Nancy Cavanaugh, CPA

Critic
DISC Type : C

Chief Financial Officer at eSmart Systems

Oslo, Oslo, Norway

Overview

Nancy Cavanaugh is the Chief Financial Officer at eSmart Systems, an AI-powered software leader for the energy sector. A CPA with 25+ years of experience in financial and operational excellence, colleagues describe her as dedicated, supportive, and an adept problem-solver. She holds a Masters from the Norwegian School of Economics.

Nancy is a vocal advocate for diversity, inclusion, and gender equality, particularly in leadership positions. She has publicly shared her thoughts on the progress and remaining challenges regarding gender balance in the professional world, highlighting it as an area of personal importance.

She built the global finance function from the ground up for Cognite, which was Norways first "unicorn" company.

Personality Overview

ROI Driven

Precise

Objective Thinker

Unless the value is proven by data, they are unlikely to value fancy features.  They prefer to analyze logically and value objective facts over emotions. They like to take decisions independently and do not seek others' support often.

Topics They Care About

AI in Energy
As CFO of eSmart Systems, she is at the forefront of applying AI-powered software to manage critical energy infrastructure and drive the energy transition.
Financial Leadership
Her career is defined by senior finance roles, building finance functions from scratch at high-growth companies like Cognite and leading global compliance and reporting.
Gender Equality
She publicly discusses the importance of improving gender balance in leadership roles, showing a personal commitment to diversity and equal opportunity.

Media Appearances

Nancy has no verified media appearances

Work History

1-2026
Chief Financial Officer at eSmart Systems
7-2024 - 6-2025
Chairwoman of the Board at Astrup Fearnley Code
5-2024 - 1-2026
Chief Operating Officer at Astrup Fearnley Group
9-2021 - 5-2024
Global SVP Finance, Executive Management Team at Cognite
7-2019 - 9-2021
VP SEC & US GAAP Financial Reporting at Höegh Evi

Education

2021 - 2021
Women Leading Change from Harvard Business School
2010 - 2011
Master of Science - MS from Norwegian School of Economics (NHH)

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 6 Location : Oslo, Oslo, Norway Job Level : Leadership Designation : Chief Financial Officer at eSmart Systems
URL has been copied!

Insights For Selling To Nancy

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Leverage facts and figures wherever possible; use percentages, numbers etc.
  • Keep some extra margin while sharing pricing, they are likely to negotiate later
  • Use phrases like ‘expect X% improvement’, ‘data clearly shows’ etc.

DONT's

  • Don’t try too hard to build a relationship with them
  • Make extra effort to not seem pushy or confrontational
  • Avoid pushing them too much to involve other stakeholders unless it is critical

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Nancy is

  • Proof of ROI, low pricing and objective proof points are the important factors for them.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Nancy

  • They do not mind saying no if they believe that it is the right decision.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Nancy move?

  • Their decision-making is neither very fast nor very slow, they are somewhere in between.
  • Can Nancy take some risk or not?

  • They can take risks if their analysis shows that it would be worth it.

You And Nancy

Personality Compatibility


More Profiles

Discover additional public profiles from our index.

Search more profiles

Looking for someone else? Search here for anyone.

Or visit Humantic AI to know more.