This blog was written by McAfee’s previous CFO Mike Berry.
For me, the best role in a company is CFO.
A work colleague once summed it this way, “The CEO is the heart and soul of the company, and the CFO is the central nervous system.” As a CFO, you receive impulses from across the organization to gain insight on the implications of decisions and then develop plans based on those signals … to improve efficiency and returns for your stakeholders.
McAfee has immense heart and soul in Chris Young. His vision for this company and passion for securing the public’s online presence is inspirational. In fact, it’s his leadership and vision that first drew me to join McAfee a few months ago.
I’m excited to come in as the organization’s first CFO in a few years. It is truly an honor to inherit and enhance a world-class team across the groups I am lucky enough to lead. And, I must admit being the central nervous system to a 7,000-employee startup in the hottest industry around is really cool.
While my new job and the beginnings of McAfee as an independent company are exciting, there is a lot of work ahead of us. First, we’ve got to stand up and operate as an independent company. We need to book, bill, collect, invoice and close the books starting after April 3rd. In addition, our critical teams in IT, Procurement, Supply Chain, Facilities and Real Estate have a huge amount of activities related to the stand up of McAfee and are critical to our success.
Next, we must ensure our day-to-day operations of an independent McAfee drive profitable growth. We owe it to all our stakeholders to drive growth and increase our cash flow and profitability. Luckily, we are beneficiaries of an established company, brand, business and team. It is up to us to leverage the strong foundation we inherited into increased shareholder return.
We must also continue to drive our strategic transformation as one of the largest pure-play cybersecurity companies in the industry. Innovation is the life blood of any technology company and this is especially true in an industry where our adversaries are constantly finding new and insidious ways to attack. Whether it’s in Finance, Procurement, Supply Chain, Facilities, Real Estate or IT, the teams that I lead are committed to doing our part to help drive innovation – from operating more efficiently to ensuring proper resource allocation.
Most importantly, we must enable a culture of success and high-performing teams. We’re creating an environment where teams can thrive. Together, we’ll work hard for shared success and push one another to reach new heights.
I am honored to be the CFO of the new McAfee and am really excited about working with such a great group of fellow employees as we show the world that Together is Power.
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