Thomas Kyei-Boateng joined ISACA in May as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Thomas is a strategic finance professional with 15 years of progressive experience in financial leadership roles at some of the world's biggest organizations, including Capital One Financial Corporation, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Corporate Finance and, more recently, the College Board. With a strong background across the spectrum of finance, including Strategic Planning, M&A and investments, Thomas is looking to better align ISACA’s finances with its strategic vision and invest in areas that position ISACA for accelerated growth. Thomas received his MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management and obtained his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with first-class honors from the University of Ghana. He recently visited with @ISACA for a Q&A interview to discuss his professional journey and what motivated him to join ISACA:
What interested you in pursuing finance as a career path?
TKB: I entered the finance profession almost by accident. My dad is a multiple award-winning journalist in Ghana whose work really inspired me growing up, so I wanted to be a journalist. I was also interested in the legal profession, but finance was not really on my radar as a kid.
However, in the 1990s, Ghana started coming out of an unsuccessful socialist experiment under a military dictatorship. As the economy opened up, finance became more important. Finance practices like capital market activity, private equity, financial management and commercial banking started to take off. It provided me and others of my generation the opportunity to study sophisticated finance, and I loved it. I majored in finance at the University of Ghana and never left the field.
What might be some career highlights so far that you have been especially proud to be part of?
TKB: I take pride in my ability to communicate financial numbers clearly and help organizations become “fluent in finance.” I am proud of the work I did at the College Board to align our financial numbers with our most important priorities and help people across the organization see more clearly how their everyday work affects the financial numbers.
I am also proud of one of my very first banking engagements when I started my career at CAL Bank in Ghana, helping raise funds for my alma mater, the University of Ghana, to build a 7,000-bed accommodation complex to ease congestion problems on campus. I have since gone on to work on much bigger and more complex projects but being in a position to help my alma mater in such a significant way, a few years out of college, will always hold a special place in my heart.
What excited you to become part of ISACA?
TKB: I agree with Victor Hugo’s famous quote that “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” ISACA’s time is now due to the rapid adoption of technology and the proliferation of internet use. These developments create opportunities for us to help individuals, companies and governments leverage the positive power of technology while overcoming the threat of bad actors in the digital space.
And on a personal level, I witnessed first-hand the transformative power of ISACA in the life of my cousin, Sampson, who moved to the US a few years after I did. He started his immigrant life here doing any and all kinds of jobs he could find to survive. He later took college classes in information management systems and obtained the necessary prerequisites to pursue the CISA certification. His success in that exam and attaining the certification single-handedly transformed his life, giving him a much better shot at the American dream. I am excited about the opportunity to join ISACA and help it expand its transformative power to many more individuals like Sampson.
You are from Ghana and now live in the US. From a financial perspective, what are the major similarities and differences in the challenges faced by organizations in different regions of the world?
TKB: The US is obviously a bigger and more developed economy. Financial markets are more mature, organizations benefit from centuries of best practices and the best business schools, and other business-minded organizations are located here. I have worked in a number of countries and I honestly believe this. Ghana, however, like other developing countries, is rapidly growing and scaling its institutions. That’s why I strongly believe that ISACA’s opportunities for growth depend to a large extent on our ability to continue acting as the global organization that we are.
The similarities include a regard for the building blocks of a successful economy – sanctity of contracts, property rights and freedom of exchange, all of which spur innovation.
As Ghana and other developing countries continue to grow, I see a need for ISACA – and indeed all other technology players – to increase our focus on those countries.
We’ve heard you are very into soccer. Are you a serious player, and what kind of stress-reliever is that for you?
TKB: I do play sometimes, not as much nowadays, but I watch as much as I can and did some coaching in my local community before the pandemic began. I look forward to being able to do that again soon.
I also run a lot. I run as a stress-reliever but also to train my body and mind. There are days I don’t feel like running, but those are some of the days when I have my best runs. Being able to overcome my internal inertia to go out there and run 5 or 10 miles makes me proud.