Executive Summary
We are entering a new era of increased innovation, competition, and technological disruption. While this brings challenges, it also brings immense growth opportunities, and leaders are looking to the CFO to seize them. CFOs are taking center stage. But are they ready?
As the regulatory environment evolves and digitalization impacts business models and operations, the CFO role will take on a new importance.
Digital Utopia
Investors and business leaders believe we are headed toward a world shaped by tech-powered growth and international regulatory convergence, referred to as a Digital Utopia.
BUSINESS LEADERS
65%
INVESTORS
88%
Business leaders – CEOs, CFOs, and line of business (LOB) managers — and investors believe the role of the CFO will be more important in 2035 than it is today.
75%
Business leaders – CEOs, CFOs, and line of business (LOB) managers — and investors believe the role of the CFO will be more important in 2035 than it is today.
CFOs are under pressure to become strategic growth drivers and are expected to be ‘masters of everything.’
CEOs
69%
&
Lob Manager
78%
expect the CFO to be an ambitious driver of corporate growth.
However,
CFOs
69%
say they are struggling to drive organizational strategy and growth due to an ever-expanding brief.
CEOs
69%
&
Lob Manager
78%
believe CFOs today are expected to be ‘masters of everything’, understanding all the business’s risks and opportunities.
Investors pay a premium for competent CFOs, yet finance leaders are so burdened with operational duties that they struggle to focus on strategy.
2nd
Investors identify the competence of the CFO as the second most important factor when considering investing in an organization, ranking above the competency of the CEO.
Investors
78%
of investors say CFOs must demonstrate technical, operational, and strategic competence to gain the confidence of investors.
The CFO Premium
2.6%
Investors identify the competence of the CFO as the second most important factor when considering investing in an organization, ranking above the competency of the CEO.
CFOs must break down silos, invest in tech, and nurture team skills to succeed in 2035. Unified data will be a catalyst for finance team transformation.
THE FUTURE OF FINANCE IS DIGITAL:
74%
of CFOs believe that, by 2035, AI and automation will have completely reshaped organizations’ finance functions.
A BURNING PLATFORM:
70%
of CEOs and 68% of CFOs believe the organizations that fail to invest now in tech, infrastructure, and skills will not survive the next five years.
THE DATA IMPERATIVE:
74%
of CEOs and CFOs say unified data and data-based decisionmaking are now the key determinants of organizational success.
For CFOs to step into the role of strategic growth drivers, they must rethink the traditional finance operating model, cultivate a more dynamic workforce, and leverage consolidated data insights to unlock new business value.