{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Portfolio Perspective: Managing Risk & Seizing Opportunity","title":"Modernization Without Losing Identity: Discipline, Culture, and the Modern CFO Role","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3955,"description":"In this episode of Portfolio Perspective: Managing Risk & Seizing Opportunity, Andrew Pace sits down with Kareem Jernigan, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at LAI Fleet, to explore how a 68 year old fleet management company is modernizing its entire technology platform without losing the culture and service model that built its reputation.\nFor a company built on relationships and a workforce with decades of tenure, replacing a 40 year old legacy system is not just an IT project, it is an identity question. Kareem Jernigan, EVP and CFO at LAI Fleet, has spent the last three years leading exactly that kind of transformation, retiring a homegrown, end to end system that handles everything from prospecting to securitization in favor of a modern platform, without disrupting the culture that has kept employees at the company for 20, 30, even 50 years.\n\nKareem came to LAI Fleet in July 2020, stepping into an organization with an average employee tenure of 24 years and a leadership team, including a president with nearly four decades on the job, that had built the business on personal relationships and deep institutional knowledge. A CPA with an MBA from the University of Houston and a background in oil and gas before joining LAI Fleet, Kareem also served in the United States Marine Corps, an experience he credits with shaping his approach to discipline and accountability.\n\nKareem and talk through what it takes to de-risk a technology transition of this scale, how LAI Fleet has approached digitizing paper heavy processes without losing what makes the business unique, and how the company earns credibility with a long tenured, relationship driven workforce during periods of change. They also get into how LAI Fleet competes as a privately held, mid-market focused company against larger, efficiency driven competitors, and how Kareem manages residual risk across a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles.\nThe conversation offers a candid look at what it...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/YAp1sD8605iAhnj8hdb-ZqxhPWIeBVU1K5D-1nxaW4Y/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mNWJj/NzczNGQxNzczMmFi/MmY2MjYwYTY4NDRl/MWUwNC5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}