
How CFOs Can Reduce Manual Reporting and Increase Strategic Impact Using AI with Brian McGowan
From FP&A Unlocked by Paul Barnhurst
April 16, 2026 · 45 min · Season 1 · Episode 110
About this episode
Paul Barnhurst interviews Bryan McGowan about leveraging AI to enhance CFO strategic impact and reduce manual reporting.
In this episode of FP&A Unlocked , Paul Barnhurst talks with Bryan McGowan, founder of Alpyne, about what great FP&A looks like, how technical skills can improve finance work, and where AI is actually useful for CFOs and finance teams. Bryan shares how his background in engineering shaped his approach to finance, why he built Alpyne to solve real workflow problems, and how AI can reduce manual work so finance professionals can spend more time on analysis and business partnering. Bryan McGowan is the founder of Alpyne and a CFO with a rare mix of finance and technical skill. After spending a decade leading finance in tech, he launched Alpyne in 2021 to solve a problem he had lived himself: great CFOs were spending too much time on manual work and not enough time on strategic thinking. Expect to Learn: What great FP&A looks like in practice Why accounting fundamentals still matter How coding and data knowledge help finance professionals Why Bryan built Alpyne to solve his own CFO workflow problems How AI can help save time in finance roles Here are a few relevant quotes from the episode: “Models are never right, but sometimes they're useful.” - Bryan McGowan “If you can…
People in this episode
Host: Paul Barnhurst
Guest: Bryan McGowan
Topics covered
- FP&A
- AI in finance
- CFO strategies
- manual reporting
- finance workflow
- business partnering
Keywords
- CFO
- AI
- finance
- FP&A
- manual reporting
- business analysis
- workflow problems
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Alpyne
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