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Maria
Ghibu
CFO
Testhouse
Maria Ghibu is Global CFO at Testhouse, based in London, a role she has held since February 2025. She also serves as a Non-Executive Director and Co-Opted Director on the Audit, Finance & Risk Committee of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors, providing independent board oversight of financial reporting, risk governance, and internal control frameworks. Previously, as Fractional CFO at FMG Business Consulting, Maria provided CFO leadership to venture backed US and UK WellTech and PropTech businesses, architecting a £6 to £8 million Series A fundraising strategy supported by a five year financial model projecting £70 million ARR, and engaging more than 20 Tier-1 VC funds. Earlier, she founded and led Torrmi, a robotics SaaS venture recognized as a Top 3 European Robotics Startup by Sifted in 2023 and shortlisted for the ARC Sequoia Accelerator. Maria is known for building institutional-grade fundraising and reporting infrastructure for growth-stage technology businesses.
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04 November 2026 11:30 - 12:15
Panel: The AI spending trap: how CFOs prove ROI before budgets disappear
Organizations are racing to deploy artificial intelligence, committing billions in investments while struggling to articulate clear returns. Finance leaders face mounting pressure from boards demanding accountability - yet many lack the frameworks, metrics, and methodologies to quantify AI's business impact. This session addresses the critical gap between AI ambition and financial reality. Explore how to establish rigorous evaluation criteria before AI investments begin, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and measurable outcomes. Learn to build business cases that withstand board scrutiny, track meaningful KPIs beyond cost savings, and communicate progress in language that resonates with executive leadership. Discover why traditional ROI calculations often fail for AI initiatives—and how to adapt your measurement approach for emerging technologies with longer time horizons and diffuse benefits. Key Takeaways - Build Strong Business Cases: Frameworks for evaluating AI investments before deployment, including risk assessment, benefit mapping, and realistic timeline modeling. - Measure What Matters: Move beyond vanity metrics to identify and track KPIs that demonstrate real business value -productivity gains, revenue impact, risk mitigation, and competitive advantage. - Communicate ROI Clearly: Strategies for translating complex AI outcomes into compelling narratives for boards and executives, tracking benefits realization, and maintaining investment discipline.