Growth, growth, growth-then profitability: SoundHound AI CFO Nitesh Sharan on life after IPO and AI-first finance

Life After IPO: How SoundHound AI CFO Nitesh Sharan Runs Finance, HR, and Legal for Growth

Nitesh Sharan stepped into SoundHound AI with a big-company toolkit and a builder's mindset. After taking the voice-AI company public in 2022 during a tough market, he framed the IPO as a starting line, not a finish. The focus moved immediately to disciplined growth, capital efficiency and creating an operating system that ties finance, HR and legal to one thing: momentum.

Sharan's background spans Accenture, Hewlett Packard and Nike. That experience shows up in how he treats the CFO seat: own the fiduciary basics, allocate capital with intent and manage risk without slowing the business. Everything else is an extension of those three jobs.

The Post-IPO Reality: Growth First, Profitability Next

Liquidity was tight, investor attention was scarce and reporting loads increased overnight. Sharan kept teams motivated by reframing the win: the IPO validated the mission; execution would create value. The internal message was simple and relentless: ship, sell, conserve cash, then repeat.

As he put it, "Right now, our top five priorities are growth, growth, growth, growth and profitability - in that order." That meant hypergrowth with a clear path to break-even, not growth at any cost.

• Treat the story as a system: product milestones, customer wins and unit economics must connect quarter to quarter.
• Run liquidity like a product: forecast weekly, pressure test scenarios, pre-wire capital options.
• Tighten operating cadence: monthly margin reviews, deal-level ROI gates and fast post-mortems.
• Measure pipeline quality, not just volume: time-to-revenue and payback as north stars.

AI Inside Finance: From Hype Filter to Decision Engine

SoundHound AI has been building conversational AI since the early 2000s, long before today's trend cycle. The team adopted deep learning early and now works with large language models and transformer-based systems. That heritage matters: it keeps focus on what actually works, not what's trending.

For finance leaders, the takeaway is practical. AI shouldn't mean "more headcount in FP&A." It should mean better decisions at the edge - where sales, marketing, engineering and ops make choices all day long.

• Embed a finance copilot: self-serve models that let teams test pricing, discounting and event ROI in minutes.
• Make opportunity cost visible: simple dashboards that force trade-offs between features, channels and segments.
• Standardize deal reviews: revenue recognition checks, margin thresholds and cash impact before signatures.
• Act as the "red thread": finance connects data across functions so priorities don't drift.

Owning Finance, HR and Legal Without Spreading Thin

Sharan doesn't split time by percentage. He works from a simple frame: protect the balance sheet, invest where return is clear and reduce risk while keeping speed. Strong leaders run each function; the CFO aligns them to the same scoreboard.

• Weekly growth room: pipeline, win rates, gross margin and cash impact discussed together.
• People as a financial lever: watch regrettable attrition, hiring velocity and productivity per head.
• Legal as an accelerant: standardize contracts, pre-clear regulatory issues and remove friction for sales.
• Capital allocation rhythm: revisit priorities monthly as data changes - no set-and-forget budgets.

The Voice-AI Thesis: Make Interactions Frictionless

SoundHound AI's mission is straightforward: let people talk to technology and get things done. Filing a claim, ordering food, or using your car - simpler through natural conversation, not screens and menus. That clarity helps the company prioritize where to build and where to partner.

To learn more about the company's platform and use cases, visit SoundHound AI.

What Finance Leaders Can Apply This Quarter

• Write a one-page operating thesis: growth targets, path to break-even and the few metrics that matter.
• Stand up a self-serve ROI bot for sales and marketing decisions (events, discounts, channel tests).
• Create an "IPO discipline" without the IPO: close cadence, forecast hygiene and transparent investor-style updates.
• Put HR and legal on your growth scorecard: hiring quality, time-to-fill, contract velocity and risk flags.

The CFO seat is broader now. The work is still the same at its core: protect, allocate and decide. Sharan's approach shows how to do it with speed - and keep every function rowing toward growth and profitability.

Bonus Resource

Explore practical tools and courses to level up AI fluency across finance teams: AI Tools for Finance.