Transformation Every Day

Expert Insights and Stories on SAP and beyond.

Transformation Every Day is the podcast for anyone passionate about Digital Transformation done right in the SAP universe. Join hosts Alexander Greb and Johannes Langguth, along with leading experts from SAP and beyond, as they dive deep into what successful digital transformation really takes. Get ready for candid conversations, inspiring experts insights, best practices and practical strategies to drive impactful change in your organization.

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Transformation Every Day

Episode 27: The modern CFO - Christian Straub

December 22, 2025 • Alexander Greb & Johannes Langguth • Season 1 • Episode 27

Guest:

Christian Straub - Head of Customer Advisory Finance - SAP

Hosts:

Alexander Greb - Consulting Director - cbs corporate business solutions
Johannes Langguth - Head of Business Transformation and Architecture - SAP SE

What does it take to be a modern CFO when AI, data, and complexity are reshaping the enterprise?

In this episode of Transformation Every Day, Alexander Greb and Johannes Langguth speak with Christian Straub about how the CFO role is fundamentally evolving — from managing numbers to driving measurable business impact. Success today is no longer about closing the books faster, but about generating real outcomes across the value chain.

Christian explains why AI is not a “finance topic,” but a business topic that will impact every function — with finance right at the center. The discussion breaks AI’s value for CFOs into three key dimensions: efficiency, better decision-making, and risk mitigation — and why only efficiency is easy to quantify, while the other two often define competitive advantage.

The episode also explores why CFOs must embrace technology as a transformation lever, how the finance function is shifting toward true business partnering, and why data governance has become one of the most critical responsibilities for finance leaders. Without clean data, clear ownership, and integrated processes, AI simply amplifies existing problems instead of solving them.

You’ll hear practical perspectives on:

Why organizational silos block effective, AI-supported decision-making
How incremental AI use cases can deliver fast, visible returns
Why stakeholder alignment across business, IT, and leadership is essential
How finance is becoming increasingly AI-driven and data-centric

Whether you’re a CFO, finance leader, transformation professional, or consultant, this conversation offers a realistic and experience-based look at what it takes to lead finance into the future — balancing innovation with control, speed with trust, and ambition with execution.

Follow Alexander: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandergreb/
Follow Johannes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johanneslangguth/

Thanks to Steven Spears for lending his voice for our podcast intro.
Theme music by Luis Álvarez a.k.a. Fourth Dogma