Leading Global Treasury Across Finance, Technology, Consumer Products, Sports and Entertainment

AI is changing treasury fast, but technology alone won’t create a stronger function. In this episode, with Antonios Reizopoulos, Head of Treasury at Nomios Group, we explore how treasury leaders can combine AI with people, process, governance and human judgment to improve fraud prevention, decision-making and resilience - while building teams that are ready for the future. This week, Mike Richards is joined by Antonios Reizopoulos, Head of Treasury at Nomios Group, a leading European cybersecurity and networking company operating across seven countries. Antonios is currently responsible for building and developing Nomios’ treasury function, with a focus on creating a more centralised, scalable and controlled operating model across areas including liquidity management, cash forecasting, banking, FX, credit facilities and treasury technology. Antonios shares his perspective on what it takes to build a modern treasury function from the ground up and why treasury needs to be viewed as a core business partner rather than an isolated finance function. He discusses the importance of gaining broad treasury experience, building effective teams, managing multiple priorities and securing stakeholder buy-in during transformation projects. The conversation also explores the growing impact of AI on treasury, particularly in fraud prevention, monitoring and forecasting. Antonios explains why AI should support treasury professionals rather than replace them, and why the strongest treasury functions will combine technology with robust processes, governance and human judgment. What we discuss: Why treasury should be viewed as a core partner to the wider business. Building a centralised and scalable treasury function from the ground up. Why understanding the full treasury operating model is more valuable than working in individual silos. How liquidity, cash forecasting, receivables and working capital connect in a fast-moving treasury environment. What Antonios looks for when recruiting treasury professionals, including integrity, curiosity and problem-solving ability. How AI can support fraud detection, anomaly identification, forecasting and decision-making. Why effective fraud prevention requires people, process, technology and governance working together. The importance of stakeholder communication and buy-in when delivering treasury transformation.

Technical treasury expertise can earn you credibility, but it takes results, relationships, adaptability and an understanding of the wider business to build lasting influence. In this episode, Julia Donegan, Senior Global Treasury Director at Newell Brands, explores what it takes to lead treasury through transformation, build a high-performing global team and make sure treasury continues to have a meaningful voice across the organisation. Julia Donegan is Senior Global Treasury Director at Newell Brands, a leading global consumer goods company behind brands including Rubbermaid, Sharpie, Graco, Coleman, Yankee Candle and Paper Mate. In her current role, Julia leads a global treasury team and works across treasury operations, transformation, banking structures, technology, liquidity and strategic business collaboration. Julia shares her perspective on leading treasury in an organisation that is constantly changing and why strong technical knowledge is only one part of becoming an effective treasury leader. She discusses how her team has approached large-scale treasury transformation while maintaining control of day-to-day cash operations, the importance of breaking complex projects into manageable stages and why collaboration with banks, IT, tax and other teams is essential. The conversation also explores leadership, developing treasury talent, practical applications of AI, building strong professional relationships and why treasury professionals at every level need to keep learning and evolving. Main Topics Discussed: How to maintain control of daily treasury operations while delivering major transformation projects Why breaking treasury projects into smaller, manageable stages can help maintain momentum Building and developing a global treasury team through continuous organisational change Why treasury needs to clearly communicate its requirements when working with IT and technology teams Where AI is adding practical value in treasury and where human expertise remains essential Why technical expertise and results can get treasury into senior conversations, but relationships help build influence The importance of building relationships across the organisation, with banking partners and within the wider treasury community Why treasury professionals should continually volunteer for projects, broaden their experience and avoid standing still

What does it take to keep growing when treasury, technology and leadership are constantly evolving? In this episode we chat with Anika Williams the Head of Treasury and Customer Payment Operations at Zalando Payments to explore why choosing difficult challenges, stepping outside your comfort zone and maintaining a learning mindset can be crucial to continued development in treasury. Anika Williams is Head of Treasury and Customer Payment Operations at Zalando Payments, where she combines treasury leadership with responsibility for a significant operations function. Working within Zalando’s technology-driven payments business, Anika oversees treasury in a regulated environment while managing the challenges that come with high volumes of customer transactions, evolving compliance requirements, automation and AI. She also leads a team of around 40 people and is actively involved in mentoring and Berlin’s treasury community. In this conversation, Anika shares her perspective on what modern treasury leadership looks like and why professionals should actively seek out difficult projects and opportunities to learn. She discusses the changing role of treasury, from operational activities towards greater CFO advisory, alongside the impact of technology, data and AI. Anika also explores why the biggest challenge around AI may not be the technology itself, but having the right people and mindset to keep adapting as the definition of “good” continues to change. The conversation also covers leadership, mentoring, operations and the importance of learning from mistakes. Above all, Anika encourages treasury professionals to be bold, stay humble and never stop learning. What we discuss: How treasury at Zalando Payments manages high volumes of customer payments and seasonal cash flows Why compliance plays such an important role within a regulated payments business How data science and technology can complement traditional treasury expertise Why people and mindset may be a bigger AI challenge than the technology itself How the role of treasury is becoming increasingly focused on CFO advisory What leading a team of around 40 people has taught Anika about leadership Why mentoring and learning from people outside treasury can broaden your perspective Why treasury professionals should choose difficult projects and step outside their comfort zones

AI in treasury has moved well beyond experimentation. As the technology matures, treasury teams have more opportunities to automate manual work, connect their data and free up valuable time for higher-value activities. In this episode of the Treasury Career Corner, Mike Richards catches up with James Kelly, Co-Founder of Your Treasury, to explore how AI is changing the way treasury teams operate and why now is the time to start embracing it. Through Your Treasury, James works with treasury teams to solve practical challenges using AI, automation and better use of data, helping them rethink processes that have traditionally required significant amounts of manual work. A lot can change in 15 months in the world of AI. Since Mike and James last spoke, treasury teams have moved from asking about potential AI use cases to exploring how the technology can solve real problems. James explains how developments such as AI agents are putting more powerful tools directly into the hands of treasury professionals, without always requiring extensive IT resources. He shares practical examples of what this looks like, including cash forecasting processes reduced from dozens of hours to just a few hours and a pensions reporting process cut from more than two days to around 30 minutes. James also discusses why many treasury challenges are ultimately data challenges, where human judgement remains essential, and why treasury professionals need both enthusiasm and carefulness when adopting AI. What we discuss: How AI adoption in treasury has changed over the past 15 months. Why AI agents are giving treasurers greater autonomy over end-to-end workflows. Why so many treasury challenges ultimately come back to disconnected, inconsistent or poor-quality data. How cash forecasting can be redesigned from a heavily manual process into a more automated, data-driven workflow. How AI can help treasury teams tackle FX exposures, KYC, account opening and contract monitoring. How one pensions reporting process was reduced from more than two days of work to around 30 minutes. Why James starts AI training by encouraging treasury professionals to explore the technology before applying it to treasury-specific problems. Why enthusiasm for AI needs to be balanced with accuracy, careful review and choosing the right tool for the task.

What started with one conversation in 2018 has grown into 450 podcast episodes, Treasury Career Corner LIVE events, Senior Treasury Roundtables and Ask the Treasurer sessions across the world. In this special episode, Mike Richards looks back at where the Treasury Career Corner podcast began, the career questions that have remained consistent and how a bloke in a shed with a microphone became part of a much wider treasury community. This special solo episode is hosted by Mike Richards, CEO and Founder of The Treasury Recruitment Company and host of the Treasury Career Corner podcast. For eight years, Mike has spoken with treasury professionals about where they started, the challenges they faced, the decisions that changed their careers and the lessons they would share with those following behind them The Treasury Career Corner podcast began in 2018 with Sarah-Jane Hall and a simple idea: sit down with great treasury professionals and ask them about their careers. And it’s that first conversation with Sarah-Jane Hall, remains the podcast’s most downloaded episode to date. Eight years and 450 episodes later, the podcast has grown into a wider treasury community. Alongside the weekly interviews, Treasury Career Corner now includes LIVE events, Roundtables for senior treasury leaders and Ask the Treasurer sessions for analysts, managers and those earlier in their careers. In this episode, Mike revisits some of the archive’s most popular conversations and the career themes that treasury professionals continue to ask about today. What We Cover How the first episode with Sarah-Jane Hall became the podcast’s most downloaded conversation The journey from one episode in 2018 to nearly 450 weekly episodes How Treasury Career Corner expanded from a podcast into LIVE events The development of Treasury Round Tables for senior treasury leaders How Ask the Treasurer connects developing professionals directly with experienced treasury leaders Why career development, learning and leadership remain consistent themes Moving into treasury and progressing beyond technical expertise The growing impact of technology, digitalisation and AI on treasury careers