From Back Office to Center Stage: Vena Honors Finance and Operations Heroes With 2025 Venny Awards
Honorees recognized for excellence in finance and operations, demonstrating outstanding innovation, leadership and strategic impact
TORONTO, May 27, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vena, the only Complete FP&A platform powered by agentic AI and purpose-built to fully amplify the Microsoft technology ecosystem, today announced the winners of the 2025 Venny Awards. The awards, presented at this year's Excelerate Finance 2025 conference, celebrate the Heroes of Finance who are setting new standards for innovation, operational excellence and strategic leadership within their organizations.
"The Venny Awards recognize leaders who aren't just embracing technology, but leveraging it to drive meaningful change across their organization," said Hunter Madeley, CEO of Vena. "These leaders are pushing the boundaries of what's possible in finance and operations, using data and technology to create real impact. We're proud to celebrate their achievements and the role they play in shaping the future of finance."
The Venny Awards, comprised of seven categories, were presented to the following winners:
Financial Modeling Mastery: Acknowledges individuals who leveraged Vena's platform to boost operational agility and resilience through advanced financial modeling techniques.
Winner: Kwame Moloko, Acting Chief Financial Officer at Scancom Ltd (MTN Ghana). Moloko led the introduction of Vena at MTN Ghana, embedding it into core planning and reporting processes. His forward-thinking approach to financial modeling has helped his organization uncover new efficiencies and drive smarter, data-driven decisions.
Financial Insights Innovator: Recognizes individuals who have demonstrated exceptional use of Vena's analytics and AI capabilities to generate groundbreaking financial insights that transform strategic decision making.
Winner: Brandon Combs, Director of Finance at Young Life. Combs has redefined how Young Life approaches data, using Vena's analytics and AI tools to turn financial complexity into clarity. His use of real-time data and enhanced analytics has helped transform the organization's decision-making process—surfacing key insights that drive meaningful action and measurable impact. His work exemplifies how data-driven innovation can shape what happens next in finance.
Excellence in Complete Planning: Celebrates leaders who have mastered the integration of financial and operational planning to drive strategic insights and enhance organizational agility.
Winner: Meg Bear, Controller at Turner Enterprises. Bear works diligently to find ways to make planning smarter, more aligned and more actionable. This award recognizes her commitment to complete planning that drives results and supports long-term success.
Excellence in Financial Leadership: Honors leaders who have exemplified outstanding achievement in driving transformation to elevate the office of finance and improve business performance.
Winner: Brandon Sharp, Chief Information Officer at Brookfield. Through the strategic use of Vena, Sharp has led Brookfield in building a continuously evolving, driver-based forecasting model that keeps pace with a volatile market. His leadership has redefined what agile planning looks like—breaking down silos, aligning cross-functional teams and delivering real-time insights that shape confident, data-driven decisions and meaningful impact.
Microsoft Innovation Leadership: Celebrates individuals or teams who have leveraged Microsoft's ecosystem to drive transformative innovation in finance and operations, showcasing exemplary collaboration and technological excellence.
Winner: Andrew McFarlane, Finance Manager at Kuali. McFarlane was a pioneering user of Vena Copilot, participating in the solution's beta program and demonstrating great technical acumen as one of the product's first power users. McFarlane's proactive approach to optimizing ETL processes and simplifying allocation templates has streamlined data management and improved overall workflow, making him a standout leader in the Vena community.
Community Advocate Award: Celebrates those who have played a pivotal role in building and nurturing the FP&A community. The recipient of this award has demonstrated exceptional leadership and dedication, continuously advocating for their peers and helping drive the community forward through innovative practices and collaborative efforts.
Winner: Gus Arndt, Performance Reporting Manager, Associate Managing Director at Oakworth Capital Bank. As co-chair of the Banking & Credit Union user group at Vena, Arndt has demonstrated exceptional leadership, from setting agendas to facilitating meetings and driving collaboration. His advocacy and commitment to strengthening the FP&A community have made him a standout leader, dedicated to fostering innovation and knowledge sharing.
Strategic Integration Partner: Recognizes partners who have integrated Vena's planning platform with other systems to enhance capabilities.
Winner: Citrin Cooperman. A long-standing and trusted Vena Partner, Citrin Cooperman has been instrumental in helping customers unlock greater value from the Vena platform. Their expert integration strategies bridge Vena's Complete Planning platform with source systems to enhance the capabilities of the Office of Finance. By aligning technology with trust, Citrin Cooperman continues to empower finance teams to go further, faster—turning complexity into opportunity through collaboration.
Looking ahead, the Venny Awards will continue to grow, welcoming nominations from a broader community to foster wider recognition of excellence in finance and operations. The program will expand to include new categories, reflecting the evolving role of finance.
For more highlights on Excelerate Finance 2025, visit exceleratesummit.com.
About VenaVena is the only agentic AI-powered FP&A platform purpose-built to harness the full power of the Microsoft technology ecosystem for finance teams everywhere. Vena amplifies Microsoft's world-leading productivity tools, cloud technology and AI innovation to make FP&A, operational planning and adjacent strategic processes more flexible, efficient and intelligent. Thousands of the world's leading companies rely on Vena to power their planning. For more information, visit venasolutions.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250527984453/en/
Contacts
Media:Jonathan PaulVice President, Content Marketingjpaul@venacorp.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Vena Earns 100% Product Satisfaction Rating and 55 Leading Rankings in BARC Planning Survey 25
Recognized with 18 top ranks and 37 leading positions across four peer groups, highlighting industry leadership in customer satisfaction, price to value, project success and product satisfaction TORONTO, June 03, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vena, the only Complete FP&A platform powered by agentic AI and purpose-built to fully amplify the Microsoft technology ecosystem, today shared it has been named a top-ranked or leading product in 55 categories across four peer groups in The Planning Survey 25 conducted by the Business Application Research Center (BARC). With 18 top ranks and 37 leading positions, Vena continues to stand out as a customer-centric, technologically advanced leader in the FP&A software space. Survey participants reported exceptional results with Vena: 100% are satisfied with Vena.* 94% are satisfied with Vena's performance.* 97% achieved a better quality of planning results with Vena. 97% increased the transparency and traceability of planning with Vena. 97% achieved more precise/detailed planning with Vena. "Vena's top-tier rankings in key performance indicators such as project success, price to value and customer satisfaction underscore its commitment to excellence and customer-centric innovation," said Dr. Christian Fuchs, Senior Analyst for Data & Analytics at BARC. "The strong customer feedback in our survey reinforces Vena's ability to deliver rapid, effective implementations while maintaining very high satisfaction levels." A number of surveyed customers cited Vena's deep synergy with the Microsoft technology ecosystem, particularly its integration with Microsoft Excel, as a major strength. The "seamless" Excel integration played a key role in Vena's top ranking in the ease-of-use category, outperforming the peer group average by almost two full points. In addition, Vena's recent launch of workflows embedded directly within Microsoft Teams continues to enhance productivity and collaboration, enabling finance professionals to plan, report and share insights where they already work. Vena also ranked as the top provider for user experience in the Integrated Products for Planning and BI & Analytics peer group, which combines scores for self-service, flexibility, ease of use and performance satisfaction, underscoring the platform's overall usability and strength. "These recognitions highlight our commitment to delivering innovative, high-impact solutions that empower our customers with the flexibility, insights and support they need to plan with confidence. We're especially proud of our rankings across price to value, customer satisfaction, project success, sales experience and implementer support—all on par or even ahead of the biggest players in this space," said Hugh Cumming, Chief Technology Officer at Vena. "From launching the first FP&A-specific AI agents to expanding our footprint through Microsoft Azure Marketplace availability, we're dedicated to delivering solutions that meet FP&A professionals where they are." The Planning Survey 25's validation of Vena's leading FP&A technology adds to a number of recent accolades, including: Recognition in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Financial Close and Consolidation Solutions A leading position on the 2025 Nucleus Research CPM Value Matrix Being named a Provider of Assurance in four ISG Buyers Guides Winning the inaugural Dresner Applications Innovation Award for Workforce Planning and Analysis A G2 2025 Best Software Award A 2025 BIG Innovation Award for Software The Planning Survey 25 is based on the world's largest survey of planning software users conducted from November 2024 to February 2025, with 1,187 respondents and analysis of 19 products. It evaluates user feedback on 33 criteria (KPIs), such as Business Benefits, Project Success, Customer Satisfaction and more. Click here to view The Planning Survey 25. About Vena: Vena is the only agentic AI-powered FP&A platform purpose-built to harness the full power of the Microsoft technology ecosystem for finance teams everywhere. Vena amplifies Microsoft's world-leading productivity tools, cloud technology and AI innovation to make FP&A, operational planning and adjacent strategic processes more flexible, efficient and intelligent. Thousands of the world's leading companies rely on Vena to power their planning. For more information, visit View source version on Contacts Media Contact: Jonathan PaulVice President, Content Marketingjpaul@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
6 days ago
- Business Wire
Vena Earns 100% Product Satisfaction Rating and 55 Leading Rankings in BARC Planning Survey 25
TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Vena, the only Complete FP&A platform powered by agentic AI and purpose-built to fully amplify the Microsoft technology ecosystem, today shared it has been named a top-ranked or leading product in 55 categories across four peer groups in The Planning Survey 25 conducted by the Business Application Research Center (BARC). With 18 top ranks and 37 leading positions, Vena continues to stand out as a customer-centric, technologically advanced leader in the FP&A software space. Survey participants reported exceptional results with Vena: 100% are satisfied with Vena.* 94% are satisfied with Vena's performance.* 97% achieved a better quality of planning results with Vena. 97% increased the transparency and traceability of planning with Vena. 97% achieved more precise/detailed planning with Vena. 'Vena's top-tier rankings in key performance indicators such as project success, price to value and customer satisfaction underscore its commitment to excellence and customer-centric innovation,' said Dr. Christian Fuchs, Senior Analyst for Data & Analytics at BARC. 'The strong customer feedback in our survey reinforces Vena's ability to deliver rapid, effective implementations while maintaining very high satisfaction levels.' A number of surveyed customers cited Vena's deep synergy with the Microsoft technology ecosystem, particularly its integration with Microsoft Excel, as a major strength. The 'seamless' Excel integration played a key role in Vena's top ranking in the ease-of-use category, outperforming the peer group average by almost two full points. In addition, Vena's recent launch of workflows embedded directly within Microsoft Teams continues to enhance productivity and collaboration, enabling finance professionals to plan, report and share insights where they already work. Vena also ranked as the top provider for user experience in the Integrated Products for Planning and BI & Analytics peer group, which combines scores for self-service, flexibility, ease of use and performance satisfaction, underscoring the platform's overall usability and strength. 'These recognitions highlight our commitment to delivering innovative, high-impact solutions that empower our customers with the flexibility, insights and support they need to plan with confidence. We're especially proud of our rankings across price to value, customer satisfaction, project success, sales experience and implementer support—all on par or even ahead of the biggest players in this space,' said Hugh Cumming, Chief Technology Officer at Vena. 'From launching the first FP&A-specific AI agents to expanding our footprint through Microsoft Azure Marketplace availability, we're dedicated to delivering solutions that meet FP&A professionals where they are.' The Planning Survey 25's validation of Vena's leading FP&A technology adds to a number of recent accolades, including: Recognition in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Financial Close and Consolidation Solutions A leading position on the 2025 Nucleus Research CPM Value Matrix Being named a Provider of Assurance in four ISG Buyers Guides Winning the inaugural Dresner Applications Innovation Award for Workforce Planning and Analysis A G2 2025 Best Software Award A 2025 BIG Innovation Award for Software The Planning Survey 25 is based on the world's largest survey of planning software users conducted from November 2024 to February 2025, with 1,187 respondents and analysis of 19 products. It evaluates user feedback on 33 criteria (KPIs), such as Business Benefits, Project Success, Customer Satisfaction and more. Click here to view The Planning Survey 25. About Vena: Vena is the only agentic AI-powered FP&A platform purpose-built to harness the full power of the Microsoft technology ecosystem for finance teams everywhere. Vena amplifies Microsoft's world-leading productivity tools, cloud technology and AI innovation to make FP&A, operational planning and adjacent strategic processes more flexible, efficient and intelligent. Thousands of the world's leading companies rely on Vena to power their planning. For more information, visit
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Yahoo
In assembling finance teams, Excel expertise still trumps AI skills
This story was originally published on To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily newsletter. While finance departments are placing increased value on artificial intelligence and machine learning, skills in those areas are, at least for now, unlikely to be the determining factor in a professional landing a job or getting a promotion. In a survey of 218 finance leaders by Vena Solutions, which provides an AI-powered FP&A platform for users of Microsoft technology, 57% said their teams are using AI to handle various operations, such as data entry, reconciliations and forecasting. That proportion will rise, as an additional 21% said they've acquired AI solutions but not yet adopted them. However, when asked to identify the single most important skillset to prioritize in building a strong finance team, only 4.6% of those polled selected AI/machine learning. Three times that many (14.7%) picked advanced knowledge of a much older technology: Excel. This embedded content is not available in your region. Despite the growing adoption of AI tools, 'Excel remains the workhorse many teams rely on to power or supplement [their] capabilities and automation solutions,' said Craig Schiff, CEO of BPM Partners, a business performance management advisory firm that collaborated on the survey with Vena. The research found that 89% of finance teams rely on Excel even if they have planning software in place. That almost surely will change as well, whether gradually or quickly. Accordingly, companies are incorporating AI experience, programming know-how and data analytics skills into finance roles. The Institute of Chartered Accountants, for its part, listed AI integration as a critical skill for accountants in 2025. It's no secret that as reliance on AI becomes more mainstream, some financial professionals may be understandably wary of the perceived possibility that it will eventually automate them out of their jobs. Vena has a different take. With technology handling routine processes, the company said in its survey report, 'finance roles can shift away from bookkeeping and traditional accounting. Instead, professionals are expected to provide strategic insights, model scenarios and guide business decisions.' The key applications for AI in finance include predictive analytics, financial planning and risk management, fraud detection, data visualization and analysis and process automation. But certain responsibilities remain beyond AI's reach. Vena noted that strategic decision-making 'requires human judgment, intuition and a deep understanding of business priorities.' AI cannot replace creative problem-solving, relationship management or business partnering. Indeed, 72% of survey respondents reported plans to expand their teams in 2025. Vena called that finding a clear indicator of the pressure teams are under to meet increasing workload demands. At the same time, even if AI doesn't push accountants out of their jobs, roles will continue to evolve. Those who embrace AI and automation will ultimately have a competitive edge in the workforce, according to researchers. Recommended Reading Only 23% of FP&A practitioners are using AI Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
