Lauren Dillard, CFO of LiveRamp, has spent more than a decade inside the data collaboration and identity company, moving through roles and gaining experiences that now influence how she communicates with investors, articulates strategy and measures performance.
She joined LiveRamp in 2014 as head of investor relations and later served as chief communications officer, interim chief marketing officer and senior vice president of finance and investor relations before becoming CFO in 2023.
That trajectory gave Dillard a close view of LiveRamp’s evolution and the decisions behind it. Her experience spans investor communication, corporate strategy and financial leadership, and today she also oversees HR, IT and security, placing her near the operational and strategic choices that define the company’s direction.
In this conversation, Dillard discusses what it means to lead finance with long institutional context, why she gravitated toward roles throughout the business and how CFOs build credibility across teams and boards. She also reflects on mentorship, organizational change and the practical realities of leading across finance, strategy and operations.
Lauren Dillard
CFO, LiveRamp
First CFO position: 2023
Notable previous employers:
- Addo Communications
- Silver Spring Networks
- EY
ADAM ZAKI: You’ve been at the company a long time and held multiple roles along the way. How has that depth of experience shaped how you make decisions as CFO, especially when balancing institutional memory with the need for change?
LAUREN DILLARD: I’ve never optimized for the CFO title. I’ve optimized for learning and impact, and that mindset continues to shape how I approach decisions today.
I don’t tend to view past practices as a blueprint for the future. Institutional knowledge is valuable, but I don’t think it should limit what’s possible. I’m naturally curious, and I care about getting to the right answer for the business, even if that means questioning long-standing assumptions.
My experience across communications, marketing and now oversight of HR, IT and security has given me a broader lens on decision-making. It helps me think beyond financial outcomes and consider how decisions will land with employees, customers and investors. That perspective also makes it easier to translate financial strategy into something the organization can actually understand and act on.
In practice, that means I’m often balancing two forces at once: preserving what works and pushing the organization to evolve. The longer you stay in one company, the easier it is to become anchored to how things have always been done. I try to resist that by constantly asking whether the way we operate today is still the right way for where the business is headed.
For me, tenure is less about being conservative or aggressive and more about being informed. The deeper your context, the greater your responsibility to use it as a platform for change, not a reason to avoid it.
You grew up around public accounting with both your father and grandfather working as CPAs. How did that influence your decision to move into the private sector rather than pursue a long-term career in public accounting?
I was never afraid of hard work or hustle. If anything, that was part of my identity early in my career, and watching my father and grandfather build successful careers in public accounting gave me a deep respect for the profession.
What I didn’t love about public accounting and advisory work was the distance from decision-making. I spent a lot of time analyzing decisions, evaluating options and offering recommendations, but I wasn’t in a position to actually shape outcomes. I realized that while I enjoyed the rigor of the work, I wanted to be closer to the business itself.
“Tenure is less about being conservative or aggressive and more about being informed. The deeper your context, the greater your responsibility to use it as a platform for change, not a reason to avoid it.”
Lauren Dillard
CFO, LiveRamp
That realization mattered more than anything else in my career choices. It pushed me toward operating roles where I could influence strategy in real time rather than comment on it after the fact. My first non-accounting role was in corporate finance at Silver Spring Networks, and that experience confirmed for me that I wanted to be in a seat where I wasn’t just observing decisions, but helping to drive them.
In hindsight, it wasn’t about rejecting public accounting. It was about wanting proximity to impact and accountability for outcomes.
Many CFOs talk about wanting finance to play a more strategic role across the business. Based on your experience, what are the most effective ways to build true cross-functional collaboration between finance and the rest of the organization?
It always starts with building real partnerships with the business.
If you look back a decade or two, finance was much more of a stewardship function. Today, it is far more strategic and deeply embedded in decision-making across the organization. That shift requires finance leaders to spend meaningful time with their business partners, understanding their priorities and how those priorities connect to broader company goals.
I’ve also learned not to underestimate the importance of structure in cross-functional work. Earlier in my career, I probably would have dismissed the value of a PMO or dedicated project management function. Now I see how critical it can be, especially for initiatives that require input from multiple teams.
We are in the middle of a major pricing transformation right now, and the scope of that project touches finance, go-to-market, product and IT. A lot of the progress we’ve made comes from the upfront alignment on goals, milestones and accountability. When everyone understands what success looks like and how they contribute to it, collaboration becomes much more effective.
Ultimately, cross-functional collaboration is less about finance asserting influence and more about finance earning trust by deeply understanding the business.
You’ve worked with multiple boards over your tenure, and you’ve likely seen board members come and go. When a new board member joins, how do you build credibility and rapport early on?
One of the most effective things you can do is invest time upfront.
I think about the boards I sit on, particularly in the nonprofit sector. The most valuable experiences for me have come from spending time with operators and understanding how the organization makes money, how it allocates resources and how it measures success.
The same principle applies to for-profit boards. Board members are often highly accomplished leaders with limited time and attention. When you take the initiative to walk them through the business model, the key drivers and what shareholders ultimately expect the company to deliver, you create a shared foundation.
That foundation makes later conversations much more productive. When you’re discussing financial results, strategic trade-offs or long-term investments, board members already have the context to engage meaningfully. Over time, that combination of transparency and education builds trust and credibility in a very natural way.
How have your mentors shaped your career and the way you lead today?
I’ve been fortunate to have a few mentors at different stages of my career.
One of the most influential has been Warren Jensen. I had the opportunity to work with him at Silver Spring Networks, and then again at Axiom and LiveRamp. Over time, we’ve probably worked together for close to 15 years. He’s now retired and serves on several public company boards, but he’s always been incredibly generous with his time and perspective.
What I value most about him is not just his experience, but his ability to zoom out. He has a way of helping you see beyond the immediate problem to the broader implications for the business and the organization.
“Ultimately, cross-functional collaboration is less about finance asserting influence and more about finance earning trust by deeply understanding the business.”
Lauren Dillard
CFO, LiveRamp
I’ve also benefited from relationships with CFOs at other public companies. Being able to call peers and ask, “Have you dealt with something like this?” or “Where are you seeing the most impact from technology or AI?” has been incredibly valuable. I try to maintain a mix of mentors, people who have been through it before and peers who are navigating similar challenges in real time.
You’ve built your career in San Francisco during a period when the city’s future as a business hub has been widely debated. From your perspective, is San Francisco still the innovative technology hub it once was?
I do think San Francisco is back.
There may be some recency bias because it was recently J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference week, but the difference in energy compared with the early pandemic years is striking. Foot traffic is up, restaurants have reopened or launched for the first time and downtown feels meaningfully more active.
I also credit leadership. Mayor Daniel Lurie stepped into his role about a year ago and has made a clear effort to support business and shift the narrative around the city. That work is visible. He’s been proactive in promoting economic activity and reestablishing confidence in San Francisco as a place to build and grow companies.
From my vantage point, the momentum feels real. The combination of renewed business activity, cultural energy and leadership focus has made the city feel dynamic again in a way it hasn’t for several years.
