Member since January 2026
Cathleen Warren is a finance transformation and project management leader who helps business teams successfully navigate complex, technology-enabled change. With nearly three decades of experience spanning finance leadership, ERP implementations, and large-scale business transformations, she specializes in translating project management and IT concepts into practical, business-focused strategies that actually deliver value.
Her work sits at the intersection of project management, business transformation, and change management, with a particular focus on supporting business leaders and functional teams who are accountable for outcomes but are not career project managers. Cathleen is known for helping organizations move beyond “go-live success” to real value capture—ensuring that new systems, processes, and ways of working are adopted, sustained, and aligned to business goals.
A PMP-certified project professional and Prosci-certified change practitioner, Cathleen brings a pragmatic, people-centered approach to transformation. She draws on deep hands-on experience with ERP and finance systems to coach leaders, empower subject matter experts, and bridge the gap between business and IT.
As a speaker, Cathleen is valued for her ability to simplify complexity, challenge traditional thinking, and equip audiences with actionable tools they can apply immediately—especially those leading or participating in IT initiatives without formal project management training.
I am passionate about helping business teams navigate the disruption that comes with IT and business transformation—especially when the responsibility for success sits with leaders who were never trained as technologists or project managers.
From a finance perspective, I’ve seen firsthand how decisions made upstream in operations, master data, and integrations directly impact downstream accounting, controls, and reporting. When teams understand how their processes fit together, they make better decisions—and avoid costly surprises after go-live.
Equally important are the people side of change: clear communication, practical training, and structured change management that helps teams adopt new ways of working with confidence. A core part of my work is bridging the gap between business and IT—helping business leaders “speak technology” without needing to become technical experts.
Ultimately, my passion is about putting the right processes in place to ensure organizations don’t just implement change, but capture real, measurable business value from it.
They said "over my dead body will we put in SAP" and we did it anyway.
In 1986, when I graduated from high school, my father bought me an Apple IIe. He told me that computers were going to be the next big thing—and that his daughter would know how to use one.
When I arrived at college, I was the only student in my all-women’s dorm with a computer in her room. I loved my computer classes, not because I wanted to become a technologist, but because I could see how technology could make work smarter, faster, and more connected.
My career began in finance and accounting, where I built a deep understanding of how businesses operate, how numbers tell a story, and how decisions ripple through an organization. But alongside that path, I was consistently drawn to technology—especially new systems and transformation initiatives. I gravitated toward IT projects, not for the code, but for the opportunity to improve processes, integrate data, and help teams work differently.
Over time, that curiosity became a calling. I grew up in finance, but I found my impact at the intersection of business, technology, and change—bridging the gap between how systems are built and how people actually use them to create value.
Audience: Business Sponsors and SMEs on IT projects
A business case gets approved. The technology gets implemented. And somewhere between those two moments, the value conversation stops — because it is easy to assume the tool will do the work on its own.
It won't. Realizing value requires process change, adoption, utilization, and proficiency across training, process design, and technology. Someone has to hold all of that together. That is where the Value Capture Plan comes in.
This session introduces a practical tool that puts ROI into action — assigning owners, establishing milestones, and creating a reporting cadence that keeps value front and center as scope, timing, and processes change. Sponsors and SMEs will leave with a concrete approach to ensuring a Value Capture Plan is in place, understood, and actively owned.
Audience: Project managers and project teams
Most project managers assume the business knows what to do with a new system. That assumption is where value leaks out.
Change management is often treated as the training that happens in the weeks before go-live — a box to check, not a thread to weave. But proficiency, adoption, and utilization don't happen overnight. They are building blocks, and they have to be in place before an IT investment can deliver what the business case promised. Value doesn't happen in disruption. It happens when people know what they need to do and how to do it.
Participants will leave with a practical approach to building that foundation gradually — and partnering with business teams to protect it when timelines tighten.
Business leaders are often asked to sponsor or participate in IT and transformation projects without formal training in project management or technology delivery. As a result, many initiatives struggle—not because of poor intent or effort, but because leaders lack practical guidance on how to engage effectively.
In this session, Cathleen Warren shares five essential, business-focused tips that help leaders better navigate complex, technology-enabled change. Drawing on decades of experience in finance, ERP implementations, and large-scale transformation programs, she translates project management and IT concepts into clear, actionable strategies designed for non-technical audiences.
Participants will learn how to clarify roles and expectations, ask better questions, focus on value rather than activity, and support change adoption throughout the project lifecycle. The session emphasizes practical tools and mindset shifts leaders can apply immediately—regardless of industry, system, or delivery approach.
This session is ideal for business and functional leaders who want to confidently engage in IT initiatives, reduce risk, and increase the likelihood that projects deliver lasting business value.
They said "over my dead body will we put in SAP" and we did it anyway.
In 1986, when I graduated from high school, my father bought me an Apple IIe. He told me that computers were going to be the next big thing—and that his daughter would know how to use one.
When I arrived at college, I was the only student in my all-women’s dorm with a computer in her room. I loved my computer classes, not because I wanted to become a technologist, but because I could see how technology could make work smarter, faster, and more connected.
My career began in finance and accounting, where I built a deep understanding of how businesses operate, how numbers tell a story, and how decisions ripple through an organization. But alongside that path, I was consistently drawn to technology—especially new systems and transformation initiatives. I gravitated toward IT projects, not for the code, but for the opportunity to improve processes, integrate data, and help teams work differently.
Over time, that curiosity became a calling. I grew up in finance, but I found my impact at the intersection of business, technology, and change—bridging the gap between how systems are built and how people actually use them to create value.
Audience: Business Sponsors and SMEs on IT projects
A business case gets approved. The technology gets implemented. And somewhere between those two moments, the value conversation stops — because it is easy to assume the tool will do the work on its own.
It won't. Realizing value requires process change, adoption, utilization, and proficiency across training, process design, and technology. Someone has to hold all of that together. That is where the Value Capture Plan comes in.
This session introduces a practical tool that puts ROI into action — assigning owners, establishing milestones, and creating a reporting cadence that keeps value front and center as scope, timing, and processes change. Sponsors and SMEs will leave with a concrete approach to ensuring a Value Capture Plan is in place, understood, and actively owned.
Audience: Project managers and project teams
Most project managers assume the business knows what to do with a new system. That assumption is where value leaks out.
Change management is often treated as the training that happens in the weeks before go-live — a box to check, not a thread to weave. But proficiency, adoption, and utilization don't happen overnight. They are building blocks, and they have to be in place before an IT investment can deliver what the business case promised. Value doesn't happen in disruption. It happens when people know what they need to do and how to do it.
Participants will leave with a practical approach to building that foundation gradually — and partnering with business teams to protect it when timelines tighten.
Business leaders are often asked to sponsor or participate in IT and transformation projects without formal training in project management or technology delivery. As a result, many initiatives struggle—not because of poor intent or effort, but because leaders lack practical guidance on how to engage effectively.
In this session, Cathleen Warren shares five essential, business-focused tips that help leaders better navigate complex, technology-enabled change. Drawing on decades of experience in finance, ERP implementations, and large-scale transformation programs, she translates project management and IT concepts into clear, actionable strategies designed for non-technical audiences.
Participants will learn how to clarify roles and expectations, ask better questions, focus on value rather than activity, and support change adoption throughout the project lifecycle. The session emphasizes practical tools and mindset shifts leaders can apply immediately—regardless of industry, system, or delivery approach.
This session is ideal for business and functional leaders who want to confidently engage in IT initiatives, reduce risk, and increase the likelihood that projects deliver lasting business value.