Vandana Agarwal, a Finance Analyst at Merkley+Partners, joins Megan Weis to explore the key challenges when optimizing financial efficiency, the challenges and opportunities for women in finance, and the role of technology in the industry's future. Vandana Agarwal has worked in finance for over eight years, having started in India and then moved to the United States. She is currently a Finance Analyst at Merkley+Partners, has served an internship at Colgate-Palmolive, and worked at Recro and Deloitte India. Vandana also pursued an MS degree in Business Analytics at Fordham University. In this episode, we discuss: - How the basics of finance are the same globally - The importance of staying up-to-date with changing regulations - The similarities in financial practices and leadership styles among multinational companies - The challenges and opportunities for women in the finance industry - AI’s role in finance