Dive Brief:
- Financial technology platform Ayden named Hwa Tsao, its SVP of group finance, as interim CFO following finance chief Ethan Tandowsky's coming departure on Aug. 31, according to a Wednesday press release.
- 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 approximately three years in the top finance seat, CFO Dive sister publication Payments Dive reported at the time.
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 the Wednesday release.
Tsao joined Adyen last November in his present role 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 FP&A. 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,” coming as its Co-CEO 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 for the position of 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 euro ($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.
Adyen reaffirmed its financial objectives in the Wednesday release.
