She oversaw 29 quarters of sales growth. Now e.l.f.’s CFO is taking on its AI strategy

Good morning. As AI reshapes how companies operate, CFOs are increasingly becoming the executives responsible for ensuring AI actually delivers value across the enterprise.

I recently spoke with Mandy Fields, who has spent seven years as CFO of e.l.f. Beauty, steering the cosmetics company through a solid run of growth. Now she has a new mandate: overseeing the company’s AI strategy.

Ekta Chopra was promoted from chief digital officer to the newly created role of chief technology and AI officer, in April, and is now part of Fields’ organization. It’s a structural shift that reflects a broader evolution in the CFO role, in which finance chiefs are no longer just stewards of the balance sheet but architects of enterprise-wide technology strategy.

“Now I have more of an enterprise perspective on how we’re going to leverage AI as a company,” Fields told me.

That perspective has crystallized into three priorities, she said. The first is governance. Fields is clear that she doesn’t want a free-for-all. “We don’t want this to be the Wild West, where there are just agents floating around everywhere,” she quipped, adding, “We want to be able to monitor what is being used in the company.” A cross-functional committee which spans finance, accounting, legal, and marketing—is the vehicle for establishing guardrails.

The second priority is readiness for agentic commerce. The company is working to ensure its direct-to-consumer sites are prepared for AI-driven shopping experiences, with backend upgrades slated for completion this summer, Fields said.

The third is enterprise efficiency. Fields pointed to the company’s SAP implementation, which began last July, as a model. A new phase is planned that will lean into SAP’s AI capabilities for forecasting and accounts payable, pulling AI deeper into the close process.

Fields herself uses AI regularly, she said, including as a sounding board and for planning a team offsite, for example. “AI just helps you be more efficient overall,” Fields said.Growth continues

The AI buildout is unfolding against a backdrop of continued financial momentum. For the quarter ended March 31, e.l.f. recently reported adjusted diluted EPS of 32 cents and net sales of $449.3 million, which is a 35% year-over-year increase that topped Wall Street expectations. It marked the company’s 29th consecutive quarter of net sales growth and seventh consecutive........

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