Good morning. An AI-powered urban infrastructure may be on the horizon.
“The future is one where transactions happen automatically, powered by AI, and that’s the future we’re building for,” Lookman Olusanya, the new CFO of Metropolis, told me.
Metropolis is an AI company enabling checkout-free payment experiences. Olusanya, who will join the company on June 30, most recently served as a CFO of Square, a company of Block. He previously held financial leadership roles at Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
According to reports, Metropolis is currently fundraising at a valuation approaching $5 billion. The company has streamlined “drive in, drive out” ticketless parking by automating vehicle recognition and payments using computer vision and AI. There’s no need to pull a ticket, scan a code, or wait in line at a machine.
Metropolis’ platform now serves over 50 million customers, processes $5 billion in annual transaction volume, and adds 35,000 new members daily. However, the company’s AI capabilities are expanding beyond parking solutions.
“The chance to architect the financial foundation of a company that’s redefining how people access and interact with the physical world, starting with mobility, was just impossible to pass up,” Olusanya said.
He also joined Metropolis because he believes in its team and founders. “There’s ambition and courage to create an entirely new category, and I wanted to help build that,” he said. “Frankly, I haven’t been this excited about a company since my early days helping build up Amazon Web Services.”
Los Angeles-based Metropolis, founded in 2017 by CEO Alex Israel, Peter Fisher, Courtney Fukuda, and Travis Kell, who previously served as CFO, acquired SP Plus last year for approximately $1.5 billion. The deal was financed by $1.8 billion in funding led by Eldridge and 3L, taking SP Plus private and making Metropolis the largest parking operator in North America.
Olusanya describes Metropolis as building something visionary at the intersection of infrastructure, real estate, payments, and AI. The goal is to bring seamless, checkout-free transactions to life across retail, hospitality, refueling, and security. In January, the company acquired Oosto (formerly AnyVision) for $125 million. Oosto develops facial recognition and biometric technologies used in industries like health care, retail, and gaming.
Olusanya has spent the past two decades scaling high-growth businesses across cloud infrastructure, payments, and SaaS, leading finance and strategy at Square, Google Cloud, and AWS. He began his career at American Airlines.
That journey, he said, has taught him how to build at scale, drive discipline, allocate capital, unify fragmented systems, and translate metrics into enterprise value.
“At Metropolis, I expect to bring that same operating rigor and investor readiness, paired with a builder’s mindset,” he said. As he steps into the CFO role, Olusanya has three priorities: listen and learn; grow the company’s financial systems with AI automation and precision analytics; and build the next chapter for Metropolis.
That includes creating a native AI finance organization that is nimble, deeply integrated with the business, and has AI at its core. “That’s my vision,” he said.
Olusanya is based in Seattle. When he’s not strategizing as CFO, you’ll find him outdoors hiking or kayaking.
Have a good weekend. See you on Monday.
Sheryl Estrada
[email protected]
Leaderboard
Coins2Day 500 Power Moves
Chris Lialios has been appointed interim CFO of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (No. 375), effective immediately. Paula Oyibo, who joined the company in 2019 and had served as CFO since April 2024, has left the company. Ulta Beauty has started an external search for a permanent successor with the assistance of an executive search firm. The company reaffirmed its fiscal 2025 guidance, issued on May 29, for per-share earnings of $22.65 to $23.20 and comparable-store sales ranging from flat to up 1.5%. Lialios has served as SVP and controller since 2018 and joined Ulta Beauty in 1999 as assistant controller.
Every Friday morning, the weekly Coins2Day 500 Power Moves column tracks Coins2Day 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.
More notable moves this week:
Craig Albright was appointed EVP and CFO of Wiley (NYSE: WLY), effective June 26. Albright joins Wiley with over 30 years of global leadership experience. He recently served as CFO of Americas and Global Cash Center lead at Xerox. Before that, he served as CFO of commercial excellence at Xerox.
Deborah Andrews was appointed CFO of STAAR Surgical Company (Nasdaq: STAA), effective June 25. Andrews has served as interim CFO since March, and she previously served as STAAR’s CFO from 2007-2013 and 2017-2020.
Joe Falcão was appointed CFO of Bose Professional, an independent developer of audio systems for business and institutional settings. Falcão brings more than 20 years of international financial leadership to the role. Previously Falcão has provided financial leadership for global brands including Dunkin and Cabot Corporation and managed teams at Invensys, iBasis, Thrasio, and Orva, among others.
Brenda Lovcik has resigned as SVP and CFO of Trex Company, Inc. (NYSE: TREX), a manufacturer of wood-alternative decking and railing. Lovcik has accepted a position in Minnesota, near her family. She will continue to serve as CFO through Aug. 5, at which time the CFO responsibilities will be assumed on an interim basis by Bryan Fairbanks. He previously served as CFO of Trex from August 2015 until being named CEO in April 2020.
Jason Wilson was promoted to CFO of Ahold Delhaize USA, a grocery retail group with brands including Food Lion, The GIANT Company, Giant Food, Hannaford, and Stop & Shop. Prior to this role, Wilson served as SVP of finance for Food Lion. Wilson started his career in 2000 at Ahold Delhaize USA’s predecessor support brands, serving as director of business development, VP of strategy, and VP of finance and business planning.
Michael Zambito was appointed CFO of Acacia Research Corporation (Nasdaq: ACTG), effective June 24. Kirsten Hoover, Acacia’s current interim CFO, will continue to serve as controller. Before joining Acacia, Zambito spent the past 30 years at Ernst & Young. Most recently, he spent over 23 years, including the last 17 as a partner, in Ernst & Young’s EY-Parthenon.
Big Deal
The use of AI at work is accelerating, according to research. In the past two years, the percentage of U.S. Employees who say they have used AI in their role a few times a year or more has nearly doubled, from 21% to 40%, a new Gallup report finds. Frequent AI use (a few times a week or more) has also nearly doubled, from 11% to 19% since Gallup’s first measure in 2023. Daily use has doubled in the past 12 months alone, from 4% to 8%.
Going deeper
Here are four Coins2Day weekend reads:
—Coins2Day's Special Digital Issue: AI at Work, is a collection of Coins2Day AIQ stories detailing how companies in finance, law, agriculture, manufacturing, and more are using AI to their advantage.
—"After denying reports of BP takeover, Shell is legally barred from making an offer for six months—and there are no other suitors in sight" by Jordan Blum
—"The IPO market is booming—and more big listings like Klarna and StubHub could come this fall" by Luisa Beltran
—"OpenAI CEO says his kids will ‘never be smarter than AI—and that his parenting style relies on ChatGPT" by Ani Freedman
Overheard
“Leadership in 2025 and beyond requires fitting humans—who supply feelings and ethics—together with technology that enhances the speed, reach, and uniformity of processes.”
—Mark Minevich, president of Going Global Ventures and a strategic partner at Mayfield Venture Capital, writes in a new Coins2Day commentary piece, "How to lead when machines can do everything (except be human)."