Finance leaders no longer face the question of whether to strengthen their digital capabilities; for companies hoping to create value and ultimately survive, it has become a necessity. The CFO's focus should be on ensuring the effective implementation of new capabilities, which means building constructive partnerships with IT and data management.

Today, effective digital transformation means a deeper commitment than simply purchasing new IT products or upgrades, and it is not a one-time effort. Change and transformation are advancing at the speed of light, and organizations and business environments are increasingly complex. The role of finance leaders is also evolving: responsibilities change daily, they are expected to do more, are forced to adapt to change and innovation, and must also develop action guidelines on the go.

Having a balanced mix of key skills in the team, fostering forward-thinking, and maintaining adaptability are essential qualities for CFOs to successfully navigate the ongoing wave of transformation and create value for the organization.

New capabilities about to hit the market will affect the entire organization and its culture, so they must be approached with this principle at the core: always seek to use them to promote better ways of working and create value.

There was a time when, regarding technology and data needs, all eyes were on the IT department, especially when installing appropriate infrastructure or automating processes. Finance was previously seen as a facilitator, with IT leading and managing processes. However, today finance should play a greater role in infrastructure adaptation, automation, and data, not just as a facilitator but as a driver of processes.

Finance leaders maintain relationships with operational leaders and possess data insights across the entire enterprise value chain, which can be used to improve decision-making. Given its unique position in the organization, finance is well-suited to lead the digitalization process.

Making automation truly work

Advanced software and robotic process automation tools are automating routine tasks such as data entry, invoice processing, account reconciliation, and payroll calculations. Additionally, data analytics and machine learning algorithms make large datasets more accessible, providing operational leaders with deeper insights that improve corporate decision-making.

For these processes to operate effectively, collaboration among finance, data, and IT teams is essential, but getting these departments to align can be a frustrating challenge, hindering the optimization of these technologies and business functions. This is a classic case of siloed work weakening organizational performance. CFOs should leverage their convening power to avoid this.

Finance teams need to be "at the table" from the start to overcome these challenges and achieve successful transformation. But finance is often only brought in when project costs and financing are involved; and when finance leaders try to participate, they often struggle to access the data they need. This was recently confirmed by members of the Future Finance Leaders Advisory Panel, where nearly half (47%) of respondents reported challenges in accessing the data they needed.

Because finance professionals understand the needs of internal stakeholders, they are best positioned to articulate what IT needs to build efficient structures. Finance professionals act as internal consultants, collaborating with other functions, understanding their operations and end-to-end processes, identifying where problems and opportunities lie, recognizing processes that can be improved, and ultimately finding solutions.

Digital transformation projects depend on process coordination and system standardization across different operational areas. This requires the end-to-end perspective that finance teams possess, which IT teams may lack. Finance leaders should ensure that automation reflects the value chain of the entire operation, and they should work with IT and data management teams to achieve this.

Finance professionals are also translators of data. Many of the enterprise's systems are not owned by finance, but although stakeholders can access these systems, they often do not understand what the numbers convey. This is where finance steps in to help interpret the story behind the numbers and their impact on organizational health. Overall, finance is a core partner connecting business needs.

Companies that have advanced further in digital transformation show that this process begins with an organizational vision, complemented by a digital strategy supported by the senior executive team. A digital roadmap driven by finance can more clearly articulate what needs to be achieved and how to achieve these goals.

Finance's role and responsibility in data analytics

Digital technologies are greatly enhancing the data analytics tools available to finance professionals. A consequence of this change is that finance needs to step up and take a leading role in data strategy. This cannot be left solely to data or IT departments. As mentioned above, if finance teams are to extract maximum organizational value from data, they must be fully involved in all data processes and planning—including data ethics.

For organizations, establishing clear data ownership responsibilities and protocols to ensure data integrity, quality, and compliance is crucial. To this end, finance leaders need to play a greater role in enterprise data and governance, which means becoming familiar with the underlying concepts. Given the scope of data now available, especially non-financial and sustainability data, and how it is dispersed across the organization, this can be a considerable challenge.

With the proliferation of digital transactions, online platforms, and interconnected systems, as well as changing regulatory and reporting requirements, the volume and breadth of financial, non-financial, structured, and unstructured data available to finance teams have grown exponentially. Data analytics is not a new activity for finance, but its complexity has increased significantly.

Complying with data regulations in the relevant jurisdiction is a necessary step, but it is not sufficient. Stakeholders will have expectations about how the organization uses and handles data, and high-performing finance teams must be aware of these expectations and strive to meet them. This is not something any single team can accomplish alone; it requires cross-functional collaboration and a strong data culture to sustain. Again, breaking down silos is a key part of succeeding in the digital age.

Today, data is scattered across every corner of the organization with limited control or governance, making analysis, storytelling, and impact extremely difficult. It is widely accepted that finance owns financial data and plays an important role in data governance. However, the challenge lies in reaching agreement between business owners and finance on the ownership of non-financial data.

What is clear is that organizations must establish clear guidelines, roles, and responsibilities for data ownership to ensure data integrity, quality, and compliance.