Azhar Ali Syed
Vice President
Tetra Pak
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
Tetra Pak Group is a world leader in food processing & packaging solutions. I am a CPA from Colorado, worked for PwC and EYI in audit and consultancy before joining Tetra Pak in the Middle East. I have held various leading roles, including Managing Director, VP global procurement, VP Business Transformation, investment, and strategy committees and more.
My main job is to inspire my team to work towards excellence by nurturing a learning culture, removing roadblocks and celebrating success.
Learn more about leaders in the Dallas CFO community here.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
Be curious, be hyper aware, be decisive, execute fast, learn fast, continuously develop self and others for the fast-changing environment.
With disruption being a key theme of the past year, where do you see your role as a finance executive going in the next 1-2 years?
The role of finance will continue to change and expand. We could make a bigger impact on the business by gleaning new insights from advanced analytics, scenario planning and meshing it with our broad business knowledge to create value by making better decisions.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out in the role?
Become best in any area of expertise that you are already good at and really enjoy. Develop a broad business understanding, be hyper aware and find opportunities where you can add value.
Tell us 3 fun facts about yourself.
- Enjoy socialising and entertaining; love live shows, theatres, and movies.
- Not good but enjoy golfing, scuba diving, skiing, and poetry.
- Travelled to 100+ countries and lived in Asia, Europe, and North America.
What is the value of participating in a professional community through Evanta?
The quickest way to be smart is to learn from others.
Evanta Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.
by CFOs, for CFOs
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