Inside the CFO-Sales Partnership: How Real-Time Data Changes the Game, with Christina Liu

Speaker A: Most CFOs have good visibility into the sales numbers, but not as many understand what's really happening in the pipeline. Today's guest sits right at that intersection, working closely with a sales team to bring more clarity, speed and confidence to how decisions get made. Christina Liu is the CFO who's helped redefine what the finance sales partnership can look like, moving from static reporting to real time visibility, and from gut feel to data driven decisions. In this episode, we unpacked how that collaborations actually work in practice. From how finance get closer to the pipeline to how real time data, uh, replaces manual processes and endless dealer reviews. And how AI is helping CFOs move faster without losing control. We also explore Cristina's journey to the CFO role and how adopting a growth mindset has, uh, shaped the way she operates today. This is not just about better reporting. It's about finance and sales working together to drive business forward. This is a growth minded cfo. Let's dive in. Hello and welcome to another, welcome to another episode of the Growth Minded cfo. We are super excited to be full remote today, uh, with Loren and myself, like in another part of the world. And today we are welcoming Christina Liu, who is the CFO of Sigma Computing.

Speaker B: Christina, thank you so much for joining us today on this episode of the Growth Minded cfo. Could you kick us off by telling us a little bit more about who you are and what you do?

Speaker C: Of course. Uh, first of all, really appreciate you having me on this, uh, episode and looking forward to our discussion. I'm Christina Liu, CFO at Sigma Computing. Uh, I have been the CFO at Sigma for the last two years. Sigma is a data analytics and AI applications platform. Have to say this is my first CFO role. Uh, and I came from the accounting side of the career track and my major when I was in school was chemistry. So, uh, looking forward to, uh, dive into that.

Speaker B: That's very cool. You are in a room of career switchers, Christina. Uh, I was originally in software and Alex was originally an engineer. So you're in very good company. Bunch of nerds on this call.

Speaker A: That's actually a great way to start maybe. Uh, Christina, can you tell us a little more about how you went from, you know, we had a lot of guests on the podcast who, uh, were sharing that it's the first time that they're CFO and in the role. Can you tell us a little more about what drove you to this position and how you got there?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: So, uh, two things come to mind. One is always take A risk on yourself. And the second is let curiosity lead the way. As I mentioned, when I first came to the U.S. uh, my plan was to study chemistry and be a PhD student. Uh, but within the first year, I switched my major to accounting. Looking back, that was a risky decision as an international student, brand, uh, new in the, in the, in the new country. Um, but I trusted my ability to learn. And that has been how I thought about career pivots, um, ever since then. You know, as you can tell from my profile, I started in public accounting and then moved into controllership to chief accounting officer through two IPOs. And now I'm in my first CFO role. And where curiosity came into the picture was that any of you in finance will know this. Finance always has a front row seat for any business transactions in the company. All it takes is to be curious to ask the why questions. Why did this happen? How is the decision made? What were the alternatives? Why were they not considered? Being curious has really led me to a lot more discoveries. And the career advancement came from that.

Speaker B: I love that, um, the discovery, that sort of the CFO role, and you kind of get to see the data of the transactions moving throughout the organization. That resonates with me a lot of why I really like the role. Um, I wonder. Before we started, uh, the recording, we were talking a little bit about sales, uh, data, your discovery, kind of of the interaction between finance and the sales team, um, along your journey as an accountant. When did this kind of like sales data curiosity come about? When did you first start interacting with that team and noticing that there was something there that fascinated you?

Speaker C: Well, when I was in accounting, uh, in the period of time I was the director of Revenue. And so, um, my job was to review the sales contracts after they were done. Going back to my earlier point of being curious, there were these one off, uh, random in my mind, random terms that I saw in the contract. And I got super curious. Why? Why did this happen? What are they doing? What were they doing, first of all? Yeah, what were they doing other than trying to make my life miserable? Um, beyond that, what did the customers want to do and how did we counter? And what was the process like that led to so many very interesting discussions with the sales team and deeper understanding of the business and the product and the market and our customers. And so that was a, uh, wonderful experience.

Speaker A: We're often talking about the collaboration between CFOs and different other teams. What was your experience collaborating with the sales teams in the first place? Because you mentioned making my life Miserable. How do you turn making my life miserable into the curiosity of, okay, let's work on this together. And how do you get them to kind of work in a. Not uh, necessarily in your direction, but I would expect in the direction of the company. What would be the tip for other CFOs that would face the same situation?

Speaker C: Yeah, I wish I could tell you I've cracked the code.

Speaker B: I uh,

Speaker C: but I can tell you what is helpful is to align with data and the transparency and the visibility drives accountability, which is the common language between finance and sales. And so that's where I have to give kudos to the product here at Sigma Computing that allows that to happen. Um, in my prior lives before quarter end, we used to have daily or multiple times a day sales calls to land the quarter. And just the whole purpose of the call was to have all the supporting functions including finance and legal and sales, sales ops, marketing and all the execs on the call to help the sales teams get through the finish line in the meantime is to drive that accountability of the deals flow. Yeah, now that we have, we are working with the product, uh, here at Sigma, we have the data right in front of us. Those costs are not needed because everyone can have access to real time update on um, where we are for each one of our deals before quarter end. And that just brought so much more transparency into the process and saved so much time.

Speaker B: M. It's interesting because um, as a CFO myself, I've dealt with sort of the data integrity and availability problem between the cfo, office and sales and then distributed throughout the organization because it's one of those areas. We have so much unstructured data. It's all, you know, sort of based on hearsay and where they think the deal is and the life cycle and kind of um, both subjective and um, lagging data. Um, I wonder if we get a little technical here and talk about like your exploration of this problem and what you've seen like break and what you've seen worked in your pursuit to fix it. Like take us into the room, like, what did you try and when did you see things really clicking?

Speaker C: Yeah, totally relate to that issue. The disjointed data, um, and piecing things together and still not having the most up to date information from all of the functions. Totally get that. Um, so here, what I can think uh, of, there are two things come to mind. One is as you mentioned, the data needs to be in one place. Um, and what has made my life so much easier here at Sigma is we do have our data in cloud data warehouse internally when you snowflake and so the salesforce data, um, and you know, gong call recordings, we do record our sales calls um, and other sources of the enrichment data. It's in the same place and from there there's so much that can be done um, to bring to surface the data to the right consumer and the right cut. And the second thing comes to mind is AI is making the enrichment and data cleansing so much easier. Especially with um, unstructured data such as gone call recording. You can very easily get the sentiment from the call and how the deal is evolving using AI and bring that together with the reps notes in Salesforce with customers360 data, also with the product usage data. If you're running a POV with the prospect all of these things coming together that will provide the transparency, uh, and real time trackability of your deals flow that has made life so much easier for finance.

Speaker A: Do you have Kristina, maybe a practical tip in terms of collaboration between finance and sales around one thing that you did as part of your career that really changed how the sales team was closing the deals or you facilitate your life and making it maybe less miserable as you said earlier.

Speaker C: Well, I think what I have learned and throughout my career is um, no one's trying to make anyone's life more miserable. We're all behind a company's goal and what we want to do in finance is not to say no. It's how can we say yes? It's all about trade offs. What do we want to optimize and what are we willing to give up? Uh, I see the finance function, you know, I'm a cook and so I always think of, you know, you serve the table and you lay everything out on the table so that people can see, oh, if I take this and I don't take that, it's all about prioritization decisions and trade offs and so always keep that in mind. That makes the interaction with not only sales but other functions, uh, so much more collaborative.

Speaker B: Super interesting you talk about these trade offs because I think very, very relevant in this space where we want more data and sales wants to just move faster and not worry about inputting data. In this pursuit of better, um, information in real time, it sounds like you're getting tons of more capabilities using AI for corroborating data and like data availability, the cleansing of data, I could see it being really useful for all of that kinds of things. Um, what are the limitations, what can't it do and what do you still need to ask your sales team for.

Speaker C: Yeah, that's a great question. And I think with AI we can do a lot more on the what type of questions. Everyone is expecting to be able to talk with their data asking questions. What was my regional sales last quarter for example and which one was the top performing region, which ones was the lower performing and what was uh, the delta between my plan uh versus budget. Those type of what questions with AI, uh, are getting a lot easier to answer with data where I see potential but not there yet for AI assisted analysis is on the why. Why did I see what I see? Because in order to answer the why questions we need context. We need a deeper understanding of the macro environment, the customers, the products and the specific dynamics. Uh, if we're looking at deals in the future, can AI help with that? I'm sure it can surfacing some of the raw insights, but it's not there yet. Then on top of that is making decisions on the trade offs. The now what type of questions. Now that I know the insight, what do I do with it, what do I not do with it? What risks are worth taking at what cost? I think those are uniquely human decisions. Um, and your data can help with decision making process but it's not going to make the decisions for you. That's helpful.

Speaker B: It's very helpful. It's a great insight. I wonder too, just as a quick follow up, you had mentioned a little bit about the governance and the motivation factor of observing sales and pushing. I wonder if that's something that AI can help with or if that's also something that remains more of a human thing. That motivation question.

Speaker C: If I take a step back, motivation is a very human unique um, quality. But in order to get the motivation the first step is to have the visibility, the transparency that drives accountability. And then motivation is so many layers above that. So whether that's through AI enriched data, ah, uh, or through automation, you can, you can surface insights a lot faster and that has to help with all of the higher up layers. But when you talk about motivation I think that's very uniquely human.

Speaker A: That's super interesting and I agree with the transition between what is helped by AI versus the final decision you have to make. And I think sometimes uh, this is something that we've seen a lot with the noise around AI recently around sometimes feeling that everything can be automated with AI. But uh, at the end of the day CFOs need to keep their judgment on what is going to happen, especially with this overall context. Um, so thank you so much for sharing that, Cristina, I was curious about another point to follow up on your questions, Lauren, which is that it seems that Sigma has been growing super fast. And maybe you can tell us a little more about this. I was curious about how it impacted your role as a CFO Krishna. And maybe what are the things that you were not doing like a year ago that you're doing now because the company has probably doubled in terms of revenues? Or what are the kind of things that changed, uh, recently on this as a result of growth?

Speaker C: What has not changed? Um, you know, I've gone through the growth journey a few times and throughout the journey you make trade off decisions. It's always about what you prioritize. And what do you not prioritize? One common tension or trade off decisions you always have to make is between speed and structure. The finance team is there to provide structure, whether that's through the planning process, budgeting, the uh, scenario analysis, and that's what we tend to do. But when the company is growing fast, too much structure may not be the right thing. So making a conscious decision between the perfection that we tend to want as a finance professional and knowing what the business, the speed it's running and optimizing for the right outcome, that's been a very common tension I've seen. Um, again, going back to my cooking, uh, example, sometimes you set the table buffet style so that you optimize for cb. Other time you set a very curated food tasting and wine pairing menu so that you optimize for precision. Both are great outcomes. You just need to be able to consciously make a decision. What do you want to optimize for at what time? So that's been one thing that I've learned again and again through the high growth journey.

Speaker A: And if you think, I love that example, Christina, because we had one of the guests on the podcast that was a CFO in a market in, uh, a really creative company and she was trying to explain how she left some space, even beyond the financing, for people to be creative, to test their idea. And I think it reminds me a lot of what you just said around. Yes, you need to be careful about not putting too much structure because otherwise, um, you're not leaving them create and keep on innovating. We just had your answer, Cristina, on the changes that you've experienced as part of the growth of Sigma for the last two years. And the question I have for you is if you think about the same type of growth for the next two years, what will change in your role, your function, and maybe even the tool that you're using, what would be the difference?

Speaker C: Yeah, great question. Uh, and thanks for asking me to think ahead. Sometime being as busy as we are, forget to think what's the road ahead of us, uh, looking forward as we grow, complexities will continue to compound and that will add so much burden onto the tools um, that we have. And where I'm very excited to see how it's going to play out is on the AI front. The automations that AI will allow, especially business users like myself who don't code. I feel so much more empowered um, now that with the help of AI I can create applications. I'm doing that on the Sigma platform to automate the work that I know needs to get done. But in the past I had to rely on creating a BRD and going back and forth with the IT team, uh, to explain what needs to get done. And you know that process can be very lengthy and a lot of prioritization decisions, uh, in that process as well. Now that I'm super excited the way we're going, as a business user, I feel very much empowered, uh, and I cannot wait to see how much more I can do, um, in the self serve way.

Speaker B: Very interesting. Uh, we have I think many more questions to ask you Christina, but I think before we do we'll take a quick break and we'll be right back with this great episode of the growth minded CFO still to come.

Speaker C: In this episode, the skill sets that uh, will take a company from 0 to 1 are different from the 1 to 10. And beyond that, as leaders of a company, our job is not only to grow the company but also to grow the people along with the company so that their career can launch with the company's success.

Speaker B: Enjoying today's episode, don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast app and tell a friend about the show. Now back to the episode and welcome back. We're back from our break where we are chatting with uh, Christina Liu about her scaling journey. Um, and I'm curious as kind of our final question is being part of a scaling company that's growing so quickly, hiring is probably a huge area where you're focusing. How do you think about hiring and leadership, um, and sort of what you're looking for as you grow the company in this market.

Speaker C: That's such a relevant question. And I always think about hiring together with people development. Those two go hand in hand. Uh, specific about hiring. The two qualities that I always look for, one is curiosity and the other is ownership. Those are non negotiables and then in the different stages of a company, earlier stage, you tend to hire people who are utility players who can contact switch really quickly because you need to put that fires, uh, in different places multiple times a day. Um, later on when the company has reached certain scales, you tend to supplement the team with more depth, uh, who can bring more structure and bench strength. One thing I have experienced again and again in the high growth environment is the skill sets that will take a company from 0 to 1 are different from the 1 to 10 and beyond that. And so that then brings into the picture of people development. As leaders of a company, our job is not only to grow the company, but also to grow the people along with the company so that their career can launch with the company's success. And so I dedicate a fair amount of time to coach and to develop the team. I think that is a very important role for any leadership, uh, especially in the high growth company.

Speaker B: I think that's a very wise answer which gives me a lot of insight into how you're thinking about this growth. Because I asked about hiring and you're immediately talking about internal talent development. And I think that's such a good instinct as a leader to be thinking about the people, the winners, the team that you already have in this growth story and not just how do I find that next hot shot on the market. It's a really cool insight to your own leadership, um, which is really cool

Speaker A: from my perspective when I listen to you, um, m on this answer, Kristina, and you're talking about your team. The thing that is mirror is also your personal development. I understand that it's been you stepped into this position of cfo. This is your first time role as a cfo. And how did you, how did you manage to grow into that position? How what uh, are the things that helped you become the CFO and help you keep on growing as you know, everything is growing around you, I guess, including yourself.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: So throughout my career I have benefited from so many mentors and role models. Um, one role model that, that in particular stands out was a working mom. She was a successful executive, my manager at that time. I remember there were days that she brought her kids, young kids to the office because she had forgotten about the school holidays and did not arrange childcare ahead of time. And so I was also a young, um, working mom at that time, struggling to keep everything together. And for me seeing someone who is so successful but so real at the same time was very empowering. It made me feel that I could do this too. And so I, uh, looking back, if there's one thing that I would have done differently, that would have been to schedule more coffee meets with people that I admire instead of making up reasons why they were so they were too important for me or too busy for me. So if there's one advice that I could give the audience is always reach out. Every time I reached out, no one had said no to me. I wish I had done more of that.

Speaker A: This is a great learning. We've heard that, uh, many times. Just this idea that people are actually much more inclined to help and share the stories. And this is ultimately the reason why we do that podcast with Lauren. And we love having CFOs like you because we've been super impressed by how many people came on the show, shared their stories and the feedback we got from others who just said this has been really interesting and helped me into this dimension or another. Maybe just one quick follow up, uh, uh, Christina, before we finish that episode. But a practical tip. Where do you find those people? Is this on LinkedIn? Do you have some communities? Uh, do you follow them? What are the tips? If I'm a cf, if I'm a finance leader and I don't really know where to start in terms of building new connections.

Speaker C: Well, I'm an introvert and very shy person. I don't do super well in networking events. Um, so the role models and mentors that I have had throughout my career, most of them came from the people that I work with. Um, whether that was my direct manager or skip level or someone that just through interaction in the work environment, I was impressed with something that they did. And so some of them turn into a coffee chat and later on the relationship continues on beyond the, you know, that particular company. So you always have people inspire you around you. You don't have to do cold calls on LinkedIn or go to these networking events.

Speaker A: We were talking about your collaboration with sales, Cristina. You're going to be cold calling people.

Speaker C: That's why I'm not in sales.

Speaker A: That's good.

Speaker B: That was so powerful. I love hearing about the different ways that different folks we chat with network, because I think also a big lesson is there's just no one way to do it. There's just different ways depending on what you're comfortable, comfortable with. And the key thing is just to be getting exposure to how other people do the CFO role and make it work. And that's why it's so wonderful to have wonderful guests like you, Christina, on the show to demonstrate for us all how you are a cfo. So thank you so, so much for coming on the show. This is a great episode. Um, that's it for us this week. If you like the, uh, growth minded CFO podcast and you like to hear more of us, please subscribe. We are on Apple podcast, Spotify and YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. If you are a CFO or you know a CFO who you think would be another great guest on the show that we could learn from, please have them apply. We have an application right on our new growth minded CFO website where you can apply and find the link in our show notes. Alex, did I forget anything?

Speaker A: Yes, you forgot something, Lauren. That's for one. I can say that you forgot something, but. But it's new and I wanted to share with everyone. The audience has asked for it, but we're starting a newsletter, uh, around the, uh, newsletter. The newsletter around the podcast. We have those very, uh, detailed articles that are published on our, uh, website, uh, for every single, uh, episode. But we now repackaging, uh, this into a newsletter. So if you're interested, you can get into your mailbox every new episode and a good summary of it so that, uh, you know, if it's worth listening to it, but it's oftentimes worth listening to it. So listen as well. But that was maybe the additional thing.

Speaker B: That's great. Yes.

Speaker A: Thank you so much, Kristina, for being with us today. We really enjoyed this conversation. Uh, it was a great episode and a very inspiring one.

Speaker B: Yes. See you next time.

Speaker A: Thank you so much, Christina. Uh, bye. Bye.

Speaker C: Bye. Bye.