CFOs hunt for new skills? I hear a lot of talk from subject matter experts opining that “the C-Suite doesn’t understand data or digital”.
I tend to take the view that the C-Suite is primarily focused on the business fundamentals of markets, products, margin, customers, supply chains, people, working capital and operating costs. It is our job to frame any subject matter expertise through these lenses.
However, it is good news to read that 2025 is projected to be the year that CFOs seek a broader mix of skills.
Grace Noto’s latest article in CFO DIVE expands on this prediction.
CFOs are seeking talent equipped with both technology and “analytical storytelling” (a.k.a “Data”) skills to help meet their goals for this year, according to Alexander Bant, chief of research for the Gartner Finance practice.
But as finance chiefs look to find new talent, they’re also confronting a host of macro-economic and geopolitical changes.
The demand to both drive growth and cut costs “has placed a premium on finding talent with data skills”, professionals who are able not just to aggregate and analyze information, but who are able to turn “insights into relevant and actionable stories and recommendations for the enterprise”.
Clearly, the “data narrative” also conflates with the “AI boom” (or “AI hype cycle” to credit Gartner again 😉).
Despite the frothy projections, ROI remains elusive for AI, especially GenAI, as organizations seek out use-cases that drive genuine business value outcomes (increased revenue, COGS reduction, cost-optimization, enhanced asset utilization etc).
Recent reports show a return to classic business planning, with CFOs demanding to see real cash savings within three years.
It’s kind of surprising to me that we took our eyes of that ball!
Investment plans with an expectation of financial return are a critical foundation of business management.
Fostering sustainable growth and investing further into digital technologies, while paring down expenses, all with under-staffed or overworked finance teams, is a challenging balancing act. Finance chiefs need to work closely with their HR partners to track and drive productivity, and “create the capacity to fund new hires and skill sets that are needed across the enterprise”.
This has faint echoes of the “Solow Paradox”. It is clear that digitization isn’t stimulating enough productivity growth. The very fact that there is a return to classic management ROI thinking demonstrates that we have been collectively surprised by the relatively slow and anaemic productivity impact from technology.
Discuss! 😉
I find it intriguing that Microsoft, for example, a firm rooted in tech, has double the staff numbers of Procter & Gamble, one of the financial behemoths of the last century. It has double the revenue also, but my point is that a “tech to the core” company does not necessarily achieve greater economic productivity or revenue per head than an old-school business.
Now THAT is a paradox.
“I think we’re going to now be in the era of, let’s see a payback before we continue to accelerate the investments further across our budgets in the remainder of the year,” according to Alexander Bant.
I wrote about Solow and the “Productivity Paradox” here . . .
Thanks for reading . . .
