Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Welcome to Builders, a new video series from Kleiner Perkins focused on the founders, operators, and investors building the products and tools that will define the next decade of technology.
Episode 1 starts with a candid conversation on finance leadership in the AI era. KP Partners Josh Coyne and Leigh Marie Braswell sit down with Glean’s Michael Miao and Rippling’s Adam Swiecicki to break down what it really takes to build the finance org inside high-growth, AI-first companies.
Key insights from Adam Swiecicki and Michael Miao:
- The main value that we add as a finance team is to find ways to deliver growth for the business." -Adam Swiecicki
- The first hire you want to make is a finance leader with a strategic finance background, and you should outsource accounting to start.” - Adam Swiecicki
- "I always think about my job as help me get to a yes, right? Partner with me to better understand the problem. Supply me with the data if I don't have it to help make the case for you." -Michael Miao
- "It's just great to dog food your own product because the stuff that they were able to build for us ultimately, can be applied to all of our other customers." -Michael Miao
Guest: Adam Swiecicki, CFO at Rippling, and Michael Miao, VP of Finance & Business Operations at Glean
Connect with Adam Swiecicki
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/swiecica
Connect with Michael Miao
X: https://x.com/themichaelmiao?lang=en
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michael-miao-6baa021b
Connect with Josh Coyne
X: https://x.com/josh_coyne
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joshuacoyne
Connect with Leigh Marie Braswell
X: https://x.com/LM_Braswell
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/leigh-marie-braswell
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins: kleinerperkins.com
00:00 Intro
01:03 Finance from an investing background
06:58 Building a team and early hires
16:25 Board decks, metrics and growth strategies
25:06 Growth endurance and establishing guardrails
31:27 High performance culture and cadence
39:18 AI and automation in finance
Keywords: KP, Kleiner Perkins, Startups, Glean, Rippling, Mamoon Hamid, Josh Coyne, Leigh Marie Braswell, Silicon Valley, Technology, Venture Capital, VC
Welcome to Builders, a new video series from Kleiner Perkins focused on the founders, operators, and investors building the products and tools that will define the next decade of technology.
Episode 1 starts with a candid conversation on finance leadership in the AI era. KP Partners Josh Coyne and Leigh Marie Braswell sit down with Glean’s Michael Miao and Rippling’s Adam Swiecicki to break down what it really takes to build the finance org inside high-growth, AI-first companies.
Key insights from Adam Swiecicki and Michael Miao:
- The main value that we add as a finance team is to find ways to deliver growth for the business." -Adam Swiecicki
- The first hire you want to make is a finance leader with a strategic finance background, and you should outsource accounting to start.” - Adam Swiecicki
- "I always think about my job as help me get to a yes, right? Partner with me to better understand the problem. Supply me with the data if I don't have it to help make the case for you." -Michael Miao
- "It's just great to dog food your own product because the stuff that they were able to build for us ultimately, can be applied to all of our other customers." -Michael Miao
Guest: Adam Swiecicki, CFO at Rippling, and Michael Miao, VP of Finance & Business Operations at Glean
Connect with Adam Swiecicki
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/swiecica
Connect with Michael Miao
X: https://x.com/themichaelmiao?lang=en
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michael-miao-6baa021b
Connect with Josh Coyne
X: https://x.com/josh_coyne
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joshuacoyne
Connect with Leigh Marie Braswell
X: https://x.com/LM_Braswell
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/leigh-marie-braswell
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins: kleinerperkins.com
00:00 Intro
01:03 Finance from an investing background
06:58 Building a team and early hires
16:25 Board decks, metrics and growth strategies
25:06 Growth endurance and establishing guardrails
31:27 High performance culture and cadence
39:18 AI and automation in finance
Keywords: KP, Kleiner Perkins, Startups, Glean, Rippling, Mamoon Hamid, Josh Coyne, Leigh Marie Braswell, Silicon Valley, Technology, Venture Capital, VC
