In the latest CFO Dive podcast, KPMG Director Kelly Owens and Jim Gahagan, Senior Director of Financial Services Industry Solutions Marketing at Workday, discuss how a unified ERP platform can help CFOs address regulatory data challenges through real-time data insights while improving speed, accuracy, and cost discipline. The two experts also share key findings from KPMG's 2025 banking survey and discuss the role of standardization in reducing audit risk, as well as why testing and reconciliation efforts consume significant financial resources.

Podcast Overview

This episode, produced in collaboration between KPMG and Workday, focuses on how financial leaders can achieve long-term operational efficiency through real-time, data-driven insights. Kelly Owens and Jim Gahagan point out that a unified platform provides end-to-end visibility across people, money, and operations, enabling faster and more confident decision-making. They emphasize that standardized processes not only help reduce audit risk but also free up financial team resources to focus on higher-value strategic work.

Key Topics: Regulatory Data Management and AI Applications

In the conversation, the two guests delve into practical approaches CFOs can take to strengthen regulatory data management, including how to leverage a unified platform to simplify operations and prudently apply artificial intelligence (AI) in areas that generate measurable business value. They mention that despite AI's immense potential, companies should avoid blindly following trends and instead deploy selectively based on data maturity and business needs.

"Through a unified platform, finance teams can turn data into insights, enabling agility in complex regulatory environments." — Kelly Owens, Director at KPMG

Additionally, Jim Gahagan added: "Workday's industry solutions are designed to help financial institutions achieve data consistency, reduce manual reconciliation, and allow CFOs to focus more on forward-looking planning."

Episode List

  1. Ep. 1 Data, Operational Efficiency, and the Strategic Value of a Unified Platform

Episode 1: Data, Operational Efficiency, and the Strategic Value of a Unified Platform

In this episode, listeners can learn about detailed data from KPMG's 2025 banking survey and how a unified ERP platform helps financial institutions address data fragmentation challenges. The two experts also discuss why testing and reconciliation have become burdens for finance teams and how standardized processes can alleviate this pressure.

The episode also provides a listening link on the Spreaker platform, making it easy for listeners to access the full audio content.

For more examples of how CFOs are using unified platforms to improve efficiency, stay tuned to CFO Dive's ongoing coverage.