JJ Randhawa · Sacramento, California

Strategy you can run. Systems your team can own.

Strategic finance advice with operating and implementation rigor. I combine senior FP&A leadership with multiple AI tools to help growth-stage businesses make better decisions, build workflows that fit, and keep them running.

Illustration of finance records flowing through a forecast into reviewed decisions

I lead FP&A at Deepwatch and previously led finance and data analytics through Ridgeline's $100M Series B. My work across Deepwatch, Circle, Ridgeline, Google, Amazon, and other teams spans planning, operating decisions, board reporting, and finance systems. I bring that range to the problem at hand, then stay close enough to implement the answer.

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01Start with your problemDefine the business decision, the financial picture, and what is getting in the way.

02Build the right workflowChoose the right medium for the work, then design and implement the model, cadence, and AI-assisted tools around it.

03Make action clearLeave a working system, clear owners, and a path for the team to keep it running.

Where I help

Strategic finance and fractional FP&AFrame the decisions ahead, pressure-test assumptions, and work with leaders to turn strategy into a usable operating plan.

Forecasting and executive decisionsBuild integrated forecasts and scenarios, explain what changed, and give leaders and boards a clear basis for action.

Fundraise and high-stakes reportingGet the model, assumptions, scenarios, and board or investor narrative ready for scrutiny.

Finance systems and AI implementationAssess the current stack, then build a fit-for-purpose workflow with data checks, human review, and an upkeep plan.

WHERE THE SAVINGS CAN COME FROMDo the work without carrying every expensive app.

I have helped teams save time and money by replacing planning platforms, billing and revenue tools, and BI stacks with leaner AI-assisted workflows. The numbers and decisions still need the checks, ownership, and human review a finance team depends on.

How an engagement works

01 / DIAGNOSEFind the decision behind the request

Map the business question, current systems, owners, and where the work slows down.

02 / DESIGN + BUILDTurn advice into an operating workflow

Set a scoped plan, choose the right medium, build the model or reporting path, use AI where it helps, and test the output with its users.

03 / RUN + HAND OFFLeave the team able to keep going

Put review and ownership into the cadence. At the end, I share easy-to-follow maintenance and upkeep steps, so the work does not depend on me being in the room.

The difference

I work at the level of strategy and execution. A recommendation is useful only if it changes the operating rhythm: who owns the number, how it is checked, when it is reviewed, and what happens next. I am product-agnostic: the answer may be Google Sheets, Excel, a web app, a database-backed workflow, or a reporting and automation layer. I choose for the team’s needs, constraints, and demands, not a preferred vendor. I use multiple AI tools where they fit, but the model still needs to add up and make clear what is a draft and who has signed off.

Selected work

CYBERSECURITY SAAS CLIENT / FINANCE STACKFind the right replacements for the work, not the familiar vendor list.

For a cybersecurity SaaS client, I found solutions for replacing parts of the finance stack across planning, billing and revenue, and BI/reporting. The work started with what each category needed to do and which approach fit the client’s needs and restrictions.

My approach is product-agnostic: Sheets or Excel when a transparent model is enough; a tailored web app or database-backed workflow when the process needs more structure; or a focused reporting and automation layer when that fits better. I choose for the client's needs, restrictions, and demands, with a plan for upkeep instead of a forced move to one platform.

Case study snapshot. Specific implementations and results are not claimed here.

In practice · Butler Finance

Work in progressAn AI-assisted finance workflow prototype

Butler Finance is a work-in-progress prototype of how I bring AI assistance into a controlled finance workflow. It brings departmental models and actuals into plan-versus-actual review, helps prepare reforecast drafts, and assembles executive and board reporting. AI can help prepare and explain the work, while calculations stay separate from interpretation and changes pass through human review.

From inputs to a reviewed decision Illustrative workflow · not a product screenshot

01 / INPUTSPlans + actuals

Department models and financial actuals come together in one review path.

02 / REVIEWExplain the change

See plan vs actual and prepare a reforecast draft with visible assumptions.

03 / OUTPUTReport with control

Human approval comes before the plan of record and executive or board reporting.

Calculations and interpretation stay separate. A draft is not a decision.

THE VALUETurn scattered finance work into a reviewable path from actuals to decisions - with AI helping prepare the work and people approving what matters.

It is an example of how I design a finance workflow, not a client deployment or a product with claimed customer traction. I can walk through a sanitized example of the approach.

Also building · HiredCopilot

Work in progressJob-search software

HiredCopilot is a job-seeker tool I am developing. It compares roles with the resumes a person uploads, helps surface fit, and prepares applications for the person to review and authorize. It shows how I use AI across a different workflow: match information to a real need, prepare a useful draft, and leave the final call with a person. It is work in progress, not a client deployment or a claim of customer traction. Explore HiredCopilot.

Experience

I am Senior Director of FP&A at Deepwatch. Earlier roles span Circle, Ridgeline, Shift, Google, Amazon, and Amex GBT. I bring more than 12 years of finance leadership across growth-stage and large-company settings. My work has included integrated forecasting, workforce planning, executive and board reporting, and the finance side of Ridgeline's $100M Series B. I hold an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business.

Let's talk

Facing a high-stakes decision, a finance process that does not scale, or a stack that costs too much to maintain? Email jjrandhawa24@gmail.com to set up a 20-minute intro call. Tell me the decision you face, what you use today, and what you want to change. We can identify a scoped first step, the operating result you need, and what your team should own after handoff.