Scaling lean finance teams: 3 strategies from startup leaders

Finance teams face a tough mandate: move faster and deliver deeper insights—without adding headcount. The smartest finance leaders realize that delivering on this ambitious goal requires embracing automation and AI at every step.

In a recent workshop, Ramp Expert-in-Residence David Wiesenak sat down with Pietra CFO Sal Javed and Steven Hedlund, head of finance at Rillet—which broke the news of its $25 million Series A funding during the workshop—to unpack how AI, automation, and deliberate hiring practices help modern finance leaders scale smarter.

Here are a few key takeaways from the conversation on how to drive outsized impact with an agile, automation-first finance org:

Start by automating transactional work

Hedlund and Javed agreed that many finance teams are still not automating to their full potential. While flashy FP&A tools often steal the spotlight, the transactional layer is still the area where automation can drive the most impact today. Think managing journal entries, reconciliations, accruals, and AP/AR. Automation not only accelerates bigger tasks such as the monthly close but improves the accuracy of data that is the basis for additional analysis. Without that foundation, strategic forecasting is really just guesswork.

“Once you get really, really tight on the controls and visibility on all the transactions, the reconciliation, you can then make very high quality forecasting and planning efforts, analysis efforts on top of that data,” said Javed of Pietra, an ecommerce enablement company that connects direct-to-consumer brands with a vast network of global factories.

👉 Watch the clip below for more ideas on processes finance can automate.

Leverage AI to stay lean

At AI-native ERP provider Rillet, Hedlund’s team leverages AI to handle work that previously would’ve required AR clerks. At Pietra, Sal is a one-man finance team who leans on an AI-driven tech stack to automate the month-end close, surface real-time insights, and explore high-quality analytics. The two finance leaders noted that thoughtful applications of AI can unlock efficiency without sacrificing control.

These companies operate on the bleeding edge of AI in finance, but what about those earlier in the journey? The experts recommended frequent experimentation with these tools—even if it’s for everyday tasks like drafting emails or debugging Excel. And if there’s something AI struggled with today, try again next month because capabilities are rapidly improving.

Some are even taking more formal measures to drive adoption.

“One CFO I talked with, they actually have it required in their annual performance reviews with the different department heads to ask them how they’ve used the budget they’re allocated for AI tools,” Hedlund said. “And then evaluating folks that way.”

▶️ Tune in below for a quick overview of how cutting-edge teams are using AI.

Hire with technical skills in mind

As automation reshapes finance roles, the must-have traits in a CFO’s first hire are shifting. All the panelists agreed that tomorrow’s top finance talent will need more than an understanding of GAAP rules and expert-level spreadsheet skills.

AI fluency is fast becoming a differentiator. Javed thinks that once finance pros realize the power of the latest technology, it will be easier to break longstanding habits to turn to old faithful: Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.

“You have this massive industry of all these really smart people who just know these tools cold,” Javed said. “I think in this world really, really powerful tools will have the ability to compress that transition timeline.”

In fact, Hedlund said one CFO he knows insisted on hiring a controller who could code—a decision that paid off in spades as that person came in with an automation-first approach that brought immediate savings.

“I think that’s going to become a lot more common going forward where controllers, heads of finance that have coding skills or have used AI extensively are going to be a lot more attractive as new hires,” Hedlund said.

Discover more strategies to do more with less

This webinar is packed with practical, tested strategies from leaders who are making the lean team model work. Watch the full webinar for more insights on:

• How to rethink hiring, tooling, and team structure in the age of AI
• What finance trends are overhyped (spoiler: it includes certain AI-powered fintech)
• What skill sets will define the next generation of finance hires
• How to work cross-functionally with ops, sales, and product to scale without growing headcount

This is essential viewing for finance leaders looking to scale smarter—not bigger. Watch the webinar on demand now.