1081: The CFO’s Role in Innovation and Market Adaptation | Erik Swenson, CFO, IDT

It was a moment that would shape Erik Swenson’s approach to finance forever. As a co-op student at Northeastern University, he found himself in front of a room full of engineers, presenting financial metrics he had carefully compiled. When the meeting ended, one of the engineers approached him and said, “That was interesting, but it doesn’t mean anything to me. I make the product.” The comment struck a nerve. Driving home that evening, Swenson couldn’t shake the realization—numbers alone don’t drive a business; they need to connect to the people building it.

That early lesson in financial storytelling set the foundation for a career built on bridging finance with operations. Swenson tells us his path wasn’t a straight line—he originally pursued computer science before pivoting to economics and then accounting. After early roles in financial analysis, he spent 15 years moving through finance leadership positions at Danaher, where he sharpened his ability to translate financial insights into business decisions.

When IDT tapped him to be CFO in 2018, Swenson faced a challenge that tested his adaptability. As he tells us, the company had a strong accounting foundation but needed deeper financial analysis to support its innovation-driven growth. He immediately set to work embedding finance into IDT’s decision-making, ensuring the function wasn’t just reporting numbers but helping shape the company’s strategic direction. “It’s not just about getting the numbers right,” Swenson explains, “it’s about making sure those numbers mean something for the business.”