YC Root Access

Aleph: The AI Platform for Modern Finance

Aleph is building the AI platform for modern finance — one that meets teams where they already work: in spreadsheets. By combining the flexibility of a spreadsheet with the intelligence of AI, Aleph helps companies automate forecasting, reporting, and planning in real time. In this interview with YC Partner Aaron Epstein, co-founders Albert Gozzi and Santiago Perez De Rosso share how they’re rethinking FP&A from first principles, what it’s like building software for some of the world’s fastest-growing companies, and how Aleph scaled to a $29M Series B led by Khosla Ventures, with customers like Zapier, Turo, and Harvey. Chapters: 00:38 – Meeting Finance Teams Where They Are 02:10 – The Pain of Legacy FP&A Tools 04:00 – Building the First AI-Native Finance Platform 06:20 – How Aleph Automates Forecasting & Reporting 08:30 – The Early Days: From YC to First Customers 10:10 – Why Finance Needs to Be Real-Time 12:00 – Designing for Analysts, Not Replacing Them 14:20 – Lessons from Working with Zapier, Harvey & Turo 17:00 – Scaling to a $29M Series B Led by Khosla 19:10 – The Future of FP&A in the Age of AI

AEAaron EpsteinhostAGAlbert GozziguestSRSantiago Perez De Rossoguest

Oct 24, 2025·24m·Watch on YouTube ↗

📖 CHAPTERS

1. 1

   Aleph’s mission: an AI-native FP&A platform built around spreadsheets

   Albert and Santi introduce Aleph as an AI-native FP&A platform that centralizes finance data and analysis workflows. A core product bet is “meeting finance teams where they are” by delivering functionality inside spreadsheets via an add-in.

2. 2

   Why customers pick Aleph: fast time-to-value and finance-first UX

   Albert explains the product pillars that resonate with buyers, especially modern finance teams. The differentiators are spreadsheet-first adoption and dramatically faster implementation compared to legacy FP&A tools.

3. 3

   Founder origin story: lived finance pain meets systems-building expertise

   The conversation rewinds to how Albert’s finance/operator background and Santi’s engineering/research background formed the company’s foundation. Their shared belief: spreadsheets are the most powerful “no-code” interface for business users.

4. 4

   Joining forces at YC: early build realities and hardening the basics

   Santi joins full-time around YC acceptance, marking a key early inflection point. They reflect on scrappy early engineering (including rewrites) and the need to professionalize core infrastructure quickly.

5. 5

   Remote YC during COVID: community, momentum, and enduring networks

   They describe YC as impactful despite being remote, highlighting talks, collaboration with batch mates, and long-term relationships. The batch served as a catalyst for focus and speed through the earliest go-to-market phase.

6. 6

   First customers: closing during the YC interview week and earning trust early

   Albert recounts signing the first customer during the YC interview process itself, illustrating how early the company was. Trust came from extensive pre-product discovery and relationships built through sustained customer conversations.

7. 7

   Why Aleph didn’t pivot: deep empathy + durable product primitives

   They attribute strategic consistency to being close to the problem and doing extensive discovery, yielding a vision that stayed stable even as AI capabilities evolved. The platform’s early “building blocks” still power today’s product.

8. 8

   Product-market fit as compounding signals, not one big moment

   Albert frames PMF as many small confirmations and steady growth rather than a single inflection event. Santi adds that demand was clear early; the main challenge was building enough product to realize it.

9. 9

   Shipping a high-stakes finance product: prioritization, accuracy, and ‘do things that don’t scale’

   They discuss the toughest part: building a horizontal product while meeting client deadlines and maintaining trust with financial reporting. Early on, heavy customer success involvement and manual checks helped bridge product gaps.

10. 10

    Trust and security as a wedge: SOC 2 early and a ‘we won’t let you fail’ posture

    Albert explains how Aleph overcame buyer skepticism by investing early in security and by providing hands-on support to ensure customers succeeded. This combination made it easier for finance teams to trust Aleph with sensitive data.

11. 11

    Growth inflection points: key hires and organizational leverage

    When asked about step-changes in trajectory, Albert points to people—starting with Santi joining full-time and continuing with high-impact hires across functions. As the company scales, even narrower roles can drive outsized impact.

12. 12

    Series B and what comes next: pragmatic AI for real-time finance workflows

    Fresh off the $29M Series B led by Khosla, they describe shifting from “plumbing” (integrations, permissions) to more ambitious AI-driven capabilities. They emphasize AI as a means to accuracy and productivity, not branding.

13. 13

    Hiring and founder evolution: low ego, empathy, reinvention, and endurance

    They outline the traits they seek—low ego, customer empathy, collaboration, and willingness to do unglamorous work. They also reflect on how their roles changed from individual contribution to leading through direction-setting and continual reinvention.