Dive Brief:
- Fintech platform Ayden named Hwa Tsao, its senior vice president of group finance, as interim CFO following finance chief Ethan Tandowsky's coming departure Aug. 31, according to a press release last week.
- Adyen also announced Gayathri Rajan, its head of global product, will take the role of chief product officer, effective immediately. The two leadership moves were announced in tandem with the closing of two acquisitions by the payment processor: Talon.One, a loyalty and incentives platform; and Orb, an enterprise billing service, according to the release.
- In his current role, Tsao “already oversees Adyen's core finance operations, ensuring organizational stability and continuity throughout this transition,” the company said. Both Tsao and Rajan will report to Adyen’s co-CEOs, Ingo Uytdehaage and Peter van der Does, and will not be formally appointed to the management board.
Dive Insight:
The Amsterdam-based company announced in May that Tandowsky would be leaving for a role at a pre-IPO company after roughly three years in the top finance seat.
The search process to appoint a permanent successor to Tandowsky by Ayden’s board is “progressing as planned,” supported by an external executive search firm, according to last week’s release.
Tsao joined Adyen last November as SVP of group finance, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to Adyen, he logged six years at ServiceNow in roles including VP of strategic finance, head of corporate financial planning and analysis. He also previously spent five years at HP in positions such as its director of investor relations, as well as time at Citi as VP of mergers and acquisitions.
The two appointments will help the Dutch payments processor “retain dedicated leadership during a critical operational period,” as Uydgehaage personally directs the integration phase for both Talon.One and Orb, the company said Wednesday.
Adyen announced it would be acquiring Talon.One for €750 million ($857 million), financed from additional cash reserves, according to an April 23 announcement. On June 11, it announced it would be acquiring the San Francisco-based Orb for $335 million financed entirely from its cash reserves, according to press releases at the time.
Both acquisitions officially closed July 1.
Both the leadership changes and acquisitions come as the payments processor aims to hit and growth targets for its full-year 2026, despite a slowdown in consumer spending and competition in key markets such as North America. In another move, Adyen last month tapped insider Shepherd Smith as president of North American operations, Smith said in a LinkedIn post at the time.
North America has continued to be a strong market for the Dutch payment processor, with the market responsible for about 27% of its full-year 2025 revenue of about €2.4 billion ($2.8 billion), according to the company’s H2 shareholder letter published in February.
For 2026, Ayden is targeting net revenue growth of between 20% to 22% for the full year, and aims to expand its EBITDA margin levels to above 55% by 2028, according to a Q1 business update published in May.
