Why Data Security, FP&A And AI Are Top CFO Priorities

My firm’s ongoing discussions and work 

with finance leaders across multiple industries suggest that two assertions crystalize the current state of the CFO role:

• Never before have the CFO’s core finance competencies been more valuable or more sought after.
• Never before have CFOs applied their expertise to more non-finance challenges and opportunities throughout the enterprise.

Results from our latest survey of CFOs and finance leaders worldwide confirm the validity and relevance of both statements. The security and privacy of data, followed closely by financial planning and profitability analysis, stand out as the most urgent priorities that CFOs and other finance leaders intend to address during the next 12 months. Although artificial intelligence (AI) does not rank quite as high as a near-term priority, finance groups continue to make significant strides in deploying this technology, most often to enhance process automation and financial forecasting, and AI is a critical element in addressing eight of the top 10 issues noted in the survey. This is good news, given that boards of directors are pressing C-suites to move beyond productivity-focused applications to figure out how AI can generate additional revenue and contain costs.

From where I sit, these priorities frame an interesting snapshot of the CFO’s evolving role and expanding sphere of influence. To that end, I want to highlight what we’re hearing from finance leaders about challenges related to these focal points and the approaches they’re employing to address them.