Allego Welcomes Bas Brukx as Chief Financial Officer
The chief financial officer’s role has changed significantly over the past 20 years. The scope of the function has expanded, and today’s CFOs must have strong technical skills as well as strategic capabilities.
With finance and business strategy more connected than ever, companies need a CFO who will collaborate and strategize with the executive board and help lead change at their organizations.
Toward that end, Allego recently appointed Bas Brukx as its CFO. Bas is a seasoned results-driven financial executive with over 27 years of experience in the technology industry. A strategic thinker and hands-on leader, he has an impressive track record of delivering results for several high growth companies.
Prior to joining Allego, Bas was CFO of Clarabridge, which he led through a $1 billion strategic sale and a highly successful IPO. Earlier in his career, Bas held leadership roles at Vocus, Nexchange, Inc., and WorldPort, Inc.
I had an opportunity to talk with Bas about his new position at Allego, his thoughts about the sales enablement industry, and how the CFO role has evolved.
Ginna: What attracted you to Allego?
Bas: Allego is one of the leaders in a fast-growing space. It has one of the leading platform solutions. It has the top brand-name customers in several verticals, plus it has a track record of proven execution over a long period of time. It is backed by good investors. Also, I worked with Yuchun Lee [Allego CEO and Co-Founder] for a period of almost nine years when he was the executive chairman of Clarabridge. I definitely enjoy working with Yuchun and am looking forward to continuing to work with him.
Ginna: What is your long-term vision for the company?
Bas: My vision is to continue to grow as the leader in sales enablement, to continue to acquire top brand-name customers to help them build on their existing sales enablement programs, and to continue to be one of the chosen employers in the Boston region. That’s really important to make it a destination workspace. We need to be able to recruit the top talent, so we want to make sure we offer people a leading work experience as well.
Ginna: What will your responsibilities look like as the new CFO?
Bas: Leading the finance and the accounting function, but really building the framework for continued high growth, for the company to grow well over a hundred million dollars in revenue, laying the foundation in all aspects to make sure that we can scale and grow over the next five to ten years.
I’m really excited to continue to grow Allego and build on a solution that helps sales leaders to grow their sales forces and be more successful and more efficient.
Ginna: Will you be taking on any new initiatives?
Bas: In addition to continuing to serve the world’s largest financial services and life sciences customers, we’re looking forward to building on our recent success as the mid-market sales enablement solution of choice. The recent recognition from Forrester as a leader in sales content solutions, together with all the recognition in modern learning, positions us as the go-to platform in sales enablement.
Ginna: What excites you about the sales enablement industry?
Bas: I love working with sales. As an operationally oriented CFO, I partnered with sales over my career, which spans over 20 years in the software-as-a-service industry. I look forward to using Allego sales enablement tools to make sales organizations more efficient. Because sales organizations are often one of the greatest assets in a company, I’m happy to do anything I can to make them more successful. And I’m really excited to continue to grow Allego and build on a solution that helps sales leaders to grow their sales forces and be more successful and more efficient.
Ginna: What are some trends you’re seeing that point to why Allego is the right choice for customers?
Bas: The economic environment might be changing, or more challenging. There will be more focus on leveraging the sales force for greater success. Platforms like Allego can help organizations maximize the return on investment of their sales organizations, in addition to making happier salespeople.
Ginna: How has the role of the CFO changed over the last 20 years?
Bas: Over the last 20 years, the CFO has become a strategic partner with the CEO and the rest of the executive team in terms of translating strategic initiatives into fiscal and operational plans and helping in the execution of those plans. It’s really being a bridge between the numbers and the strategy, as well as making sure the company maximizes the returns on its investments.
Most companies are restrained in their resources, so the CFO helps prioritize initiatives, address challenges, looks at opportunities, and helps set the balance for the best outcome for shareholders, employees, and customers.
Learn More:
Read Allego’s announcement about CFO Bas Brukx and his role at Allego.
