is and how do I get there. And within that I also layered in AI use cases because you know, as you're aware, treasury oftentimes we have a lot of mundane recurring tasks that you can automate a ways so that we can really become a strategic value add. Um, so with the AI component, um, with our company we have something called authentic AI, um where you know, we have an internal AI instance powered by, you know, some of the world's most powerful um, uh systems. And we add our base layer and our data, um, to be able to really help the teams like drive the business. So one of the things that um, authentic AI, uh does is that we have a document analyzer that looks at uh, data across um, different licensing agreements and historical presentations and it comes up with summaries and comparisons. And we also have a kind of business development, ah, agent that crafts summaries and pitches. So I would say that as a company, um, from the revenue generating side, the, there has been a lot of AI focus. So for me to come in, um, you know, as the first treasury hire, I looked at ways that I can implement AI, um, you know, within my cash forecasting solution. You know, because as I mentioned, like cash is key, um, in having that visibility gives me um, a lot of power to be able to be a part of the strategic decision making. So as I layered on, um, my uh, treasury system, Truvada, um, I made sure that, you know, it both plugged into my other systems and had AI capabilities to help kind of support that overall company, um, AI initiative.

Speaker A: So one of the things that has come up a few times is this idea of agentic systems versus conversational kind of AI systems. And on the Truvada system right now we have obviously, you know, the ability to chat with Truvada AI. You get all of the, uh, benefits of ChatGPT inside of an environment that is secure. And it's been exciting. It's been available for almost three years now. And the one thing that is missing in that kind of whole mindset of AI in Truvada is why can't I just let it go? Why can't it just be an agentix system that is going and taking the things that I'm asking it every day and, and instead just go do it. Go look at all of our transactions and monitor for fraud, go look at all of the different balances and figure out do we need to make some wires at the end of the day in order to kind of meet all of our cash position requirements. And I'm curious, is that kind of the future that you're hoping to see develop over the next few years?

Speaker B: Yeah. So, um, coming out of my presentation or my conversation earlier, um, you know, there was someone who asked me whether or not I wanted, um, my ah, forecasting to sit within the system or was I still planning on using Excel. And you know, I have a very audacious goal of wanting to keep it in the system. And you know, I've been pretty optimistic with some of the capabilities so far. But I guess going back to your point of like, you know, can I just let it run? I think at the end of the day the answer is no. And, and there's been a lot of, you know, kind of maybe scary noise about like AI replacing jobs, et cetera. I think AI only empowers us to make smarter decisions. Um, and it's not so much eliminating, um, you know, like jobs, but like certain tasks that maybe you would normally have, like an analyst do, for example. So I would say you need to continue training the system. So there's always going to be that human element, but you definitely want to, um, be able to have your system play very well, um, with, with you as you continue to. The company continues to grow, right?

Speaker A: In the kind of the wider agenda, you know, at the company level to Integrate AI Systems has the topic of data and how the data that you currently manage, in your case kind of being the bank relationships and all of that, has that come up as an important aspect of integration, kind of feeding the rest of the company and doing kind of the work of centralizing that information? And how has that come up, if at all?

Speaker B: Yeah, so, um, obviously data is very important and I think that overall the company is. We have a lot of data sort of scattered everywhere. Um, you know, we have thousands of licensing contracts for example. And in order for us to just be effective in scaling for growth, you really need to pull in some sense of like the data and going back to the storytelling piece. Right. You're um, able to convey a message, see trends, because AI can pick up, um, you know, trends that maybe a normal person cannot or it would just take so many hours of someone's time to be able to go through all of the data to make sense of it. So I would say that, you know, it's been a huge priority across like different facets of the teams.

Speaker A: Um, so yeah, knowing that you kind of had the opportunity to build for the last nine months, um, what do you think will be uh, uh, you know, your role evolved. If you fast forward five years from now, you know, knowing that you hit all of the little milestones on your roadmap, execute on every single one of them, what do you think your role will look like given that new position and what does technology do and what kind of role does it play in that future?

Speaker B: So I think at the end of the day, as you know, a Treasury person, you're always solving problems. And I want to be in a position where, you know, people partner with treasury for strategic thought leadership on what this means. If we were to open a bank account in a different country, what if it means if um, you know, we suddenly have these cash flows in different currencies that we normally do not collect in. So I think that technology only enables us to get to that point where you can really be the in house consultant. Right. And support the business as it continues to scale and grow. So you know, five years from now, um, you know, hopefully that we have, the system is running well on its own. It's really just maintenance. But you know, AI is constantly evolving, systems are constantly evolving. So I think, um, kind of just going back to being able to derive value outside the four walls of the company, continuing to lean in on fintech solutions such as Stravada, um, and our banking partners to learn best practices and see what tools are available out there. I think it's, uh, very important to just keep anchoring back to that roadmap. Right. Like, um, when I first joined, I developed the roadmap and I actually have a grading. So, um, this is, uh, what I call a stoplight chart. The red is like, this is bad, maybe, like, there's a lot of room for improvement. Yellow is maybe we have some processes and we're okay, and green is like, we're good. Um, you know, in that five year time frame, I'm hoping that most things are green, nothing is red, and maybe you have some things that are yellow. But continue to have conversations with people and be open to different ideas on what your end stage should look like.

Speaker A: It makes me wonder, you know, for all of the audience members that are going to watch this podcast, you made this leap, right? Coming from Dropbox, getting the VP role, getting an opportunity to build things from scratch. If I were to pressure you into condensing all of your wisdom into one kind of piece of advice that you could give anyone that's watching this podcast, what would it be, especially kind of given the context of growth and making that leap to the next level?

Speaker B: I would say have frequent check ins with yourself and evaluate, you know, what you would like to do, identify that end goal and, you know, have check ins. Is this what I'm looking for? Um, in my next role, for example. So for me, I've always loved building things, um, and to be able to build something from scratch and have that impact was key. And I think a lot of times we may also consider, am I ready for this? Right? Things will come up and it's maybe not a good time, but it's never the right time. It's just what you make of it. And I think a big part of it is just taking that sleep and just going with your gut. Because a lot of times you have like this doubt of, like, okay, you know, is this gonna work out? Or if this project is gonna work out, for example, and be okay to just take risks, calculated risks. Right. And, um, just trust that things will work out. Um, you know, with, with good intent. Um, but like I said, just making sure that you've identified, you know, is this what I want to do? If it is, then yes, you're gonna make it happen.

Speaker A: Last question. I, uh, leave it for last, just in case I, um, have to ask. What's your favorite brand?

Speaker B: My favorite brand? Yeah, I think it has to be Reebok. Um, I wear these shoes, like, almost every single day. I don't know if you can see. Um, but, you know, I think Reebok is definitely having, um, its moment. Uh, so we actually, uh, co produced the, um, Power Moves with Shaquille o', Neal, So it's a Netflix special. Um, so if you haven't seen it, I would encourage you to. To watch that.

Speaker A: I'm about to look it up right after this podcast. Jessica, thank you so much for your time. This was awesome.

Speaker B: Thank you for having me.

Speaker A: Thank you again. Uh, this has been an episode of FinTech Corner. We'll see you guys next.