Driving Alignment > Amy Foo, SVP Finance & Revenue Operations | Culture Amp   

Amy Foo is a dynamic and seasoned finance leader with extensive experience working in high growth technology companies. Since joining local ‘unicorn‘ Culture Amp, Amy now leads a team of around 60 people spanning finance, revenue operations and company-wide data analytics and deems the ability to drive alignment as one of the most critical value-adds a CFO can bring. CFO Magazine’s Emma Foster learns more…

First-hand experience has taught Melbourne-based technology ecosystem stalwart Amy Foo that the strength of a high-growth company’s internal culture has a close correlation with its success.

“The most expensive thing in a tech company’s P&L is your people,” says the senior vice president of finance and revenue operations at employee experience software-as-a-service provider, Culture Amp.

“So, if you don’t have the right measures and analytics to drive culture, you’re not going to be getting the most ROI out of your biggest investment. I believe this should be at the heart of every company that wants to be successful.”

This strong-held belief was behind Foo’s decision to join Culture Amp in 2022, bringing with her more than two decades of experience in senior finance and operational roles with technology and software companies including Zendesk, Serena Software, BEA Systems and IBM, along with auditing experience at big four firms EY and KPMG.

It was a move she describes as “like a dream fusion” for her. “Culture Amp is a tech company; it is focused on growth; and it also has a mission to create a better world of work – so it brings together these three things that I’m passionate about in the one place.”   

Amped-up unicorn

Co-founded in 2009 by Didier Elzinga and headquartered in Melbourne, Culture Amp uses a data-driven approach to help businesses improve workplace culture, engage employees and manage performance.

From its start-up beginnings, it now has almost 1,000 staff spanning the company’s three main hubs – in Australia, North America and Europe. Its platform has been adopted by more than 6,500 companies worldwide – including well-known brands such as Canva, On, Asana, Dolby, McDonalds and Nasdaq.

The business has hit the coveted unicorn status, its valuation surpassing $1 billion in 2019, having attracted investment from major venture capital funds including Australia’s Blackbird Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Skip Capital and Grok Ventures, along with Felicis Ventures, Index Ventures, Sapphire Ventures and Global Founders Capital.

All-important alignment

Continued growth remains on the agenda for Culture Amp, despite the prevailing challenging economic landscape. “We are a very ambitious company, with a focus on sustainable growth rather than growth at all costs,” says Foo, a registered CPA in Australia, Malaysia and Singapore.

“That means driving strategy and capital prioritisation is an ever-continuous, agile process. We want to do many things within a short time span, so it certainly keeps me on my toes and brings out all my finance and operational experiences to make sure everyone is prioritising and working towards the same goals.”

Indeed, Foo – who leads a team of around 60 people spanning finance, revenue operations and company-wide data analytics to help shape strategic decisions – deems the ability to drive alignment as one of the most critical value-adds a CFO can bring. 

“Ultimately, I believe that everyone wants to get to the same goal, but we probably have different ways of getting there – and that’s where the challenge becomes real,” she says. “I see my job as an operational leader is to make sure we have clarity around goals, success measures and alignment to drive everybody towards it, without heartache. Having that clarity in turn cultivates a growth mindset and supports innovation and strategic risk taking and that pushes the business forward, safely.”  

Aerial view

In recognition of Foo’s long track record of advocacy for Australia as a launch pad for San Francisco Bay Area technology companies to grow in the Asia Pacific region, she was invited in 2022 to join the City of Melbourne’s Invest Melbourne Advisory Board which provides strategic advice to the city on potential opportunities for growth of investment.

“It’s a role I feel passionate about because it’s a way for me to give back my experience on a pro-bono basis,” says Foo who brings technology and digital innovation advice to the table. “It’s all about helping the City of Melbourne attract international tech companies or locally grown companies with high ambition, which in turn will cultivate future generations within the community.”

While acknowledging that time is a precious commodity for most finance professionals, she believes taking on additional roles like this can be an enriching experience – but she cautions that the choice of an external advisory role needs to closely align with personal goals and values.

“Sometimes when you’re limited to the one workplace it feels like you’re amongst the trees. To elevate yourself to the aerial forest view, you need to go beyond your day to day,” she says.

“While I could have chosen a paid advisory role within a tech business, joining the Invest Melbourne Advisory Board suited my vision of giving back to the community and it also returns a lot of intrinsic value in giving me that aerial view and enabling me to connect with the Melbourne ecosystem beyond just tech.”    

AI on the agenda  

Like most organisations, Culture Amp is busily embedding artificial intelligent solutions into its platform, having announced last year it will leverage Google’s Vertex AI in a way that “could save HR professionals hundreds of hours normally spent analysing employee feedback”.

At the same time, Foo says her team has an AI adoption roadmap across their internal remit, given her strong belief that the technology is transforming the role for CFOs. While “not going too crazy” with options, her advice is to stay abreast of the evolving best-in-class features in all technology platforms used across finance functions and be open to change. 

“If you’re not thinking about AI you’re going to be left behind,” she says.

“That’s because it’s a productivity game changer. It lifts you from the mundane tasks you’re normally spending time on, and releases capacity for you to be that leader to drive value creation. The only way you can be on top of your intelligence game is to find time to think about the things that matter most; you do not want to get pulled down by the mundane.”

No room for complacency

Looking to the future, Foo is energised by Culture Amp’s plans for its next phase of growth, noting that “now is not a time when any business can be complacent”.

“We need to be continuously agile, reviewing our goals and in turn making sure our resources are given to the right areas to drive the business forward,” she says. “As finance leader, it is a heavy goal, and I feel it on my shoulders every day, but as someone who leads from the front, I love driving strategy and role modelling for my team. I put a lot of heart into that.”