Prasenjit Sen Sharma

APAC CFO

Utimaco IS Pte Ltd

IT Services and IT Consulting

Germany

⭐ Leaders at a Glance

Leaders at a Glance

Prasenjit Sen Sharma is a visionary CFO and Singapore PR holder with over two decades of financial leadership experience, specialising in steering complex operations across APAC and SaaS initiatives. A strategic architect, Prasenjit masters M&A deal structures and mentors high-performance teams to drive sustainable, rapid enterprise growth.

Name: Prasenjit Sen Sharma
Designation: APAC CFO
Company: Utimaco IS Pte Ltd
Industry: IT Services and IT Consulting
Country: Germany

Prasenjit Sen Sharma -Most Visionary CFOs from Asia 2026

Most people think acquisitions are won during negotiations, but only seasoned finance leaders know better. The real test begins after the signatures are complete, when cultures, systems, expectations, and people must come together to create something stronger than what existed before. The same principle applies to many business decisions. Success is rarely determined by the decision itself. It is determined by what happens next.

Prasenjit Sen Sharma has spent much of his career operating in precisely those moments. From commercial strategy and financial planning to acquisitions and regional leadership, his journey across organisations such as SAP, Ariba, Sitecore, and Utimaco has been defined by helping businesses navigate complexity long after the easy answers disappear. Today, as APAC CFO at Utimaco, he views finance as a function that helps organisations make better decisions rather than simply measure them. In a conversation with The Portfolio Magazine, he shares his perspectives on leadership, growth, technology, and the evolving role of the modern CFO.

Looking back, which experiences shaped your leadership philosophy the most?

The biggest influence on how I lead was never a role or a title. It was a person. Early in my career, working closely with a leader who later became my mentor revealed something that took years to fully understand. What stood out was not his technical expertise alone but how people responded to him. Junior employees trusted him. Senior leaders relied on him. Everyone, regardless of where they sat in the hierarchy, felt comfortable approaching him for guidance.

Working alongside him for more than a decade taught me lessons that still guide me today. I learned the importance of being approachable, remaining pragmatic, and creating an environment where people feel comfortable sharing ideas and feedback. Over time, I realised that leadership is not about having all the answers. It is about helping people find solutions and ensuring that your decisions contribute to the business’s success. Those lessons stayed with me throughout my career and continue to influence how I lead today.

How different is the CFO role today from when you started your career?

A CFO was once expected, first and foremost, to be an accounting expert. Deep technical knowledge defined success, and that foundation still matters, but the expectations surrounding the role have broadened considerably since then. A modern CFO needs fluency in risk management, compliance, funding decisions, market dynamics, technology, and business strategy simultaneously, which has quietly turned the role from custodian of financial information into something closer to an advisor across the entire business.

The finance leader today functions as an all-rounder. Financial discipline remains non-negotiable, but commercial awareness, strategic thinking, and the ability to partner credibly with leaders across every function have become equally essential. The role is no longer primarily about reporting what happened. It is increasingly about helping shape what happens next and ensuring financial insight contributes directly to growth rather than simply documenting it afterwards.

Having led multiple acquisitions, what lessons stand out most about growth and integration?

One lesson I have carried from every acquisition is that signing the deal is often the easy part. Most organisations invest enormous energy in due diligence, valuations, negotiations, and legal processes. The real challenge begins after the agreement is signed

I have seen acquisitions that looked perfect on paper struggle because integration was not handled effectively. Bringing together different cultures, processes, systems, and ways of working requires patience and deliberate effort. Without that, even the strongest strategic rationale can fall short of expectations.

Another important lesson is the need for humility. Acquiring companies sometimes assume their processes are automatically better than those of the acquired business. My experience has shown otherwise. During one acquisition, we discovered several practices that were more efficient than our own. Instead of forcing our methods, we adopted some of theirs. That openness created stronger alignment and helped the integration succeed. Growth happens when organisations are willing to learn from one another rather than simply impose change.

As AI reshapes finance, where do you see its greatest value and its limits?

What excites me most about AI is the speed it brings to problem-solving. Tasks that previously required extensive manual effort can now be completed much faster, allowing leaders to spend more time analysing information and making decisions.

At the same time, I do not see AI as a replacement for judgment. Every finance professional is familiar with the principle of garbage in, garbage out. The quality of any output depends entirely on the quality of the information and assumptions behind it. AI can generate insights, identify patterns, and present options, but leaders still need to evaluate those outputs within the context of the business. I have always leveraged AI as a powerful assistant rather than a mere decision-maker. It helps improve efficiency and provides valuable perspectives, but accountability cannot be delegated to technology. Decisions that affect businesses, employees, and stakeholders still require human judgment, experience, and responsibility.

“Finance is often seen as the function that says no. I would rather be remembered as someone who found a way for the business to move forward.”

When people look back on your career, what would you like them to remember?

Finance teams have long carried a reputation for being the people who say no. Most finance professionals have encountered that perception at some point in their careers. While there are situations where saying no is necessary, I have never believed that should define the function.

I have always viewed finance as a business partner. When a proposal does not work, my responsibility is not simply to reject it but to explain why, explore alternatives, and help find a solution that supports the organisation’s objectives. The goal is to protect the business while still enabling growth.

If people remember me as someone who helped the business move forward rather than stand in its way, I would consider that a meaningful legacy. Every decision I have made has ultimately been guided by a simple objective: helping the organisation succeed and flourish over the long term.