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Applied tools and published writing on finance, accounting, AI adoption, and business decisions.
Browse research & writingDevon Coombs · CPA, MBA
A finance practitioner. A professor by choice.
I’m an Assistant Teaching Professor of Finance and Faculty Director of Real Estate Finance at Santa Clara University. I bring experience from Deloitte, Riveron, and Google Cloud into the way I teach, write, and advise.
A career across practice and teaching
Finance becomes useful when it changes a decision.
My work connects technical accounting, commercial judgment, and the ability to explain both clearly. That combination carries from a student’s first cash-flow model to an executive’s next major transaction.
- $100B+
- Aggregate transaction value across my career at Deloitte, Riveron, and Google Cloud.
- CPA, MBA
- Accounting discipline, business context, and a practitioner’s perspective.
- Santa Clara University
- Assistant Teaching Professor of Finance and Faculty Director of Real Estate Finance.
From transactions to transformation
At Deloitte and Riveron, I worked on accounting and advisory problems that required getting both the details and the business context right. At Google Cloud, my roles included controller for Google Cloud Marketplace and accounting expertise for the AI Deals Desk.
Today, I advise through Devon Coombs LLC on complex transactions, technical accounting, finance transformation, organizational strategy, and applied AI. I also serve as adviser to the CEO of TABot, an artificial intelligence company. My founder advisory work connects business models, financing choices, and the next stage of growth.
Explore advisory workFrom experience to education
My teaching spans university courses, executive education, and hands-on training for professional teams. Before Santa Clara University, I taught at San José State University and Ohlone College.
I use practical examples, clear explanations, and repeated practice to help people understand the reasoning behind a number—and know what to do with it.
See my teaching approach and evaluationsThe story behind the work
The zeroes changed. The math didn’t.
At 21, I was $10,000 in debt and living in my car after my recording studio failed in the 2008 financial crisis. My first financial statement was a page in a coffee-stained notebook: what came in, what went out, and what I could actually afford.
That page didn’t solve everything. It gave me an honest starting point. I worked multiple jobs, went to community college, built a tutoring practice, and found accounting.
Years later, in billion-dollar deal discussions, the questions were familiar. What is the economic reality? Which assumptions can we defend? What are we giving up by saying yes?
The 10 Laws of Finance connects those lessons across personal money, business, and professional judgment. It’s the education I wish I’d had before writing that first notebook page.
Explore the bookExplore the work
A few ways to get to know my thinking.
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Ambition, Aligned explores the choices behind work, achievement, and a meaningful life.
Explore the podcastTake a free course
Study corporate finance, real estate finance, entrepreneurial finance, or applied AI at your own pace.
Visit the academyBring this perspective to your organization.
Invite me to speak, plan a workshop, or discuss a finance and accounting challenge. We’ll start with your audience or decision and the outcome you need.