She oversaw 29 quarters of sales growth. Now e.l.f.’s CFO is taking on its AI strategy
· Fortune
Good morning. As AI reshapes how companies operate, CFOs are increasingly becoming the executives responsible for ensuring AI actually delivers value across the enterprise.
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I recently spoke with Mandy Fields, who has spent seven years as CFO of e.l.f. Beauty, steering the cosmetics company through a solid run of growth. Now she has a new mandate: overseeing the company’s AI strategy.
Ekta Chopra was promoted from chief digital officer to the newly created role of chief technology and AI officer, in April, and is now part of Fields’ organization. It’s a structural shift that reflects a broader evolution in the CFO role, in which finance chiefs are no longer just stewards of the balance sheet but architects of enterprise-wide technology strategy.
“Now I have more of an enterprise perspective on how we’re going to leverage AI as a company,” Fields told me.
That perspective has crystallized into three priorities, she said. The first is governance. Fields is clear that she doesn’t want a free-for-all. “We don’t want this to be the Wild West, where there are just agents floating around everywhere,” she quipped, adding, “We want to be able to monitor what is being used in the company.” A cross-functional committee which spans finance, accounting, legal, and marketing—is the vehicle for establishing guardrails.
The second priority is readiness for agentic commerce. The company is working to ensure its direct-to-consumer sites are prepared for AI-driven shopping experiences, with backend upgrades slated for completion this summer, Fields said.
The third is enterprise efficiency. Fields pointed to the company’s SAP implementation, which began last July, as a model. A new phase is planned that will lean into AI capabilities for forecasting and accounts payable, pulling AI deeper into the close process.
Fields herself uses AI regularly, she said, including as a sounding board and for planning a team offsite, for example. “AI just helps you be more efficient overall,” Fields said.
Growth continues
The AI buildout is unfolding against a backdrop of continued financial momentum. For the quarter ended March 31, e.l.f. recently reported adjusted diluted EPS of 32 cents and net sales of $449.3 million, which is a 35% year-over-year increase that topped Wall Street expectations. It marked the company’s 29th consecutive quarter of net sales growth and seventh consecutive year of annual growth, Fields said.
E-commerce surged 63% for the year, driven by e.l.f.’s own dot-com properties, Amazon, and the addition of Rhode Skin. Retail channels grew 16%, buoyed by Sephora emerging as a top retail partner, a relationship that includes Rhode’s expansion into the EU this fall.
On tariffs, Fields said the company expects to pay an average tariff rate of roughly 35%, down from about 55% last year, and expects gross margins to remain roughly flat year over year. While the company faces potential $15 million to $20 million headwinds from rising costs, it expects to receive $55 million to $58.5 million in tariff refunds, which it plans to reinvest to lower retail prices and keep margins flat.
Marketing as a growth center
On the marketing front, Fields sees cultural relevance as a competitive edge—from the brand’s Coachella activation, which she described as an “e.l.f. Beauty takeover,” to its partnership with Survivor’s milestone 50th season. These efforts keep the brand in the conversation with Gen Z, millennials, and a growing Gen X cohort.
Kory Marchisotto, longtime e.l.f. Beauty CMO, whom Fields worked with closely, was promoted to the newly created role of president of e.l.f. Brands. New CMO, Oshiya Savur, joined about a month ago, and Fields said she has already spent considerable time with her—a sign that the CFO-CMO relationship, long a hallmark of e.l.f.’s strategy, is going strong.
Have a good weekend.
Sheryl Estrada
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This story was originally featured on Fortune.com