Cyborg CFO: Why Finance Leaders Must Evolve or Be Left Behind
Learning To Be Cyborg: CFOs must adapt to technological advancements (particularly, AI) to avoid stagnating in middle management roles and effectively lead organizations.
Updated Tech Affects Everyone: The influx of investments in AI companies has accelerated the transformation of the CFO role, requiring financial leaders to adapt as quickly as sales & marketing peers.
No Time To Wait: If you wait until your job asks you to learn these things, you'll be left behind. It's up to you to seek out advanced learning and upskilling opportunities.
Opportunity For Younger Aspirants: If you're new to the field, you may not have to wait as long as traditional CFOs did. Learn new technology early, and figure out how to apply it in real time.
How To Attract a Cyborg: Cyborgs are in short supply and hot demand; augmenting your current staff with sponsored training is your key to getting advanced financial support.
The last year’s tech advancements didn’t leave CFOs much choice: become a cyborg or face a fate worse than death — middle management for life.
The CFO role transformation was already happening, but with the tidal wave of money flowing into AI companies, we’ve reached breakneck speed. For anyone in (or hoping to enter) the CFO seat, it’s evolve or die.
To stay relevant, you need to become part-(hu)man and part-machine, embracing financial technology as an extension of yourself. You need to be:
- as literate with data as with words;
- able to monitor key metrics around-the-clock;
- almost inhuman in your response time.
You can’t just rely on your human abilities anymore. You need to become a cyborg.
Where the Traditional CFO Skill Set Falls Short
I wouldn’t trust a CFO that couldn’t crunch the numbers, but if that’s where they spend all their time, they’re not the right person for the job.
Traditional finance skills are (obviously) necessary, but they don’t set you apart anymore. With tools that can do 80% of the number-crunching for you, the CFO has become a key strategist (and shoo-in for the next CEO). Your job is to understand what the numbers mean and how to use them.
Business schools are outdated, with old-world ways of doing things. They’re the very things intended to teach you how to succeed as a white-collar worker, but they aren’t going to get you into the C-Suite. I can still remember how pointless my university courses were just 5 years ago — memorizing financial statement formats and accounting rules as if this were the age of paper ledgers. When business schools focus on rote memorization instead of practical skills like data interpretation, they prepare students to be employees, not leaders.
Traditional financial education — the stuff still taught in most post-secondary institutions — focuses on accounting, financial reporting, budgeting, and compliance. While these functions are necessary, you can pay for a subscription to accounting software or financial reporting software rather than a C-Suite salary to complete them.
If you want to work your way up, you need to be a master of data analytics, strategic decision-making, digital transformation, and predictive modeling: focusing more on the future and the use of data, than the acquisition of it.
The CFO’s New Mandate: Master the Data
If you aspire to be a CFO, you’re likely a numbers-focused nerd (not an insult; I’m one too). This is great, as long as you focus on the king of the digital-first business world: data.
Top companies leverage advanced analytics to predict customer behavior and optimize resource allocation. This used to be reserved for the big boys of the world — like Apple and Microsoft — but advances in technology make it accessible for every type of company. You have an opportunity:
- Learn the systems.
- Correctly interpret data.
- Direct the business.
This data-driven decision-making enables a shift from reactive to proactive management. It transforms financial planning’s role from a report card to a road map.
The shift is happening quickly, and those unable to speak the language of data risk being left behind. A report by Oracle found that companies were getting squirmy about their tech spend and looking to optimize their investments. The person responsible? The CFO.
While new-age tech means you can’t enter the C-Suite based on old-school knowledge, it creates an opportunity. Learn to speak robot — and communicate findings to the layman — and you, my friend, will be well on your way to that corner office.
Some Practical Advice:
Maybe “learn to speak robot” isn’t that actionable, so let me be more helpful. I interview a lot of CFOs for my job, and these are the common themes in their advice:
- Get Hands-On with Analytics Tools: Familiarize yourself with Tableau, Power BI, or Python for sophisticated data analysis. Sounds intimidating. Isn’t.
- Participate in Strategic Projects: Volunteer for initiatives requiring data analysis for strategic decisions, like market expansion or new product development. Watching the next House of the Dragon season can wait.
- Seek Tech-Savvy Mentorship: Find a mentor with a strong grasp of data analytics to guide you through the intricacies of integrating technology into financial planning. I just DM people on LinkedIn and they respond. Try it.
The Impact of AI on Traditional Finance Roles
Automation is coming for routine finance tasks, which is amazing. Basic functions like data entry, reconciliation, and auditing can now be handled by AI. According to a Deloitte report from 2021, up to 30% of finance tasks are prime candidates for automation. Imagine how much that percentage has increased in the last two years.
This is a welcome change, considering most CFOs believe they’re forced to do more intensive daily work than the rest of the C-Suite. AI will allow CFOs to focus on the needle-moving activities — but this data reveals a dark side, too. CFOs already feel overworked, while updated tech is causing more work to get dumped on them as organizations want them to be strategic partners. To save yourself from the inevitable burnout of that kind of role, you need to be the one automating things. You need to know how to do it, which systems are best, and how to make them work together.
This isn’t a set-and-forget thing. Treat AI like a junior team member — a specialized one, sure, but junior. Check its work and ensure the numbers make sense. Nearly 40% of CFOs don’t fully trust their organization’s financial data, and this shrewdness is valuable. Concerns over data quality and AI’s inability to interpret nuanced business scenarios mean that, in a world where your team is more robot than human, critical oversight is more crucial than ever.
As the cyborg in charge, you’ll oversee AI processes, validate data insights, and apply the kind of judgment and intuition that machines can’t replicate. Well, not yet, anyway.
How Modern CFOs Drive Business Strategy
Today’s CFO can’t just be a bean counter. They’re the strategist, navigator, and sometimes even the de facto COO.
You want the CFO driving the financial bus. The numbers are the road — critical to get from point A to B — but how you navigate is what helps your company excel.
Modern CFOs must understand the whole business and work across departments. They collaborate with marketing to optimize budgets, team up with HR for sustainable compensation strategies, and partner with operations to streamline processes. They need to be focused on making data-driven decisions that have a company-wide impact.
Building Skills to Stay Ahead
Becoming a strategic CFO isn’t a straight line; it’s a lifelong journey of skill-building, learning, and adaptation. Get involved in the right projects, with the right teams. Discern which initiatives will make a real impact. Avoid getting stuck in traditional finance roles under old-fashioned leadership. It won’t be easy, but if you want easy, the C-Suite isn’t the right target.
Proficiency in data analytics, business intelligence, and strategic planning will differentiate you in a field where everyone should be good at finance.
How to Become a Competitive CFO:
- Take Online Courses: Set aside personal development time (and actually do it). Learning about AI and machine learning is hot right now — if you’re ready for the C-Suite, focus on this area and where it can help you make an outsized impact.
- Read Beyond Finance: Books like Range by David Epstein and Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman offer insights into decision-making beyond traditional finance. If you’re going to help steer the business, you can’t focus solely on the numbers.
- Network with Tech-Savvy Professionals: Attend industry conferences and join finance organizations to hear what other numbers-focused nerds are saying. Bonus points if you can get in the room with other CFOs in your desired industry; their focus and frustrations should guide your learning and development.
To paraphrase Global Finance, the most successful CFOs don’t just keep up with trends; they anticipate them. Put yourself in a position where you can anticipate.
The Employer’s Role
If you, my dear reader, are actually out there trying to attract this kind of CFO, listen up.
Business owners have a crucial role in bridging the finance skills gap. Assess your current finance team and their shortcomings. Start building them up internally:
- Provide continuous learning opportunities in their weakest areas.
- Create access to mentors through your networking groups.
- Encourage your junior finance staff to think outside the box and work on more collaborative projects.
You’re more likely to achieve growth and profitability with a skilled cyborg by your side, but they don’t appear out of thin air. Invest in your people and create digital transformation initiatives, then note who steps up. Double down on those individuals.
Building a data-driven culture involves more than adopting new tools; it requires a mindset shift. The only way to attract (and keep) a cyborg is by encouraging curiosity and continuous learning, and — for everyone’s sake — get comfortable integrating data analytics into decision-making.
Curiosity and a commitment to learning are critical to thriving in a tech-driven environment. The future belongs to those who keep moving forward.
Evolve or… Retire, I Guess
Modern tools are changing the game. Finally. As a CFO, you’re no longer relegated to the backroom, forced to count pennies while the other execs call the shots. Now, it’s your turn for a seat at the table. Will you claim it?
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