Shruti Mehndroo, a Chartered Accountant with 13+ years of experience in consulting and corporate finance, leads Liberty Mutual’s global finance shared services strategy. Known for blending operational rigor with innovation, she drives transformation, governance, and performance—balancing professional excellence with a passion for travel and fitness.
In an insightful interaction with Women Entrepreneurs Review Magazine, Shruti shares her insights on how finance shared services are evolving into strategic enablers, balancing speed with accuracy, and the critical role women leaders play in shaping ethical digital finance operations.
With global finance under pressure to do more with less, how are finance shared services evolving to move beyond cost centers into strategic enablers across multiple geographies?
Finance shared services are undergoing a fundamental shift from being traditional cost centers to becoming strategic enablers for global enterprises. This evolution is driven by multiple factors—technological advancements, data-driven decision-making, and increasing expectations for agility across geographies.
Rather than merely processing transactions, today’s finance shared services deliver real-time insights, support compliance, and help shape financial strategy. In the insurance sector, they play a vital role in enabling faster reporting, managing regulatory complexities, and improving risk visibility across geographies.
This shift allows core finance teams to focus on high-impact areas such as forecasting, capital allocation, and business partnering. The emergence of global business services (GBS) further integrates finance with other functions, driving agility and collaboration.
Ultimately, shared services are no longer just operational units—they’re value creators that empower organizations to respond faster, make better decisions, and scale more efficiently in a dynamic business landscape.
In a market that demands real-time insights, how can legacy finance functions balance accuracy with speed—especially when building automated solutions like RPA at scale across countries?
Balancing accuracy with speed is a core challenge when transforming legacy finance functions—especially while deploying automation like RPA at scale across borders. The key lies in designing with precision and scaling with governance.
First, it's crucial to standardize processes before automating. Without streamlining, RPA only magnifies inefficiencies. Clear documentation, strong data governance, and input from cross-functional teams ensure accuracy isn't compromised.
Second, agility comes from layering automation over a solid digital foundation—integrated ERP systems, real-time dashboards, and centralized data repositories. This enables speed without sacrificing control.
In global implementations, setting up a center of excellence (CoE) for automation helps drive consistency while allowing local teams to adapt to regulatory or market nuances.
Ultimately, it’s not about choosing between speed and accuracy—it’s about creating a finance architecture where both coexist, allowing the function to deliver reliable insights in real time, at scale, and with confidence.
Given today’s AI-integrated finance tech landscape, how do you see the role of women leaders in influencing ethical design and governance of digital finance operations?
As finance becomes more AI-driven, ethics isn’t just a technical checkbox—it’s about people. That’s where women leaders can make a big difference. We often bring a collaborative and empathetic lens to the table, which is exactly what’s needed when designing systems that impact real lives.
From how algorithms make decisions to how data is used, it’s important to ask: is this fair, is it transparent, and does it reflect the diversity of the people we serve? These aren’t just IT questions—they’re leadership questions.
Women in finance are increasingly leading these conversations, helping build governance frameworks that make AI not just smarter, but more responsible. In my experience, the best outcomes come when we combine innovation with accountability.
We’re not just shaping digital finance—we’re shaping how it serves people, across borders and backgrounds. That’s the kind of impact women leaders are uniquely positioned to drive.
As insurers push toward digital-first finance models, what complexities do you face in aligning global compliance with local nuances—especially from a transformation governance lens?
Moving toward a digital-first finance model in insurance brings immense opportunity—but aligning global compliance with local nuances is a constant balancing act. Every region has its own regulatory landscape, reporting formats, and evolving expectations, and transformation can’t be “one-size-fits-all.”
From a governance lens, the challenge lies in building a scalable yet adaptable framework. This means setting global standards—on controls, risk, and data integrity—while giving regional teams the flexibility to meet local requirements. It also requires close collaboration with legal, compliance, and tech partners to embed regulatory intelligence early in the transformation process.
What makes it complex is the pace of change. Regulations shift quickly, especially around digital finance, data privacy, and ESG disclosures. Strong governance helps us stay agile without losing control.
In my experience, success depends on proactive stakeholder engagement, clear ownership at every level, and the ability to translate compliance into value—not just cost.
How do you challenge deeply embedded financial rituals and mindsets, particularly in male-dominated leadership settings, without compromising control or stakeholder trust?
Challenging deeply embedded financial rituals isn’t easy—especially in rooms where you’re often the only woman. Early in my career, I thought I had to be louder to be heard. But over time, I’ve found that influence comes more from clarity and consistency than from volume.
When I question legacy processes, I focus on *why* change matters—linking it to real outcomes like reducing reporting errors, freeing up bandwidth for strategic work, or improving compliance. That resonates more than just saying, “let’s modernize.”
I’ve learned to pick my battles, listen deeply, and present alternatives with data and confidence. I don’t challenge for the sake of it—I challenge because I care about progress.
Earning trust doesn’t mean playing safe. It means showing that you're thoughtful, informed, and committed to making things better—for the team and the business. That’s how I’ve managed to shift mindsets while keeping both control and credibility intact.
What unseen or undervalued skillsets must women in finance transformation develop today, to lead tomorrow’s finance operating models with resilience and authenticity?
Technical expertise will always matter—but what sets future-ready women leaders apart are the less visible skills: influence without authority, change navigation, and emotional intelligence. In finance transformation, success isn’t just about building models—it’s about bringing people along for the journey.
Resilience is key. Transformation is messy, often met with resistance or setbacks. The ability to stay grounded, adapt, and continue leading with clarity is a powerful differentiator.
Another underrated skill is storytelling. As finance becomes more strategic, we need to simplify complexity, connect data to impact, and inspire action across the organization.
And finally—authenticity. The pressure to conform can be strong, especially in traditional environments. But staying true to your voice, values, and leadership style builds credibility that lasts.
Women in finance must lean into these strengths—not as “soft skills,” but as core capabilities to lead tomorrow’s finance with vision and purpose.
