Pharma tech CFO says finance is at the center of AI strategy

Sheryl Estrada

Good morning. As investment in AI accelerates, CEOs expect their CFOs to play central roles in leading the strategy.&nbsp;<div class="paywall-selector"></div><div class="paywall">



Finance leaders should treat enterprise AI oversight as a “proof of concept”—carefully assessing potential impacts and investments, tracking outcomes, managing risks, and regularly evaluating whether to continue the initiatives, Marco Steecker, a senior director and analyst at Gartner, explained earlier this week at the firm’s annual CFO conference.



I brought up this topic during my conversation with Josh Schwartz, SVP and CFO of Medidata Solutions, a SaaS platform provider for clinical trials in the life sciences. Schwartz recently took over Medidata’s enterprise IT team. “We need to get to business intelligence, and a lot of that sits within the CFO office,” he said.



When Medidata launched about 25 years ago, its goal was to streamline the mountains of paperwork required for drug approval, Schwartz told me. Over time, the company began digitizing this process and then built out a platform as the operating system for running clinical trials. Medidata, acquired by Dassault Systèmes in 2019, has run over 35,000 trials, with nearly 75% of novel drugs marketed in the last five years using their platform, Schwartz said.



The New York-based company has shifted from simply digitizing workflows to generating actionable insights for patients and pharmaceutical clients. Medidata has embraced the idea of “AI everywhere” to shorten the clinical trial cycle, ultimately bringing drugs to market faster and lowering costs for clients, Schwartz said.



The company’s partnerships with data firms like Snowflake further enhance its ability to curate and analyze massive datasets, giving researchers insights that would be impossible to generate manually, he said. However, Schwartz pointed out that, along with AI, there’s still a human at the center of the process.



He became CFO of Medidata in 2022 but has been with the company for more than 15 years in leadership roles. Schwartz is focused on finding tactical-use cases internally for automation in finance and accounting for a group of 90 professionals who report to him. By using enterprise software company Workday’s platform (a CFO Daily sponsor), accounts payable automation now processes nearly 90% of invoices, up from zero just a few years ago, he said.



“With our extreme focus on cash flow, 98% of invoices are paid right on time versus 60–65% previously—ensuring we are maximizing our net terms for cash flow while maintaining our vendor relationships,” Schwartz said. Medidata has saved over $1.46 million annually in costs through the automation of finance and HR workflows, he said. Before using a unified system, the company lost time, efficiency, and value when moving through each application differently, he said.&nbsp;



As a CFO investing in technology to support growth, I asked Schwartz what he thinks are some of the challenges facing the clinical trials industry.



&#8220;I think there&#8217;s revenue pressure, cost pressure, and then there&#8217;s this worldwide change where velocity is becoming even more important,&#8221; he told me. &#8220;So there needs to be a way where you can differentiate.&#8221; For Medidata, that means a focus on digital therapeutics—patient-facing software applications that help treat, prevent, or manage a disease. To that end, Medidata has recently partnered with Click Therapeutics, he said.



To <a href="https://fortune.com/2025/04/29/leadership-advice-xcel-energy-ceo-former-cfo/">stay competitive</a> during uncertain times, “You’ve got to think long term,” Schwartz said.



CFO Daily will return Tuesday after the Memorial Day holiday. Have a good weekend.



Sheryl Estrada <a href="mailto:sheryl.estrada@fortune.com">sheryl.estrada@fortune.com</a><h3>Leaderboard</h3>Some notable moves this week:
Howard Yu, CFO of <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ball-announces-cfo-departure-302463365.html">Ball Corporation</a> (NYSE: BALL), an aluminum packaging solutions provider, will be stepping down from his role, effective June 30. The departure is not related to any disagreement with the company on any matter relating to its accounting practices, financial statements, internal controls or operations, according to the company. Daniel Rabbitt was appointed interim CFO until a permanent successor is named. Rabbitt has served as SVP of corporate planning and development since 2016. 
Lynn Hutkin was promoted to CFO of <a class="sc-19cc8fd2-0 kspHIT" href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/05/20/3085084/0/en/Bel-Appoints-Lynn-Hutkin-as-Chief-Financial-Officer.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="Go to https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/05/20/3085084/0/en/Bel-Appoints-Lynn-Hutkin-as-Chief-Financial-Officer.html">Bel Fuse Inc.</a> (Nasdaq: BELFA and BELFB), effective May 27. Hutkin is succeeding Farouq Tuweiq, Bel’s current CFO, who will assume the role of president and CEO on the same date. Hutkin joined Bel in 2007, most recently serving as VP of financial reporting and investor relations along with her designation as principal accounting officer for Bel, which she will continue in her new role. 
Geoffrey Porges is stepping down as CFO of <a class="sc-19cc8fd2-0 kspHIT" href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250520685621/en/Schrdinger-Announces-CFO-Appointment" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="Go to https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250520685621/en/Schrdinger-Announces-CFO-Appointment">Schrödinger</a> (Nasdaq: SDGR), a software platform for drug discovery and materials science, to pursue other opportunities. Richie Jain, who previously served as Schrödinger’s SVP of strategic finance and head of corporate and business development, will succeed Porges as CFO. Jain joined Schrödinger from Morgan Stanley, most recently serving as a managing director in the health care investment banking and mergers and acquisitions departments. 
Mark Dmytruk, CFO of <a class="sc-19cc8fd2-0 kspHIT" href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ginkgo-bioworks-announces-appointment-of-steven-coen-as-chief-financial-officer-302462403.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="Go to https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ginkgo-bioworks-announces-appointment-of-steven-coen-as-chief-financial-officer-302462403.html">Ginkgo Bioworks</a> (NYSE: DNA), a platform for cell programming, intends to resign from his role at the company on May 30 to accept a position at another organization. Steven Coen, the company’s chief accounting officer, will become CFO. Coen joined Ginkgo in 2023, with over 30 years of public accounting and corporate finance leadership experience. 
Jennifer Bright was appointed CFO of <a class="sc-19cc8fd2-0 kspHIT" href="https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/biotechnology/envveno-medical-appoints-jennifer-bright-as-chief-financial-officer-1028083" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="Go to https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/biotechnology/envveno-medical-appoints-jennifer-bright-as-chief-financial-officer-1028083">enVVeno Medical Corporation</a> (Nasdaq:NVNO), a medical device company, effective May 19. Bright brings more than 25 years of financial and leadership experience built across several commercial-stage medical device and pharmaceutical companies including Biolase, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Apria Healthcare, Smile Brands, and Teleflex Medical. She succeeds Craig Glynn, who will continue to be available to the company in an advisory capacity.
Joel Pitz was appointed EVP and CFO of <a class="sc-19cc8fd2-0 kspHIT" href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250520603945/en/Principal-Names-Joel-Pitz-Executive-Vice-President-and-Chief-Financial-Officer" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="Go to https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250520603945/en/Principal-Names-Joel-Pitz-Executive-Vice-President-and-Chief-Financial-Officer">Principal Financial Group</a> (Nasdaq: PFG), effective immediately. Pitz steps into the role after 30 years with Principal. Pitz succeeds Deanna Strable, who was named president and CEO in January 2025. Pitz served Principal as SVP and controller before he was appointed as interim CFO. Before taking on the role of controller, he served as the CFO for international businesses.
<h3>Big Deal</h3>Randstad’s latest <a href="https://www.randstad.com/press/2025/talent-trade-offs-unlocked-employability-emerges-top-priority/">Workmonitor Pulse survey</a>, based on the views of over 5,000 workers worldwide, finds that employees are navigating the labor market with increased intentionality. Talent across generations and job types are making deliberate trade-offs.
Some key findings: Time autonomy is now the most valued form of flexibility, with many workers prioritizing control over their hours ahead of pay or location. Where a return to full-time on-site work is mandated, employees want greater schedule flexibility (65%), higher pay (64%), and more annual leave (61%) in return. The key differentiators for retaining talent over the long term are inflation-matching annual raises (74%), strong manager support (68%), and shared organizational values (67%).
<h3>Going deeper</h3>Here are four Fortune weekend reads:
“<a href="https://fortune.com/2025/05/22/jpmorgan-launches-geopolitics-arm-jamie-dimon-changing-world-order/">JPMorgan launches ‘lean and mean’ geopolitics arm as Jamie Dimon warns of changing world order</a>” by Greg McKenna
“<a href="https://fortune.com/2025/05/22/ai-business-adoption/">Microsoft leader says adapting to the AI era requires ‘activating at every level of the organization</a>’” by Steve Mollman
“<a href="https://fortune.com/2025/05/21/chipotle-crew-member-tuition-assistance-reimbursement-program-guild-workforce/">Chipotle employees are rising through the ranks and making 6 figures after Guild suggested a simple switch that transformed the workforce</a>” by Amanda Gerut
“<a href="https://fortune.com/well/2025/05/12/sleep-chronotypes-night-owl/">When you need sleep is determined not by laziness, but chronotype. Here’s what that means</a>” by Beth Greenfield
<h3>Overheard</h3><div class="paywall">
“Imagine the possibility if every young person was either building a venture or solving one of our toughest problems, like water scarcity, where would the world be? What we need to do is to ensure that we provide them the space, the skills, and the tools to reach their full potential.”
—Leila Hoteit, managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group, said on Wednesday at Fortune’s <a href="https://fortune.com/2025/05/22/ai-optimism-future-of-work/">Most Powerful Women</a> International Summit in Riyadh.
</div></div>

Medidata Solutions CFO Josh Schwartz is steering the company toward a focus on "AI everywhere."

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