CFOs are now at the center of value creation in a rapidly changing and uncertain environment. The choice between investing in technology or in human capital is no longer a dilemma, as the real challenge lies in the effective use of both, through a clear vision for the future of the finance function.
The recent global survey, EY Global DNA of the CFO highlights a gap between ambition and action. Although CFOs perceive their role as shapers of business value, they often do not turn this ambition into meaningful action, especially when value is difficult to measure or relates to new technologies and new ways of working. The survey is based on the views of more than 1,600 CFOs and senior finance executives, from 28 countries and 22 sectors of the economy.
Risk of missing growth opportunities
Globally, businesses risk missing significant growth opportunities, as the active participation of CFOs in critical discussions around investments and value creation is limited by the inadequate use of technology and by the lack of appropriate skills in finance departments.
EY’s report examines how the role of the CFO is evolving at a time when businesses are called upon to respond to the challenge of creating and measuring value. According to the findings, although 60% of CFOs believe they should actively participate in the value creation process, only one in four (25%) actually leads the process of making critical investment decisions under conditions of uncertainty. At the same time, a perception issue emerges, as only 27% of participating CFOs state that their organizations perceive the finance function as a key factor in value creation.
Measuring value is a significant challenge
One of the main obstacles that, according to the survey, limits CFOs’ ability to fully leverage their role as value creators is the difficulty in measuring it. Nearly half of the CFOs in the sample (49%) believe that traditional metrics cannot capture the value created through technology, data, new roles or even long-term investments. A similar percentage (50%) report that the difficulty in documenting return on investment in advance (ROI) constitutes a significant obstacle. In fact, more than two in three CFOs (68%) believe that measurement indicators need to be redefined.
The challenge of artificial intelligence
According to the survey, CFOs’ efforts to transform finance departments run into, among other things, a lack of the right mindset and skills around new technologies. Only 21% of CFOs describe their finance department’s readiness in artificial intelligence as “leading” or “advanced” compared with other businesses, while less than 15% believe their teams are highly adaptable or feel confident in using new technologies.
In fact, fewer than half of CFOs believe that AI can be meaningfully leveraged in areas such as data analysis (49%), business growth forecasting (45%) and dynamic pricing (41%).
Nevertheless, it is clear that finance departments with higher AI readiness are more likely to recognize the potential of artificial intelligence in value creation. Indicatively, nearly three in four CFOs (71%) who declare full AI readiness believe that artificial intelligence has strong potential in growth forecasting, compared with 44% of those still developing their capabilities and 30% of those with limited progress.
Finance departments also identify a series of obstacles in their effort to secure funding for AI projects. Specifically, 61% cite data quality issues, 51% mention long-term or unclear benefits, while 50% report a lack of skills and resources.
How the role of the CFO is evolving
The survey captures a role in evolution: 60% of CFOs believe they should actively shape the way value is created across the entire business. As artificial intelligence takes over standardized tasks, what truly differentiates CFOs is the speed and quality with which they turn data into decisions. The challenge for CFOs is to make use of the time freed up by technology, investing their judgment where real value is created.
The next steps
Based on the survey findings, CFOs can focus on certain critical actions in order to strengthen their strategic role and shape resilient and innovative finance departments capable of operating as strategic partners to businesses:
- Expand their role in value creation by evolving the way it is measured and participating more actively in high-uncertainty investment decisions.
- Strengthen their readiness to leverage AI at scale by investing in strong data foundations and the right skills, with an emphasis on strategic applications that support growth.
- Place human capital and organizational culture as central priorities so that transformation is sustained and investments in technology are translated into results.
- Accelerate the development of leadership skills throughout the finance function, strengthening succession and strategic decision-making.
- Redesign roles and operating models, freeing up time for analysis, decision support and value creation.
EY’s survey concludes that the real question today is not whether CFOs will adopt AI, but whether they will be able to create the right conditions so that technology, people and the leadership culture of Finance teams can work in combination. As value creation becomes more complex and harder to measure with traditional metrics, CFOs are called upon to invest in new tools, new skills and new ways of working that will allow them to better assess the impact of strategic choices and support decision-making more effectively.
Commenting on the findings, Kostas Stathopoulos, Partner at EY Greece and Head of Services to CFOs, stated: “In an environment of continuous technological developments and increasing complexity, the challenge for CFOs is not simply to adopt new tools, but to be able to assess and demonstrate more accurately the value created by the company’s strategic choices. The survey findings show that artificial intelligence can act as a powerful accelerator of this effort. However, real value arises when technology is combined with the right skills, the right mindset and a strong leadership culture in Finance teams. As the concept of business value evolves and becomes more complex, CFOs are called upon to invest simultaneously in tools, people and new ways of working, so that they can support decision-making more effectively and strengthen the strategic role of the finance function in value creation.”