The CFO's New Agenda: What’s Shaping Finance Leadership Today

If you’re a CFO or finance leader, you already know the role is evolving — fast. You're not just managing budgets and reports anymore; you’re steering the business through uncertainty, guiding strategic growth, and unlocking value in ways that were unthinkable even a few years ago. Gone are the days of year-long roadmaps and slow-moving decision cycles. Instead, CFOs are laser-focused on agility, visibility, and unlocking smarter ways to guide the business forward.

The real question is: what’s top of mind for your peers right now? What’s keeping CFOs up at night?

We’ve distilled some of the latest insights that are capturing the attention of forward-thinking finance leaders — across small businesses, mid-sized firms, and large enterprises alike. And while the challenges vary by scale, the themes are strikingly familiar: doing more with less, leveraging data for smarter decisions, and preparing for what's next — whatever that might be.

🧭 The Shifting Role of Finance Leadership

Gone are the days when finance was simply the back-office function. Today, finance leaders are being asked to drive innovation, lead digital transformation, and become central figures in enterprise decision-making.

Whether you’re heading up a lean finance team in a growing business or leading a complex department in a multinational, the expectation is the same: be a strategic partner, not just a numbers person.

📊 Turning Data Into Direction

Finance teams are swimming in data — but turning that into meaningful insights is still a work in progress for many. Unlocking that value is becoming a top priority. The finance leaders making real impact are the ones who can connect the dots across systems, processes, and spend.

With the right tools, this isn’t just possible — it’s powerful.

🚀 Future Proofing Finance Functions

Resilience is no longer optional. From regulatory shifts to tech disruption and economic volatility, the landscape is full of moving targets. The best-prepared finance functions are those actively rethinking how work gets done — and how technology can drive agility.

It’s not just about weathering storms. It’s about building a foundation that can flex and scale.

Top Priorities for CFOs

Modern finance leaders are expected to take a forward-looking approach and help manage the unexpected and uncertainties. According to the CFO Insights report, 90% of senior finance leaders agree that their key task is to prepare their business for the unexpected.

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Insights based on interviews with leading CFOs and multiple research studies

1. Get Back to Basics 

• Many finance chiefs are renewing focus on the fundamentals that drive sustainable value.  
• Allocate capital for maximum return: channel funds toward projects with clear, measurable ROI. 
• Eliminate duplication and waste: rationalise tools, vendors and overlapping processes. 
• Sharpen cost/revenue visibility: move beyond rear-view reporting to real-time dashboards. 
• Blend finance with operations: sit with product, sales and customer teams to understand margin drivers. 
• Keep plans realistic and agile: revisit budgets frequently so the business can pivot quickly. 

“As a finance leader, I’m focusing on the basics… optimisation of revenue growth with improved profitability in a sustainable way for long-term business health.” – Thomas Lavin, SAP  

2. Balance Stability and Growth 

Economic headwinds push finance leaders to walk the line between conserving cash and funding innovation.  

• Run rolling forecasts to reduce the guesswork that derails annual plans. 
• Link spend approvals to live cash-flow data so teams know the impact before committing funds. 
• Scenario-plan multiple growth paths—organic, M&A, new markets—then rank them by capital intensity. 
• Strengthen cost management discipline in non-core areas to free resources for strategic bets. 
• Embed risk buffers for currency moves, supply-chain shocks and rate hikes. 

“Current headwinds are forcing many businesses to prioritise stability over growth,” notes IDC’s Katie Evans.  

3. Keep Pace with Change and Invest in Tech 

From artificial intelligence to predictive analytics, technology is reshaping finance at breakneck speed.  

• Target quick-win automations first—expense capture, invoice matching, close tasks. 
• Invest in a unified data layer to feed reporting tools and decision models. 
• Pilot AI and machine learning for fraud detection, cash forecasting and spend classification. 
• Adopt cloud-native platforms that scale without heavy IT lift. 
• Upskill finance talent so humans partner effectively with algorithms instead of fearing them. 

“AI is going to bring significant change, not just to finance and our business, but to our everyday lives,” says Chief Controlling Officer Thomas Lavin.  

4. Embrace and Drive Digital Transformation 

Digital transformation is no longer optional; it is the gateway to agility and customer centricity.  

• Integrate digital tech across every process—from procure-to-pay to record-to-report. 
• Align tech spend with strategic goals: each dollar should improve speed, insight or customer value. 
• Standardise data definitions so insights remain consistent across business units. 
• Manage the people side of change through clear communication and role-based training. 
• Track transformation ROI with KPIs for cycle-time reduction, error rates and user adoption. 

“If your business is not embracing digital transformation, you will not survive,” warns TransferMate CEO Sinead Fitzmaurice.  

5. Provide More Value to Customers—and the Company 

The modern finance function extends beyond reporting to shaping products, services and customer experience 

• Partner with frontline teams to understand what customers truly value. 
• Use product-line profitability analytics to guide investment toward high-margin offerings. 
• Allocate capital for innovation in areas that deepen client relationships. 
• Leverage financial data to personalise pricing, bundling and loyalty programmes. 
• Measure customer value creation alongside traditional financial metrics. 

“Technology needs to provide value to the organisation and a return to the bottom line… CFOs need to understand what drives the business besides the numbers.” – Sinead Fitzmaurice.  

These are just a few of the high-level priorities finance leaders are zeroing in on other than balancing agility, risk, and cost control while driving digital transformation.  Curious to see what else is shaping the finance agenda — and what actionable steps your business can take next? Discover what top finance leaders are focusing on and download the full CFO insights guide to stay ahead. 

👉 Download the full insights guide now to access deeper analysis, expert commentary, and practical ideas you can put into action — no matter your company’s size or industry.

Quick-Hit CFO Action Checklist:

• Map end-to-end finance workflows; flag manual pain points. 
• Stand up a cross-functional working group to prioritise transformation projects. 
• Implement rolling forecasts and scenario modelling to stay ahead of market shifts. 
• Build a real-time spend dashboard that merges AP, T&E and card data. 
• Tie tech investments to clear KPIs—cycle-time cuts, error reduction, cost savings.