Back As arrivia continues to expand its global travel, loyalty, and technology footprint, we’re excited to welcome Jonathan Donath as our new Chief Financial Officer. With more than 20 years of experience scaling high-growth, investor-backed companies, Jonathan brings a strategic lens to financial excellence, operational discipline, and long-term value creation.
We sat down with him to talk about his vision, his approach to leadership, and what he sees ahead for arrivia and the travel loyalty industry.
Q&A With Jonathan Donath, CFO
What attracted you to arrivia, and what excites you most about joining the company right now?
Arrivia sits at a rare intersection: a scaled travel platform, a defensible loyalty engine, and a technology foundation that can go much further. What drew me in was the combination of strong fundamentals and meaningful whitespace. The business has real momentum and a leadership team that is aligned on where to go next. It felt like the type of opportunity where disciplined financial strategy can unlock disproportionate value, and as such, a role where I could hit the ground running.
How do you define the role of a modern CFO in a technology-driven loyalty business?
The modern CFO is no longer a backward-looking steward. The role is forward-leaning. In a business like arrivia, finance becomes the connective layer that enables clarity, speed, and confident decision-making. My job is to build the financial engine that supports scale, predictive analytics, transparent reporting, high-quality data, and disciplined capital allocation. When those elements are in place, finance becomes a value creation center and the rest of the organization can move faster, and with more confidence.
You’ve worked extensively with high-growth, investor-backed companies. What principles guide your approach to scaling effectively?
When I think about scaling a company the right way, it comes down to four key initiatives.
First, you need absolute clarity on the investor thesis. Every high-growth company has a story about why this business should scale and why now. When that thesis is clear, it becomes the north star for the leadership team. It shapes where we invest, what we measure, and which initiatives we prioritize. When it is unclear, you see drift, noise, and a lot of wasted energy.
Second, you need real discipline. High-growth environments create endless opportunities, but the companies that actually create enterprise value are the ones willing to make intentional tradeoffs. You invest behind the levers that sit at the center of the thesis, and you say no to the things that do not move the needle. Focus is a competitive advantage.
Third, you need a strong operating rhythm. Scaling is about cadence. Weekly KPI reviews, monthly business check-ins, quarterly strategic resets, these create a consistent loop where insights turn into action. When the rhythm is tight, you can feel it. The organization gains momentum, and progress becomes predictable rather than sporadic.
And finally, you need velocity inside the finance function. This is something I care about deeply. Modern finance has to move fast enough to see around corners and help the business be proactive instead of reactive. That means clean data, fast close cycles, real forecasting rigor, and analytics that tell you what is coming, not just what happened. When finance has velocity, the entire company gains visibility, confidence, and the ability to make sharper decisions.
When you combine those elements; clarity, discipline, rhythm, and finance velocity, scaling becomes a lot less about heroics and a lot more about intention. That is when a company starts moving in a way that feels aligned, confident, and ready for the next stage of growth.
What financial levers do you believe are most important in the travel and loyalty space?
In travel loyalty, the financial engine is built on engagement, margin quality, and partner value. Understanding member lifetime value, contribution margin by product, redemption behavior, and yield optimization is critical. The levers that matter most create harmony between three groups: travelers who want value, partners who want volume and economics, and the business that needs consistency and predictability. When those pieces align, the model becomes very powerful.
How do trends in SaaS and enterprise tech influence your outlook on travel loyalty?
Travel loyalty is increasingly behaving like a large-scale consumer SaaS business. Members expect personalization, seamless user experiences, and real-time value. The companies that embrace automation, data-driven personalization, and flexible loyalty structures will separate themselves. The travel industry is evolving quickly, and the organizations that modernize their infrastructure now will be the ones that redefine the category.
You’ve led multiple M&A transactions and capital raises. What makes a company “transaction-ready”?
Transaction-readiness is not a moment in time, it is a mindset. The strongest companies operate with clean data, transparent reporting, predictable performance, and a value-creation plan that is actually being executed, not just documented. They understand their story, they know their levers, and they can articulate how incremental capital or partnership accelerates growth. Transaction-ready companies command a premium because they reduce uncertainty for investors. The focus should be on building a great business, then all else follows.
What do you see as your top priorities in the first 12–24 months?
My focus is to strengthen the financial foundation and continue to improve a scalable operating model. That includes elevating reporting quality, improving forecasting accuracy, reinforcing capital allocation discipline, and aligning resources to the initiatives that matter most. I also want to ensure finance becomes a strategic partner, not just a reporting function, by giving the business the tools, analytics, and insights to make faster, high-confidence decisions.
How do you think about building and leading high-performing finance teams?
High-performing teams thrive in an environment with clarity, ownership, and trust. My philosophy is simple: give people the context to understand the business, the autonomy to take ownership, and the coaching to grow into the next version of themselves. I want a team that thinks strategically, operates cross-functionally, and is deeply connected to the mission. When people feel empowered and aligned, performance follows.
What trends in travel, fintech, or loyalty will shape the next 3–5 years?
We will see deeper integration between travel, payments, and loyalty. Rewards will become more fluid, more personalized, and more embedded in everyday spend. Consumers will expect immediate value. Additionally, AI and automation will reshape how platforms manage inventory, personalize offers, and forecast demand. The companies that modernize their tech stack and build intelligent engagement engines will lead the next phase of growth.
What gives you confidence in arrivia’s future?
What gives me confidence is the combination of platform strength, strategic clarity, and the quality of the customers we serve. Arrivia has built a differentiated model with global scale, a powerful technology backbone, and a value proposition that resonates. But just as important is the caliber of our blue-chip customer base. When some of the world’s most recognized brands trust you to power their travel loyalty experiences, it validates both the strength of the platform and the durability of the business.
We also have a leadership team that is aligned on where we need to go next and a clear runway to deepen our capabilities, expand our partnerships, and elevate member value. When you pair operational discipline with a business that already has scale, strong fundamentals, and long-term customer relationships, the upside becomes compelling. I am genuinely excited about the road ahead and energized to help accelerate it.
