When asked to share a single career chapter that has influenced her strategic mind-set as a finance leader, Synopsys CFO Shelagh Glaser knew exactly what to cite.

She described a period that had unfolded during her 29 years at Intel Corp., when—seemingly overnight—consumer appetite for tablets had begun to upend Intel's enduring PC chips business. The initial response within the company was one of denial, she explains. Certain voices could be heard saying, "This isn't really happening" or "These tablets are just toys; we build real computers."

According to Glaser, the initial reaction was akin to one the five stages of grief. However, stepping back revealed the stark reality that Intel had seemingly lost about a third of its market overnight, which translated to a dramatic 100 million units. This pivotal moment demanded urgent action and set the stage for a string of days and nights that would expose to Glaser the critical alignment required between crisis management and swift strategic decision-making.

“We needed to be able to describe the situation to people very quickly and answer the important question, ‘What does this mean for me?,'” explains Glaser, who notes that Intel thereupon executed a 25% reduction in investment and workforce, understanding that immediate action was crucial to stabilize the business. This was followed by a strategic refocus on key growth segments, such as business professionals and gamers, who would ultimately revitalize Intel’s PC division. This experience embedded in Glaser the importance of making quick, informed decisions during crises, a principle that she has carried into her role as CFO at Synopsys.

“The people who get ahead in life are the people who drive business impact. Be one of them. As you look to advance your career, think about exactly what it is that is propelling the company forward. Does what you work on contribute? If not, how can you better position yourself to elevate your value to be in line with the company’s strategic priorities?” ––Shelagh Glaser, CFO, Synopsys

At her present firm, Glaser applies this strategic mind-set by emphasizing efficient resource allocation and aligning investments with long-term goals. Her approach ensures that every dollar spent is directly tied to strategic objectives, which fosters a culture of strategic finance that drives sustainable growth.

Moreover, her tenure at Synopsys has underscored her commitment to clear communication and investor relations. Recognizing the complexity in how the business was being presented, she revamped segment reporting to clarify the company’s diverse operations. This transparency has improved investor understanding and aligned internal focus on critical metrics.

Glaser’s career journey from Intel to Synopsys highlights her expertise in navigating crises and fostering transparent communication. These experiences she tells us shaped her into a CFO who excels in strategic alignment and effective stakeholder engagement.

CFOTL: Tell us a little about Synopsys … what sets this company's offerings apart today?

Glaser: In simple terms, we make software that is used to make semiconductors—which means that we have to be seeing into the future even before our customers can see what the future holds for them as far as products go. We had to have been building the software for whatever Nvidia or AMD or Microsoft is building today before they could even envision what they would be doing.

This is super-exciting because we’re on the leading edge of a lot of things. You can’t build an advanced semiconductor product without us. As we all know, semiconductors really fuel the world—they fuel all of the technology, as well as this software that I was so interested in learning about. We have a once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity here because we make the very, very complex work that goes into building chips easier for everyone who does it.

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CFOTL: Can you tell us about the AI opportunity and what it means for Synopsys?

Glaser: We see three levels of impact. First of all, there’s simply the sheer number of AI chips that will need to be built, which no one can do without our tools. We will greatly benefit from this need. Second, we’re infusing AI into every one of our products, so customers can buy them with or without it. But if they choose to take advantage of our AI capability, their engineering team becomes sort of turbocharged because it helps them to find solutions even faster—in a world where they’re dealing with enormous complexity. Third is the fact that we are really incorporating AI into as many of our own operations as possible, from engineering to sales to finance and so forth—into literally every part of the company. How do we, as our founder would say, eat at our own restaurant? How do we start to transform how we offer things up inside every function of the company? As you can see, we have a unique opportunity for amazingly impactful transformational change in all three of these areas.