Black Diamond Podcast

S2E9 | OneStream Director Reveals Why ML Isn't Scary

Tiffany Ma, Director of Product Marketing for AI and Operational Analytics at OneStream, returns for her second podcast appearance to share what's really happening with AI in finance. From 100+ live customer implementations to natural resource forecasting, the AI hype is meeting actual results.
Remember when Tom Shea showed IBM Watson back in 2017 and shocked everyone by saying "this is really hard, I'm not gonna sell it to you"? That honesty was refreshing, but also showed the problem - AI was expensive, complicated, and required data scientists writing Python for years. Fast forward to today and OneStream's cracked the code on what they call "applied AI" - purpose-built for finance, no coding required, delivering results in weeks instead of years.
But here's what's really interesting - the use cases have exploded beyond what anyone expected. Started with demand forecasting, expanded to P&L, now customers are doing workforce planning, cash management, even trying to forecast the materials needed to produce steel. That's not your typical FP&A use case, but when you have a tool that's agile enough to iterate quickly, people start getting creative.
Tiffany breaks down why OneStream renamed Sensible Machine Learning to Sensible AI. Machine learning is quantitative - numbers forecasting numbers. But they've added generative AI for automated commentary and variance analysis, plus agentic AI with their new agents. They couldn't box themselves into "machine learning only" when the solution does way more than that.
 

S2E8 | $5B Distributor's OneStream Rescue

John Kowalkowski, Senior Manager of Financial Systems at BradyPLUS, shares the wild story of taking over a failing OneStream implementation, managing consolidations across 35-40 different ERPs, and building a roadmap for a newly formed $5 billion distribution company. Plus, insights on AI from someone with actual machine learning background.John started when an implementation was at a "trainwreck status". Everyone was overwhelmed with too many responsibilities. John took it over, spent a year getting everything in place amid ongoing organizational change. The data wrangling nightmare included 35-40 individual ERPs and ended up being organized and usable.
John's machine learning background makes his AI takes carry weight. He thinks OneStream is taking the right track with a plug-and-play approach. With about a third of Splash sessions being AI-related, you could be cynical and say it's just positioning, but "their hearts are in it" and they're making good decisions building it into the platform.

S2E7 | Cutting Planning Time By a Week

Ricky LaBerge shares how a global manufacturing company transformed both consolidation and planning processes with OneStream. 
Their old planning system was basically just a repository. Offline models everywhere, constant data loading issues, and fire drills that ate up valuable time. Instead of discussing the business, they were stuck trying to get numbers into the system. 
After their OneStream implementation, there were no more fire drills. They were consistently closing books and issuing results to management on day four instead of day five. On the planning side, they started working before books are even closed thanks to the accordion setup. Thorough reviews happen a week earlier than before, and they keep shaving days off every year.
DexKo was an amalgamation of an American firm and a German firm with completely different planning processes. BDA's Accordion Rolling Forecast helped bring them together while keeping separate models for different brands. The challenge wasn't technical - it was getting everyone aligned on new processes.Ricky's advice to companies starting their OneStream journey:From his consulting side: Ask lots of questions, keep requirements simple, don't spend 80% development time on 10% value, and really focus on design because it's expensive to change later. From his industry side: Training is everything. OneStream can be intimidating. Prying Excel from finance people's hands is hard, but communicate the value and it works.
 

S2E6 | Running a Complex Aviation Services Business

Phil Kaplan, FinTech Manager at Unifi, joins Cameron and Celvin to discuss running OneStream for a complex aviation services business. From contract-level planning across US, Canada, and UK airports to exploring AI for flight forecasting - this is real-world FP&A in action.
Unifi is doing everything at airports except flying planes - baggage handling, cleaning, maintenance for Delta, Southwest, and other airlines.
They have a CFO-driven AI initiative with a tangible use case: improving flight count forecasts. Weather, events, and seasonal patterns make flight forecasting ideal for AI. External data sources could dramatically improve accuracy of their departure-based revenue planning. OneStream's AI library could leverage multiple data sources for better volume predictions. What's your use case?

S2E5 | OneStream Power User Talks AI

Heather from Attain Finance sits down with Cameron and Celvin to share her journey from the early days of Hyperion consulting to running OneStream at a financial services company today. This is a refreshingly honest conversation about career transitions, platform evolution, and trying to figure out what AI actually means for finance professionals.
Like everyone else at Splash 2025, AI came up a lot. Heather's take is refreshingly measured - she describes herself as "excited but optimistic but skeptical." It's an initiative for Attain Finance this year to figure out where AI fits, so she's attending sessions and trying to separate signal from noise.
The honest assessment from both sides: yes, AI will change things. The timeline is uncertain, and it'll probably be more evolutionary than revolutionary. But the professionals who are actively learning, experimenting, and figuring out how to augment their work with AI will be the ones who thrive in that future.

S2E4 | From 50 Excel Spreadsheets to Real-Time Planning

Join Allie, Senior Director of Corporate FP&A at Generac, as she shares how they transformed their financial planning process using OneStream. Discover how this leading generator manufacturer eliminated weeks of manual work and gained unprecedented visibility into their business.
The brutal reality of their old process: "finger in the air hoping the wind hits it right" for anything beyond annual budgets. Sound familiar?
What actually changed:
Roster updates went from once yearly (50+ spreadsheets) to quarterly with granular detail
Long-range planning moved from Excel guesswork to real-time accordion forecasting
Compensation modeling now handles 60% of their OpEx automatically
When business turned south, they weren't scrambling - they had the data they needed
The best part? Allie says she now takes for granted what used to be impossible. Her users went from confused about the system name to constantly asking "Can OneStream do this too?"
This is what real transformation looks like - not just new software, but fundamentally changing how finance operates. Perfect timing too, since they went live right before a business downturn and actually needed the agility.

S2E3 | From Skepticism to Success

Hosts Greg Beaton and Ryann Hristovsky sit down with Adrian Griffin, Financial Systems Manager at Subaru of America, to explore an incredible transformation story. Recorded at OneStream Splash 2025 in Nashville, this episode reveals how Subaru evolved from skeptics to enterprise-wide advocates through strategic implementation and smart change management.
Key Discussion Points:
Corporate transformation journey: How Subaru went from skeptical to having departments compete for the next OneStream project
Beyond traditional CPM: Custom OneStream applications for extended warranty business (Added Security) using relational tables and cube integration
VIN-level transaction drilling: Custom development enabling users to "see the VIN behind the numbers" with seamless Oracle ERP integration
Change management strategies: Overcoming Excel dependency while maintaining user comfort
Platform scalability: Multiple OneStream initiatives including consolidation, planning, account reconciliation, and marketplace solutions
Real-time data integration: Nightly staging table processes connecting Oracle sub-ledger detail with OneStream summary reporting
Adrian shares honest insights about user adoption challenges, the balance between summary-level reporting and transaction detail requirements, and how OneStream's platform capabilities enabled custom solutions beyond traditional financial consolidation. This episode demonstrates the power of how gradual transformation can turn into important change.

S2E2 | Digital Transformation At Scale

We sit down with Dane Arbuckle from Richardson International to explore how a 160-year-old agribusiness company successfully transformed their finance operations through strategic OneStream implementation. This compelling conversation reveals the critical lessons learned from scaling digital transformation across complex business models.
Key Discussion Points:
Building dedicated digital transformation teams: Why Richardson's Digital Ambition Group became the key to OneStream success
From Excel chaos to one-click consolidation: How finance teams eliminated the "smoosh" of manual spreadsheet linking
The power of future-proofing: Learning from phase one mistakes to build scalable, long-term solutions
Accordion Rolling Forecast implementation: Real-time collaborative planning across diverse business units (grain, processing, retail)
User adoption strategies: How teams evolved from Excel dependency to leveraging OneStream's cube views and dashboards
Advanced functionality roadmap: Narrative reporting, Genesis no-code solutions, and machine learning applications
Cultural transformation: Teaching 160-year-old processes to embrace automated consolidation and real-time reporting
Dane shares candid insights about Richardson's journey from fragmented Excel-based reporting to unified OneStream consolidation, planning, and forecasting. This episode offers valuable lessons for finance leaders managing complex, multi-entity organizations seeking to scale their digital transformation efforts.

S2E1 | AI Transformation in Finance

Our expert panel discussed on the revolutionary impact of AI in finance and corporate performance management. This candid conversation features Carl Yost, Vincent Valentine, Daniel Hopson, and Randy Werder as they explore how artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing the way CFOs and finance executives approach planning, forecasting, and decision-making.
We dive deep into the practical realities of AI implementation, moving beyond the buzzwords to discuss real-world strategies, challenges, and opportunities. From understanding executive mindset shifts to navigating the evolution from Excel-based processes to AI-enhanced workflows, this discussion provides actionable insights for finance leaders at every stage of their AI journey.
Recorded at the premier OneStream user conference, this podcast captures the urgency and excitement surrounding AI adoption in finance, featuring real client stories, implementation strategies, and candid advice from industry experts who are actively guiding organizations through this transformation.
Key Discussion Topics:
Executive AI Interest:
75% of CFOs now prioritizing AI discussions (from Splash 2025 keynote)
Fundamental shift in executive engagement with technology
Genuine curiosity driving attendance at AI events and conferences
Executives seeking practical knowledge and implementation strategies
AI vs Traditional Performance Management:
Moving beyond "Excel in my cold dead hands" mentality
Evolution from driver-based planning to AI-enhanced forecasting
The critical role of change management in AI adoption
Education requirements for leaders to craft AI messaging
Two Categories of AI in Finance:
1. Sensible AI (Platform-Based):
OneStream's existing predictive analytics capabilities
Number-based analysis and forecasting improvements
Platform-native AI integration within existing workflows
2. Large Language Models:
ChatGPT-style conversational AI applications
OneStream's emerging agent-based technologies
Natural language interfaces for financial data
From Driver-Based Planning to AI:
Driver-based planning as essential foundation for AI readiness
Understanding business connectivity between operational and financial metrics
Moving beyond "same as last year plus 2%" approaches
Building models before implementing AI solutions
Practical Implementation Strategy:
Crawl, Walk, Run Approach:
Start with small wins in specific business areas or product lines
Identify biggest problems and apply AI to targeted solutions
Build on initial successes rather than attempting complete transformation
Focus on incremental improvements leading to significant change
Platform-First Philosophy:
AI implementation within OneStream application layer
Leveraging existing data stores and workflows
Avoiding external AI solutions separate from core processes
Using OneStream's extensibility for AI integration
Cycle Time Revolution:
Moving from monthly forecasting to on-demand analysis
Responding to real-world events (elections, tariffs, geopolitical changes) immediately
Building "muscle memory" for rapid forecasting capabilities
Enabling scenario planning beyond traditional cycles
Client Maturity Evolution:
Eight-year OneStream journey case study
Clients advancing from basic implementation to AI readiness
Mature conversations focusing on model training and optimization
"Earning the right" to examine AI process transformation
Walmart Case Study:
Requirement to defend any process NOT using AI
Assumption that all operations should leverage AI capabilities
Challenging traditional operational components
Setting new industry standards for AI adoption
Implementation Readiness Assessment:
Do you understand your business model and metrics?
Are you still struggling with basic forecasting processes?
Have you moved beyond Excel-based planning?
Is your data foundation ready for AI enhancement?
Black Diamond's Advisory Role:
Moving from words to numbers in client discussions
Creating practical roadmaps beyond buzzword discussions
Taking stewardship responsibility for client AI transformation
Launching AI education book and resources
Key Takeaways:
AI is not a magic wand - foundational work required first
Start somewhere but don't wait - action required now
Focus on solving real business problems, not implementing technology
Education and change management are critical success factors
Partners must lead AI transformation, not just implement technology
Warning Signs:
"If you don't have an AI plan now, you might be too late"
Three-year timeline thinking means missing the opportunity
Stalling on AI while competitors advance
Talking about AI without creating actionable roadmaps
Perfect for:
CFOs and finance executives evaluating AI strategies
Finance professionals seeking practical AI implementation guidance
Organizations using OneStream considering AI enhancement
Change management leaders driving technology transformation
Anyone interested in the future of corporate performance management
Transform your finance function from traditional forecasting to AI-enhanced decision making with practical guidance from Black Diamond's expert panel.

S1E20 | Keeping up with FP&A's Rapid Evolution

Join Cameron Lackpour and Celvin Kattookaran as they sit down with Peter Fugere, Chief Solutions Officer at OneStream Software, to explore the rapid evolution of the FP&A platform ecosystem. From his early days as a Navy veteran discovering Hyperion Enterprise to becoming employee #9 at OneStream, Peter shares his unique perspective on building communities around complex financial software.
The conversation dives into OneStream's strategic approach to democratizing enterprise planning through CPM Express—a solution that brings sophisticated consolidation and planning capabilities to mid-market companies in just five days. Peter reveals how OneStream's publishing initiative and Architect Factory are creating new pathways for knowledge sharing in the FP&A space, while addressing the critical balance between platform innovation and partner ecosystem development.
Key insights include the transformative impact of AI on financial planning, the importance of creating multiple learning channels for technical adoption, and why the next generation of finance professionals will have an entirely different relationship with data. Peter also discusses the challenges of maintaining community connections as OneStream grows from a startup above a sporting goods store to a major player reshaping the FP&A landscape.