How 3 CFOs at top companies went from intern to C-suite

As we continue our series for aspiring CFOs, finance chiefs at Fortune 500 and Fortune Global 500 companies share how their varied experiences from undergrad to internships led to a finance path, what they learned in their first-ever C-suite role, and advice they’d give their younger selves.

Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah, EVP of finance and CFO at Analog Devices, a multinational semiconductor company

A career in finance wasn’t originally in Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah’s plans as both his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees are in engineering. But it was actually his first role as a process engineer that laid the foundation for his current leadership.  

“I worked at a plant where the factory manager was legendary for his focus on cost management,” Mahendra-Rajah explains. “Despite that frugality, one day there was a large order for a discontinued product and I was tasked with restarting the plant, with no expense spared. It amazed me how we spent so much energy on cost management historically, and this mentality shifted completely with the right profit opportunity.” Dealing with supply and demand dynamics was key to his understanding of finance’s influence at an organization, and compelled him to pursue an MBA at Purdue University. 

Prior to joining ADI in 2017, Mahendra-Rajah was CFO of WABCO Holdings Inc., a global supplier of commercial vehicle technologies. He previously served as division CFO and in other financial leadership roles at Applied Materials, Visa, and United Technologies.

“Early in my career, I had a mentor who taught me that to be an effective finance leader, you need to generate constructive conflict, but in an approachable and positive manner, to improve decision-making,” he says.

What’s a challenge you faced when entering your first-ever C-suite job? “You quickly realize that there is nobody to back-stop you. To put it another way, you can no longer walk into your boss’ office and ask if this sounds right or wrong because you would be walking into the CEO’s office. This is a significant shift in mindset, and what I learned was that you need to have confidence in yourself and trust that the experiences gained throughout your career have prepared you for the opportunity. While it can be intimidating at first, you…