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Leavey School of Business Santa Clara University

2018-19

Jim Burns

Jim Burns Bio
BUSN 70 professor

Jim is an accomplished Silicon Valley executive with a track record of excellence over 30 years in both operational and financial roles.  

He is currently an independent consultant, helping executives to profitably scale their businesses and supporting investors to optimize their portfolios. Jim also serves as Adjunct Professor at Santa Clara University in the Management Department.

Jim recently was CFO of Accela, a leader in state and local government software, and transformed the business from losing money to significant profitability, leading to a premium sale to a large private equity investor in September 2017.

Prior to Accela, Jim was CFO of Silver Spring Networks, a leading Internet of Things public company where he led Finance, Corporate Development, Manufacturing, HR and IT.

Prior to Silver Spring Networks, Jim was at HP for more than two decades where he had a multitude of roles. Jim was the CFO of the HP's largest business unit, Enterprise Business, in addition to a number of other financial and operational roles including COO of Enterprise Services, VP of Investor Relations, General Manager of the PC attach and Notebook business and numerous additional executive roles. Jim earned his CPA while at Ernst and Young in 1988.

Jim was awarded Bay Area CFO of the Year in 2016 by the SF Business Times. Jim serves on two advisory boards at Santa Clara University - the Leavey School of Business and the Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education, and is the proud father of two Santa Clara graduates.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-burns/