Jackie P. Lyons is a former CFO, board advisor, and a pioneer across finance, technology, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence, with a career defined by firsts. She was among the first to implement SAP in the US, and she later played a pivotal role in one of the largest regulatory mandates in a generation, one that reshaped how the world's largest companies report revenue, guiding global organizations through the transition.

She has served as an expert witness and testified before the SEC, and built a Fortune 500 CFO advisory practice from the ground up. She went on to become a first with a specialty as a Cyber CFO, and is now an early adopter of artificial intelligence in the finance profession. Her career spans Fortune 25 to Fortune 500 companies, where she built a reputation for anticipating and developing skills, technology, and risks.

She is a CPA, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and holds an NACD board certifications in directorship and cyber governance. She speaks regularly on financial, cybersecurity, and AI topics.

That same instinct led her to write Beyond Ambition. After decades spent staying ahead of the curve professionally, Jackie turned her attention to a question she couldn't ignore in her own life: what comes after you've reached everything you set out to achieve? The answer became Adjacent Growth™, her framework for designing a fulfilling next chapter, and the foundation of this book. She lives what she writes: a career and a life built one adjacent capability at a time, and she continues adding new ones.

An avid explorer and wildlife photographer, Jackie draws inspiration from remote landscapes and a lifelong sense of curiosity and courage. Whether in a boardroom or on a mountainside, she brings the same belief: the next chapter is rarely found by standing still.