Some careers follow a straight line. Others trace something far more interesting, shaped by curiosity, geography, and the willingness to keep moving toward whatever comes next. Cristian Bøhnsdalen‘s path falls squarely in the second category. From his early days as a junior SAP FICO consultant in Argentina to nearly a decade of work across Norway, and back again to Buenos Aires where he now leads CB Consulting, his journey reads less like a career plan and more like a gradual discovery of exactly where his skills and the world’s needs would eventually meet. That meeting point, as it turns out, is artificial intelligence inside enterprise finance. And few people are better positioned to lead there than someone who has spent close to two decades understanding both the technical architecture of SAP systems and the human realities of the organizations that run on them. From Accountant to Consultant: How It All Began Cristian’s entry into the SAP world in 2008 was driven by a straightforward but consequential realization: his background in accounting did not have to confine him to traditional finance roles. SAP’s FICO module offered a natural bridge between financial expertise and enterprise technology, and he recognized it without hesitation. “I found my niche and my passion,” he says, describing that early decision with the kind of clarity that only comes when someone looks back and sees how obviously everything is connected. What followed was a career that refused to stay in one place. He rose through roles in Argentina, led financial accounting teams, and eventually answered a call that most professionals would have hesitated at, relocating to Norway to work with Unit 4 Agresso, later returning to SAP in a country where he would need to operate professionally in Norwegian. His mother’s heritage gave him citizenship, but the language and culture were still genuine challenges he chose to meet head-on. The years in Norway proved formative in ways that went well beyond the technical. Working alongside colleagues from many nationalities, engaging with top-tier technology, and navigating the discipline of Northern European work culture gave Cristian a breadth of perspective that would later become one of his clearest professional advantages. When life eventually brought him back to Buenos Aires, he carried a truly international career in both passport and practice. Building CB Consulting: Freedom, Focus, and a Bigger Vision CB Consulting was established in September 2019, born from Cristian’s decision to step into independent consulting and embrace both the responsibility and the freedom that comes with building something of his own. “I enjoy freedom and the ever-changing dynamic environment,” he says. “Many projects have gone by, and I have a blast learning new things and specializing even more, each time achieving greater depth and expertise.” But the vision behind CB Consulting has always reached further than a single consultant’s project list. Cristian sees the company as a vehicle for something he believes in at a fundamental level. The conviction that technology, applied thoughtfully and with genuine competence, makes human life measurably better. “Technology makes us better, improved human beings,” he says. “It is only through technological development that a high standard of living will be achieved for all the people on Earth.” The trajectory he has set for CB Consulting reflects this conviction directly. The company is actively evolving toward becoming a Business AI consultancy, offering AI-specific services within the SAP ecosystem, a transition he is not simply anticipating but actively preparing for with every engagement he takes on today. What AI Is Actually Doing to Enterprise Finance Ask Cristian what artificial intelligence is changing inside SAP financial operations, and the answer is immediate and grounded in specifics. SAP’s recently launched Autonomous Enterprise framework is estimated to automate up to 80 percent of tasks currently performed in Finance, and that is not a distant forecast but a shift already underway with real consequences for how organizations are structured and how work gets done. Collections management, for example, will increasingly handle the administrative and processing side automatically, freeing human workers to focus on the genuinely relationship-driven parts of the job such as calling customers, negotiating payment terms, and building the kind of trust that software cannot replicate. On the payments side, SAP’s own AI assistant Joule can now receive an uploaded invoice and process it through to payment with minimal human intervention, though human oversight remains essential for verifying accuracy and catching exceptions. For the people at the top of organizations, the shift is equally significant. “Decision makers will be able to rely on automated processes obtaining real time insights on demand, instead of waiting forever for BI teams to customize and develop reports,” Cristian explains. The move from retrospective reporting to live, on-demand intelligence is one of the most consequential changes in enterprise management in a generation, and AI inside SAP is one of the primary engines driving it forward. The Challenges Organizations Face and How to Navigate Them Despite the momentum, Cristian is clear-eyed about the friction points that will slow AI adoption in enterprise environments. He identifies two challenges that organizations consistently run into. The first is stability and trust. Generative AI is still relatively new, and most large organizations will wait until solutions have accumulated a proven track record before committing them at scale. That caution is not irrational but the natural behavior of institutions that carry real financial and regulatory accountability, and that timeline needs to be respected rather than rushed. The second challenge is competence. “Few people have the skillset to implement AI solutions,” he says. “Even if the business is ready to transition to AI, they might struggle finding the right competence.” The gap between organizational readiness and available talent is real, and it is one of the reasons Cristian sees an experienced AI-capable SAP consultant not merely as a service provider but as a genuine strategic asset for any client. His approach to both challenges is anchored in one principle he returns to consistently: explainability matters as much as efficiency. “AI must

In the Eastern Cape region of South Africa, surrounded by small towns where the nearest university felt worlds away, Catherine Campbell-Ferreira grew up on a farm near the town of Fort Beaufort. There, she witnessed firsthand how her parents meticulously planned all their financial decisions, because a financial misstep didn’t just mean losing money, it meant risking survival. As a child, she had no clue that her childhood lessons in finance would shape her career path in the future. Currently, Catherine Campbell-Ferreira works as the Senior Finance Manager for Amazon. She she leads the Fixed Cost FPA Team for North American Operations, focusing on finance planning and business partnerships within the company. Her role involves connecting finance to business decisions through Amazon’s extensive fulfillment and delivery network. Throughout her career, Catherine has always focused less on her job title and more on the difference she could make. Early Path to Leadership Catherine Campbell-Ferreira attended Winterberg Agricultural High School before pursuing a degree in finance at Rhodes University. During her studies there, she realized that numbers tell stories about people, risk, and the future. She later completed a postgraduate certificate in education. What seemed like a detour from a finance career became one of the most defining decisions of her life. The program gave her a strong foundation in psychology, influence, and the art of guiding people. Growing up on a farm taught her lessons that no textbook could provide. Every decision carried financial consequences. Knowing when to plant, when to harvest, and how to manage resources during a drought year were not abstract concepts in her household. They were matters of survival. While farm life taught her resilience and responsibility, ballet introduced her to discipline in a very different form. From a young age, Catherine Campbell-Ferreira trained seriously in ballet, and the lessons from the dance studio stayed with her long after the curtain fell. Discipline, consistency, and the understanding that growth comes through discomfort and hours of repetitive, unglamorous effort became part of her character. As she reflects, “Ballet showed me that the gap between where you are and where you want to be is bridged by showing up every single day.” Leading Through Transformation and Change General Motors South Africa hired Catherine Campbell-Ferreira straight out of Rhodes University as a graduate trainee. Over the next decade, she worked across every area of the finance function, including programme planning, financial planning and analysis, expense accounting, transfer pricing, and technology implementation. She contributed to the Hummer, Chevrolet, and Opel projects, building the kind of cross-functional experience few finance professionals gain so early. This experience shaped a professional philosophy that continues to guide her leadership approach. For Catherine, finance is not simply about reporting past performance. It is about understanding the story behind the data and helping leaders make informed decisions that shape the future. As she explains, “I became captivated by the idea that a finance professional could connect the dots and see the full picture when others only saw their individual piece.” That philosophy faced one of its greatest tests in 2017 when General Motors announced its divestment from South Africa. The decision created uncertainty across the automotive industry, with thousands of jobs and numerous dealer businesses at risk. Catherine Campbell-Ferreira stepped into a critical leadership role during this period. She played a key part in developing the business case and transition strategy that helped preserve livelihoods and protect dealer operations across the region. She later secured investment for the next-generation Isuzu bakkie “pickup truck”, a complex initiative that required her to navigate political, financial, and human challenges simultaneously. In doing so,Catherine Campbell-Ferreira achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first female Head of Finance in the history of General Motors and Isuzu Motors South Africa. Reflecting on her journey, she says, “True success is defined not only by career accomplishments but also by the positive impact we have on others.” Navigating Crisis With Purpose and Empathy During the COVID-19 pandemic, while serving as a Finance Executive at Isuzu Motors South Africa, Catherine Campbell-Ferreira found herself leading both the finance and IT departments after the company’s international CFO returned home due to pandemic protocols. As Catherine recalls, “Forecasts changed rapidly. Assumptions became unreliable overnight. Businesses had to make critical decisions with incomplete information.” Rather than focusing only on spreadsheets, she chose to lead with both financial rigor and human empathy. She reduced operational costs while protecting livelihoods and strengthening the company’s market position. At the same time, she led the financial planning for a major investment project that resulted in the successful launch of a next-generation vehicle. Beyond business operations, Catherine Campbell-Ferreira also supported corporate social responsibility initiatives. She supported the donation of vehicles for PPE transportation and helped fund hospital renovations for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Reflecting on that period, she says, “True leadership is not just about protecting the balance sheet. It is about protecting people.” For Catherine, the pandemic also brought an unexpected personal gift. For the first time, she was at home when her children returned from school. They would walk into her office with smiles and waves that energized her for the rest of the day. Her eldest even began joining team meetings and, with a child’s candor, would suggest, “Mom, maybe you should have done it like this.” Those moments helped Catherine Campbell-Ferreira appreciate how differently children see the world, making her more reflective and diplomatic as a leader. The experience also reshaped her perspective on life and work. She realized that family is not something to fit around work, but the foundation that gives work its true meaning. Amazon and the Next Frontier The decision to leave South Africa and move her family to the United States was not only a career move for Catherine, but a major life decision. She joined Amazon as a Finance Manager for North American Operations in 2022, entering an environment whose scale and complexity were unlike anything she had previously experienced. Reflecting on the experience,