Did you know that CFOs play a pivotal role in safeguarding financial data? CFOs must be proactive in preventing fraud and cyberattacks. But where should you start?
Join us at the CFO Summit in Boston on October 8th to learn how to effectively protect your organization's financial assets. Hear from industry leaders and experienced CFOs who will share their best practices and insights.
One of our featured speakers is David Forlizzi, CFO of Veracode. David will be joining a panel discussion that will reveal insider secrets for outmaneuvering fraud and cyber threats.
We caught up with David to hear more about him and the panel discussion, which will become the ultimate CFO's guide to cybersecurity.👇
Please introduce yourself and your current role.
Since 2019, I have served as the Chief Financial Officer for Veracode, Inc, which is a PE backed cybersecurity SaaS business that is a global leader in application risk management.
In other words, Veracode helps software development and security teams to write and use secure code by identifying potential vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers.
As CFO, I am often working closely with the product and go-to-market leaders to enable improved data for decision making as well as partnering on customer deal structuring.
I started my career at PwC serving both public and private software clients. With PwC and a global software company, Infovista, I lived, worked and traveled in Paris, France for several years, where I became fluent in French.
Outside of work, I enjoy cooking smoked pit BBQ in the summer months and snow skiing in the winter.
Finance Alliance
What topics will you be discussing as a panelist at our event?
At the upcoming event, I shall be covering “preventing fraud and cyberattacks”, which is a topic closely related to my role at Veracode as well as Veracode’s core mission for our customers.
While the job of IT and software security is never complete at any company, Veracode is often at the forefront in protecting itself from outside cyber threats.
My goal is to share a perspective of what we have done at Veracode as well as other useful tidbits of knowledge that I have learned along the way during my professional career as CFO.
What is the key takeaway you hope attendees will gain from your insights on the panel?
The key takeaways to gain are:
1. Prompting all financial leaders that they have a responsibility to influence and implement practices to secure a company from cyber-attacks.
2. Sharing ideas and steps financial leaders can take with their company to reduce cyber risk.
3. Raising awareness on how great this risk has become for all companies.
Sabrinthia Donnelly
Who do you think would benefit most from attending this panel discussion, and why?
Any financial leader who is apart of an organization that has a corporate network, website, and private information that can be accessed from a network (pretty much everyone) can benefit from this topic.
With the proliferation of software and digitalization of information, almost every company is exposed to cyber threats.
The common saying in the industry is that it is not a question of “if” a company will become victim of a cyber-attack, it is more so a question of “when”.
My goal is to cover some simple steps and perhaps less simple steps that financial leaders can take with their peers to reduce such risk or be more prepared in the event they ever become a victim of a cyber-attack.
What aspect of this event are you most excited about?
While I am certainly excited to discuss cybersecurity during the panel that I am participating, I am keen to hear the ways other financial leaders have been harnessing the benefits of artificial intelligence through tools in methods for FP&A and other means.
While I don’t believe AI will replace humans in the near or mid term, financial leaders that know how to use AI will replace financial leaders that do not know how to leverage AI!
Can you share a little preview of the insights you’ll bring to the panel discussion?
During the panel on Cyber risks and fraud, my goal would be to raise awareness by sharing the experiences and best practices that I have had the privilege of having at my current employer Veracode.
Not only do we get to see how our customers are addressing cyber risks, but also Veracode has made a lot of progress in maintaining process and policies to mitigate cyber risks.
Finance Alliance
What’s the best career advice you’ve received that has helped shape your journey?
It may sound a bit “corny”, but the best advice that I have received in my professional career is “The harder you work, the luckier you get”. There is a lot of truth in that advice!
What advice would you offer to young professionals starting their careers in finance?
Our education teaches us the importance of technical skills which is a high focus during the early years of our professional careers. Most of us have the skills to work in finance when graduating school.
Two additional core focus areas that for not only early in a finance profession but also later in a person’s professional career are: Networking and Applied Learning.
Networking is all about creating connections with as many financial and non-financial professionals as possible. The more positive relationships that are built….the more opportunities or help seizing opportunities are captured.
Applied leaning sounds really basis……and it is. However, listening to feedback from your peers, hierarchy and teammates and adapting your work to fine tune your deliverables is extremely important, especially early on in a persons career.
Everyone makes mistakes, however, making the same error or oversight on reports or data over multiple weeks or months quickly erodes trust.
Listening to feedback and following up on improvements will often rise you to the category of top performer especially early on in your career.
Join the CFO Summit Boston!
Break free from the daily grind and join us at the CFO Summit in Boston on October 8, 2024.
CFO Summit is an exclusive, invite-only gathering of senior finance leaders who come together to share success stories and industry insights to work through the prevailing challenges facing CFOs today.
- Pick the brains of seasoned decision-makers to hone your financial strategy.
- Revitalize and find inspiration by taking a break from the daily routine.
- Absorb knowledge from leading CFOs and understand market-shifting trends.
- Unite with your peers and establish new connections.
