Fresh out of college with a finance degree and unsure if he should work on Wall Street or try corporate finance, Robert Leibrock decided to explore the corporate side at IBM for a few years. Wall Street could wait.
It’s still waiting.
Now Leibrock is CFO and senior vice president at Red Hat. He drove the financial case for IBM's acquisition of Red Hat in 2019 and led the post-merger integration office. Leibrock spent 20 years at IBM in various finance positions. After starting as an analyst, Leibrock’s career path led him to finance leadership positions across numerous IBM business units: security software, automation software, the cloud platform, global technology services, and mainframe. In these roles, he was immersed in the company’s M&A strategy and portfolio management decisions, including divestiture and spin-offs.
Before joining Red Hat in Oct. 2022, where he is responsible for accounting, finance and planning, sales operations, and deal management functions, Leibrock was IBM’s assistant controller overseeing finance and planning, operational management systems, and the research division.
Robert Leibrock
CFO and senior vice president, Red Hat
- First CFO position: 2011
- Previous IBM divisions:
- Hybrid cloud
- Automation software
- Security systems
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
SANDRA BECKWITH: You have worked for IBM and its divisions your entire 20-year career. What made that possible for both you and the company?
ROBERT LEIBROCK: It wasn't the plan when I joined with an undergraduate finance degree, but the company continually challenged me and offered growth opportunities at each step of my career. That’s not to say there weren’t situations where I assessed whether it would be better to accept an external offer or take on a new role at IBM. There were. But because IBM was very acquisitive, I could have that “new environment” experience through acquisitions that exposed me to different cultures, offices, and people. That was exciting.
What brought you to Red Hat as CFO four years after you helped complete that acquisition?
LEIBROCK: When we acquired Red Hat, I had an opportunity to join that company as vice president of finance, but I already had that career experience in IBM’s software division. At the same time, IBM was filling the assistant controller position. I knew that experience would expose me to areas I hadn't touched before, so I went in that direction. I was in CFO training mode, working closely with the CFO. After almost three years as an assistant controller, I wanted to try something broader when this job became available.
How does your IBM background affect how you do the job at Red Hat?
LEIBROCK: I had two early priorities when I joined Red Hat, which operates as a separate entity within IBM. Unlike what I was accustomed to at IBM, Red Hat lacked a single version of truth for data, so my initial focus was on establishing a common set of data for the senior management team. Next, also due to my IBM experience, I was eager to enable my team to be more influential than they had been across different areas and functions. Expanding the CFO role to include sales and services operations so we were more cross-functional helped make this possible. It also allowed me to get involved with deal management and interact with clients, which I enjoy tremendously.
How do you determine who you hire in finance?
LEIBROCK: Whether I’m looking externally or promoting from within, it’s about fit. I firmly believe that we all need to be player-coaches in today’s environment, so I look for people who can communicate and influence, work well with others, roll up their sleeves, and show the team that they can get the work done alongside them. I know from experience that candidates with the best team reviews aren't always the best fit, so I take it further by investigating their networks to find people who can help me understand what candidates’ peers think of them.
What part of the job comes most easily for you?
LEIBROCK: Connecting teams. I spend a lot of time as the only person in product group or sales team meetings who isn’t a member of those teams. My job involves connecting the dots across the company to figure out where we can find synergies and make faster progress. I’m prioritizing cross-functional connections because they’re important to our growth, but I’m also passionate about it, so it comes more easily.
What advice would you offer others with similar experience who would like to become CFOs?
LEIBROCK: Prioritize roles that are broad enough and take positions that engage with a lot of individuals outside of finance. As the CFO, you want to be able to influence non-financial individuals, such as heads of engineering or sales. Also, look for an opportunity to go one step further to engage with customers and clients or business partners. I think the roles that touch on external-to-you stakeholders around the company are essential to the development that goes into becoming a CFO.