What Twilio’s CFO learned about management from spending nearly 20 years at GE

Good morning. Twilio CFO Aidan Viggiano brings an operator’s mindset to the finance role as the company moves through the middle-to-late stages of a turnaround. Twilio lets companies integrate voice, video, text, email, and other communication channels into their products. But Viggiano told me the company is evolving beyond its communications roots to make those interactions more valuable in the age of AI. In an agentic AI world, she describes Twilio as the “connective tissue,” or “nervous system,” for AI agents: large language models provide the intelligence, data platforms provide the context, and Twilio orchestrates the conversations between businesses and customers. Most people interact with Twilio every day without realizing it, Viggiano said. “Every time your Uber driver calls or texts you, that’s all through Twilio’s platform,” she said. The company, valued at roughly $30 billion, entered the quarter with momentum: Q1 revenue rose 20% to $1.41 billion, organic growth accelerated to 16%, and the company raised its full-year outlook while generating record non-GAAP operating income.A GE education Viggiano’s view of the CFO role was formed long before she became finance chief at Twilio in 2023. Before joining the company in 2019, she spent nearly two decades at General Electric, moving through finance roles that included chief of staff to the CFO and financial planning and analysis leader for GE Energy. She also graduated from GE’s Financial Management Program and Corporate Audit Staff program. If your career goal is the corner office, history suggests GE is one of five employers that give you the best odds, Fortune reported. The experience gave her more than technical finance training. It shaped how she leads. “I grew up in GE, and GE has an amazing finance development program,” Viggiano said. “So many people focused on developing me and mentoring me, and I know I wouldn’t be in the seat if that wasn’t the case.” That early exposure also gave her responsibility