AI is changing finance fast.
But if technology can replicate most of your daily output, the bigger question is: what makes you difficult to replace?
In the latest episode of the EMEA Recruitment Podcast, Albert Beccu (Global Head of Finance at Arethia) tears up the traditional career playbook.
Drawing on a journey spanning Sweden, the UK, and Switzerland, Albert reveals why he would choose the right boss over the right title every single time, how mentors including a former 20th Century Fox CFO shaped his commercial instincts, the leadership lesson he took from former Disney executive Nina Jacobson, and why modern finance professionals must evolve from scorekeepers into business owners.
Tune in to discover:
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The AI Reality Check: Why automation makes foundational accounting knowledge more valuable, not less, and why knowing what sits behind the numbers could become your career insurance.
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The Public-to-Private Shock: Why an impressive public-company resume can crash and burn if you don't understand private ownership culture.
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Scaling Global Growth: How Albert is structuring treasury centralization, FP&A, legal, and a major ERP rollout to ensure finance never becomes a bottleneck at Arethia.
Timestamps:
03:30 – Why Albert chose a career in finance
06:40 – How the finance profession has evolved
08:08 – The growing importance of technology, coding, and AI
10:45 – The three mentors who shaped Albert's career
19:42 – Working across Sweden, the UK, and Switzerland
21:13 – Understanding cultural differences in global teams
24:30 – Moving between public and private companies
25:24 – The differences in stakeholder management
31:10 – Albert's first six months at Arethia
32:05 – International expansion and the role of finance at Arethia
33:23 – Treasury centralization, FP&A, and ERP transformation
36:10 – An insight into Albert's leadership approach and team management
38:55 – Giving teams ownership in a fast-growing business
40:00 – Learning from failure
44:00 – Advice for the next generation of finance leaders
45:56 – Why choosing your boss can matter more than choosing your title
Finding a fascination with finance
Albert's interest in finance started early. From keeping track of his pocket money in a bank book to joining the Young Shareholders Association in Sweden, he developed a genuine curiosity about how money and businesses work.
That interest became more practical when his stepfather, then a finance director at a steel plant, gave him a summer job in shipping and accounts payable. What started as a summer role became something Albert returned to throughout his studies.
For Albert, finance stood out because of its breadth. It combines logic, mathematics, psychology, creativity, law, argument, and storytelling. That last element has become increasingly important throughout his career.
As finance has evolved, understanding the numbers is no longer enough. Finance professionals need to explain what those numbers mean, communicate them to different audiences, and help the wider business understand what action should be taken.
The changing role of the finance professional
Technology has transformed the finance function. Albert points to the growing importance of skills such as Python and SQL, alongside automation and AI.
But he also believes there is a risk in losing sight of the fundamentals.
The manual work he completed earlier in his career gave him an understanding of how financial information is built. That experience now helps him recognize when an automated report does not make sense or when something in the numbers is wrong.
His view is shared by Paul Toms who emphasis that technology should strengthen financial expertise, not replace it. Finance professionals still need to understand the mechanics behind the numbers and, importantly, be able to tell the story behind them.
The mentors who shaped his leadership
Three people stand out when Albert reflects on the mentors who influenced his career.
The first taught him the importance of commercial thinking. Working with Carl Hosten, formerly CFO for 20th Century Fox Nordic, pushed Albert to understand the purpose behind a forecast rather than simply focus on the spreadsheet. The lesson was to know the numbers, understand why they moved, and be able to explain the story behind them.
The second, Jeffrey Musk, helped Albert develop patience and his technical accounting knowledge. Albert believes finance leaders need more than an FP&A background. A strong understanding of accounting fundamentals remains critical, particularly when dealing with areas such as working capital and complex accounting decisions.
The third, Fredrik Manse, president of EF Travel, influenced Albert's approach to management. He learned the value of giving people trust and clear responsibility while also holding them accountable for delivering.
Together, these experiences helped shape a broader view of finance leadership: commercial awareness, technical depth, and the ability to build trust.
What working internationally teaches you
Albert's career has taken him across Sweden, the UK, and Switzerland, while also giving him experience working with teams and stakeholders across different regions.
One of the biggest lessons has been the importance of understanding how different cultures communicate and make decisions.
He reflects on the differences between Sweden and Switzerland, as well as experiences working with colleagues in Germany, China, Southeast Asia, and the US. His conclusion is that international experience is increasingly part of everyday business.
Rather than treating "cross-cultural experience" as a separate skill, Albert argues that working across cultures is simply part of being a senior leader in a multinational business.
The key, he believes, is to make sure everyone understands why something is being done. A shared purpose can help teams overcome differences in communication styles and ways of working.
Moving between public and private companies
Albert has also experienced both public and private business environments, giving him a useful perspective on the differences between the two.
For him, the biggest difference is stakeholder management.
Public company leaders often need to communicate a consistent message to a broad group of stakeholders, including investors and shareholders. In a private business, there may be fewer stakeholders, but the relationship with those individuals can be much more direct and personal.
This can make moving from a public company into a private organization particularly challenging. A senior executive may arrive with an impressive resume, but that experience does not automatically transfer. They still need to understand the ownership culture, earn trust, and adapt to the new environment.
For Albert, success comes from recognizing that the business needs to be approached on its own terms rather than expecting the culture to adapt to the individual.
Building a finance function that supports growth
In his current role at Arethia, Albert is operating in a fast-growing and increasingly international business.
With expansion across North America, Indonesia, and the UAE, alongside new capacity in Germany, the Finance and Legal functions have a significant role to play in supporting that growth.
Albert describes his focus as making sure finance never becomes an obstacle to the wider business.
That includes professionalizing treasury and centralizing processes so that transactions between entities work smoothly. It also means building a more business service-minded FP&A function, where finance is seen as a trusted partner across the organization.
At the same time, the team is supporting a major ERP rollout.
For Albert, his goal for finance is to provide structure, insight, and support the business needs to grow without creating unnecessary friction.
Learning from failure and giving people space to succeed
Albert also discusses the importance of learning from things that do not go according to plan.
Reflecting on a lesson from Nina Jacobson (former president at Walt Disney Motion Picture Group), he emphasizes the value of remembering the projects that failed, not just the successes. Understanding what went wrong can provide valuable insight for future decisions.
This mindset also influences his leadership approach.
Albert believes teams need clear areas of responsibility and a clear understanding of the end goal. Once those foundations are in place, people can take ownership of their work and move quickly without becoming overwhelmed by every competing priority.
The result is a leadership style based on clarity and trust rather than constant intervention or micromanagement. He also emphasizes taking a longer view of personal growth, encouraging people to look inward, challenge their own ego and reflect on how they show up.
Think like it's your business
Albert's advice to the next generation of finance leaders: act as if the business is your own.
That means asking whether you are making rational decisions, focusing on what genuinely helps the business, and taking responsibility rather than waiting for the business to give something to you first.
For Albert, curiosity is at the heart of this mindset. Finance professionals need to be interested in the business they support and understand how their work contributes to it.
He also offers another piece of advice: if you have the luxury, choose your boss rather than simply choosing the title.
A strong manager can have a huge impact on how someone feels about their career, their development, and even the work itself.
Ultimately, Albert's career story shows how finance leadership is built from a combination of experiences. Technical knowledge provides the foundation, but commercial thinking, curiosity, cultural awareness, strong mentors, and the ability to build trust are what allow finance professionals to grow into effective business leaders.
The EMEA Recruitment podcast is produced in partnership with Operation Smile, an international medical charity that provides life-changing surgery to children born with cleft lip and palate. Find out more about Operation Smile's vital work: https://www.operationsmile.org.uk/partners/emea-recruitment/
If there are any topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes, please get in touch with marketing@emearecruitment.com
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