Shivi Jain FCCA

From Bollywood to balance sheets, Shivi Jain’s journey into finance was anything but traditional. Graduating in the midst of the 2008 recession as a student immigrant, she had to hustle hard, volunteering by day and working paid roles by night. Today, she leads FP&A transformation at one of the world’s largest travel businesses.

We sat down with Shivi to unpack the career turning points, the Deadpool debacle (more to be explained), and the table she’s currently rebuilding in her downtime.

From recession to resilience

When Shivi entered the UK job market in 2008, doors weren’t exactly flying open. With visa restrictions and a recession to contend with, she started from scratch, balancing freelance NHS stats work with paid AP roles in the evenings.

Over time, that persistence paid off. Within two years, she progressed from AP assistant to utilities analyst at a property company in Manchester. Alongside the climb, she committed to completing her ACCA qualification and made the leap to London, drawn to the energy of a big city.

Finding the magic in media

Landing a role as retail planning manager at 20th Century Fox, Shivi discovered a surprising joy: analysing movie performance. “I had to watch three films a week. It was actually part of the job.”

She worked on blockbuster releases including Deadpool and Bond, and it was here that her passion for the intersection of finance and operations began. The infamous Deadpool stock undercall, based on her assumption that its 18+ rating might limit appeal, became a pivotal learning moment.

Pivots, startups, and scale

Wanting broader exposure, Shivi took the leap into contracting. From luxury beauty brands to fitness startups, she built commercial awareness across industries.

At JUUL, a high-growth startup, she was asked to build a pan-European FP&A team from scratch. It became a proving ground for her skills in leadership, coaching, and transformation. She still credits this time, and a key mentor there, as foundational to her leadership approach:

“You can’t underestimate the impact of someone who believes in you, challenges you, and gives you room to grow.”

Building future-ready finance at GBT

Today, Shivi is leading FP&A transformation at Amex Global Business Travel. Joining during COVID, she helped scale a team from four to twelve people and introduced new processes that reduced complexity and increased visibility across supplier FP&A.

Her current focus: a full-scale tech transformation, replacing legacy tools with modern systems that prioritise automation, consistency, and analytics.

“You can’t just plug in tech and expect results. You need to get the data right. Get the people right. Then the tools will do their job.”

A legacy beyond numbers

Shivi’s transformation work goes far beyond systems. It’s about empowering people.

From helping team members win awards to coaching them into presenting confidently to C-suite, she’s deeply committed to building others up:

“I don’t want to just implement a system. I want to change the way FP&A thinks, and give people the tools to build careers they’re proud of.”

Her team’s shift from Excel dependence to a data-driven, tech-enabled mindset is part of a broader culture shift she’s helping embed.