How Aiven transformed its treasury operations: Insights from Eray Ergün

Managing treasury operations at a global technology company is no small feat. As Aiven, a fast-growing data and AI platform, expanded across multiple geographies, its finance team faced increasing complexity in cash management, payments, and treasury operations. 

To streamline its processes and introduce automation, Aiven partnered with Atlar, a modern treasury management system. In this interview, Eray Ergün, Director of Tax and Treasury at Aiven, shares insights into their treasury transformation, the challenges they overcame, and how Atlar has helped drive efficiency across the finance function.

Q: Can you start by telling us about Aiven’s finance and treasury setup?

Aiven is a global data and AI platform headquartered in Helsinki, with offices across Europe, North America, and Asia. We have around 400 employees, and our Finance team consists of roughly 20 people. However, the treasury and payments teams are much smaller. Therefore, as a technology company, we have to leverage automation wherever possible, especially in our finance and treasury operations.

Q: What were the main challenges you faced before implementing Atlar?

Before Atlar, we were using a third-party banking portal that was neither efficient nor flexible. It lacked real-time cash visibility, forcing us to manually check multiple bank portals just to determine our cash position. Payments were another challenge—our approval workflows were inconsistent across different banking platforms, making it difficult to enforce internal treasury rules. Training new team members on these complex processes was time-consuming, and we lacked the ability to seamlessly integrate our banking operations with our ERP system.

Q: What prompted Aiven to seek out a new treasury management solution?

As a fast-growing company operating in multiple jurisdictions, we needed a solution that could keep pace with our expansion. Managing numerous bank accounts, currencies, and financial institutions manually was simply not sustainable. When our new CFO joined, he strongly supported implementing a modern TMS. We conducted a thorough vendor evaluation, as choosing the right partner for our current and future needs was critical—we didn’t want to make a mistake that would cost us time and resources.

Q: How did you approach the selection process? What made Atlar stand out?

We evaluated several TMS providers, both large and small, and had multiple reference calls to understand their implementation experiences. One major concern we heard repeatedly was that traditional TMS implementations required extensive external consulting support, making them costly and complex.

Atlar stood out for several reasons. First, their approach to implementation was seamless—we could connect our core banking partners quickly without the need for third-party consultants. Second, Atlar’s team was highly responsive and took the time to understand our unique needs. We also appreciated Atlar’s modern, user-friendly interface, which made adoption across our finance team much easier. The flexibility to customize workflows and integrations was another key differentiator.

Q: What concrete benefits has Aiven seen since partnering with Atlar?

The impact has been significant.

• Automated Payments: Previously, payments involved a lot of manual work and training for new team members. Now, all payments are processed through Atlar, making the workflow much faster and more secure.
• Real-Time Cash Visibility: Unlike our old portal, which only provided previous-day balances, Atlar gives us real-time cash visibility across all our bank accounts. This has improved our ability to manage liquidity effectively.
• Seamless ERP Integration: Atlar’s direct integration with our ERP system has enabled automatic reconciliation and better forecasting.
• Scalability: We’re now better positioned to scale treasury operations as Aiven continues to grow.

Q: Treasury management is evolving rapidly. How do you see the role of technology in this space?

Treasury is no longer just about processing payments and tracking cash—it has become a strategic function. The macroeconomic environment is constantly changing, and finance teams need to be agile. Tools like Atlar allow us to optimize cash management, monitor foreign exchange exposure, and work with multiple financial institutions without being locked into a single bank.

Real-time data is critical. If we want to invest excess cash, make informed treasury decisions, we need immediate visibility into our financial position. Without technology, treasury teams would still be stuck in spreadsheets, which is not scalable for a global company like Aiven.

Q: Looking ahead, what are your next steps in treasury optimization?

We are continuing to refine our treasury operations by expanding automation and enhancing our forecasting capabilities. Atlar regularly rolls out new features, so we’re excited to see how we can leverage those to improve further.

One major focus area is optimizing our approval workflows across all payment processes to ensure compliance and security while maintaining efficiency. We’re also looking into deeper integrations with our financial planning and analysis (FP&A) tools to improve cash flow forecasting. Ultimately, we want to continue making treasury operations as seamless as possible, allowing our finance team to focus on strategic initiatives rather than manual processes.

Q: Any final thoughts for finance and treasury professionals considering a TMS upgrade?

Selecting the right TMS is about more than just functionality—it’s about finding the right partner. Atlar has been an excellent fit for us because of its modern technology, ease of use, and strong support team. If your finance team is spending too much time on manual processes, struggling with cash visibility, or dealing with fragmented banking relationships, I’d highly recommend exploring how automation can help.

See the Atlar platform

Aiven’s transformation underscores the growing importance of modern treasury technology. With Atlar, Aiven has automated payments, improved cash visibility, and streamlined its financial operations, setting the stage for continued growth and scalability. As treasury management continues to evolve, companies that embrace automation and real-time data will be best positioned to navigate an increasingly complex financial landscape.

If you're curious about why Aiven, GetYourGuide, Acne Studios, and many other leading companies partner with Atlar to transform their finance and treasury process, book a 30-minute demo with our team to see the Atlar platform in action.