Editor’s note: In today’s A Day in the Life, Clare Leighton (pictured), COO & Co-Founder of bluesheets shares with FutureCFO audiences how sport inspires her professional development and how she applies team sport values to her work.
FutureCFO: What does a typical day look like for you?
Clare Leighton (CL): I’m co-founder of bluesheets, an AI automation company building AI agents to enhance back-office productivity.
The company specialises in the processing and understanding of unstructured data/files and is using a combination of natural language processing and machine learning as well as large language model technology to automate workflows end-to-end.
I split my time between our Singapore and Australian offices, and so my typical day can vary. Regardless of where I am, I start my day with a physical activity followed by coffee and reading.
We see a great deal of innovation and transformation with our clients in their AI and intelligent automation journeys, so I like to keep myself informed of industry news. In particular, with our track record in FSI and accounting/finance, it’s practical to be on top of technology shaping the banking and insurance industries.
To best manage the time zones, I cover my earlier calls with Australian clients and partners in the morning.
Our sales team are based in-market across Australia, Singapore, Thailand and Japan, so we aim to align internal meetings in the middle of the day before I focus on deep work and South East Asia clients in the afternoon.
Thankfully, my Co-Founder and CEO covers the US and EU time zones so we can optimise our efforts while supporting demand in each market.
My role is quite evenly split between supporting our team internally and working externally with clients and partners.
I relish the opportunity to collaborate with businesses that are adopting AI solutions like bluesheets to improve their operating efficiency and data availability. This is a particularly rewarding aspect of my work.
In sport, you can’t just apply effort during a competition and expect to perform well. You have to be committed to the process and believe that the work you’re doing along the way will serve you when it counts.
FutureCFO: What excites you the most when you work with CFOs and finance functions?
CL: What excites me the most about working with CFOs and finance leaders is the incredible potential for transformation due to new technology. Finance is an industry prime for automation, and I've observed key reasons for this.
First, technology in finance has advanced rapidly. Cloud and ERP systems were game-changers, then layered with OCR and RPA.
Now, AI-enabled automation can process and surface data with greater accuracy, also handling many tasks previously burdening finance professionals.
True end-to-end automation is now achievable, leading to significant savings in human resources and costs, faster outcomes, and improved employee satisfaction by eliminating mundane tasks. AI agents in finance deliver these efficiency gains very quickly. This makes it incredibly rewarding for me to work with CFOs who have been unsure where to invest in order to demonstrate ROI.
Second, there's the chance to leverage this new technology for future success. Solutions like bluesheets provide rich, complex data sets essential for AI initiatives.
Investing in AI and training models is crucial, as open-source options may not always be feasible. I often hear that organisations don’t know where to start though they want to embark on this journey.
By setting up finance teams to leverage these solutions, it feels like we are providing an integral building block in the foundation for their AI journey, ensuring businesses have access to the data needed for long-term success.
It’s exciting to be at the forefront of industry transformation with finance leaders. We often say that “all roads lead to finance”, and it's inspiring to see CFOs as early adopters of AI automation, setting a precedent for their organisations.
During my early career at Uber and UberEats, there was a lot of autonomy and responsibility, with little process or hierarchy, which taught me that there is always a path to achieving a goal, even when you’re not fully prepared.
FutureCFO: Can you share an experience which was key to your professional growth?
CL: My early career at Uber and UberEats during their initial operations shaped me professionally, and I still see its influence on my approach to work today.
Starting in a small entrepreneurial team with massive ambitions was both intense and rewarding.
At the time, ride-sharing was not yet legislated in Western Australia. When we launched UberEats, on-demand food delivery was a new concept.
There was a lot of autonomy and responsibility, with little process or hierarchy, which taught me that there is always a path to achieving a goal, even when you’re not fully prepared.
A few key takeaways from this experience that still hold true for me today are: no process is perfect and there’s always room for improvement; data is king, and no narrative is truer than one supported by good data; and there is always a way forward if you are willing to do the work to find it.
FutureCFO: Is there anything outside work—such as a travel experience, a book, participation in a sport event or any volunteering experience—that serves as an important inspiration to your work or life? Can you tell us more about it?
CL: I have always loved sports and travel, and made it a priority to maintain time for these around work.
Growing up in Australia, where sport is an integral part of the community, it has always helped me develop professionally and apply team sport values to my work.
For almost 12 years, I played competitive netball, participating in state and national competitions. I did this while building my career and found it benefited me in many ways.
To excel in both, I had to be efficient with my time and energy, practice discipline, and trust the process.
I was fortunate to work with sports and leadership psychologists who taught me a lot about culture, resilience, and succeeding as a team.
In sport, you can’t just apply effort during a competition and expect to perform well.
You have to be committed to the process and believe that the work you’re doing along the way will serve you when it counts. This ability to "trust the process" has served me well as an entrepreneur.
Another key element of team sports that has translated into my work is the ability to function as a unit, giving and receiving feedback.
In sport, you play a role as an individual, but your ultimate responsibility is to support your team.
There is no individual success without team success, and the best professional teams understand this. This is particularly true for startups, where fast-paced change makes team cohesion integral to success.
