The company was mid-reinvention, with a new CEO who needed a strong first public moment – at a partner conference where the guest list, timing, and even the gaps between speaker slots were all still shifting right up until the day itself. Budget was tight, and parts of the mid-sized organization were openly skeptical of media production in general.

The approach was to over-resource on cameras rather than crew: more cameras than people operating them, with every segment planned to serve double duty. Interviews weren’t just interviews – they were shot to double as customer testimonials and case-study material later on. I ran the interviews myself, and the videographer was given as much creative freedom (and as much beer) as the day allowed.

The result: one full event film, twelve filmed interviews, a stack of social-ready photography, and three long production days – all delivered under budget. As a footnote: one particular guest speaker’s polished, almost broadcast-ready delivery ended up stealing the show entirely, which is its own reminder that sometimes the best CEO positioning is simply being in the room when someone else demonstrates what good communication looks like.

Corporate controlling has a reputation problem: the stories are almost always told the same way – middle-aged men in slightly-too-formal suits talking about forecasting, scenario simulation, and why controllers deserve a seat at the strategy table. Technically accurate, thoroughly forgettable, and not exactly a format that makes a challenger brand stand out.

As a challenger in the controlling and finance software space, Valsight couldn’t change the underlying subject matter – but it could change how the story got told. The solution was a filmed interview series featuring CFOs and senior controlling leaders, deliberately produced with a more playful visual style and setting than the category’s usual conference-stage aesthetic. Junior voices in the field were given equal room in the series, not just the established names – turning it into more of an open format than a one-off CEO showcase.

The result: a well-produced interview series, made affordable through a lean production process, that presented controlling leaders as approachable, genuinely engaged digitalizers – and positioned Valsight’s CEO, Khai Tran, as a collaborative, accessible problem-solver rather than a distant executive. The format also opened the door to longer-term partnerships, since being featured in the series gave participating leaders a reason to stay engaged well beyond a single interview.