This article is based on insights shared during the online event "CFO Live 2025: The Future of Finance," held on September 24. The event was co-hosted by the editorial teams of CFO Dive and its sister publication CFO.com. The full panel discussion can bewatched on demand here。

Currently, finance leaders continue to face a demanding workload: they must navigate an environment full of uncertainty amid ongoing policy and regulatory changes, shifts in the labor market, and the opportunities and risks presented by new technologies.

At the "CFO Live 2025: The Future of Finance" event, several executives and experts explored these trends—from the evolution of artificial intelligence to changing demands for accounting talent—topics that remain at the forefront of CFOs' concerns. Here are the five key takeaways from the event.

Takeaway 1: Friction and collaboration—building trust on "common ground"

When developing growth strategies amid uncertainty, a lack of clear communication between different business units can become a major obstacle to executing plans. To break down silos, CFOs and other senior leaders, such as chief information officers or chief technology officers, should focus on building trust based on "common ground." Chris Ortega, CEO and fractional CFO of Fresh FP&A, said during the opening panel "Friction and Collaboration: Modernizing the IT-Finance Relationship": "The first step to building trust is saying, hey, I want to move forward with this IT project, and I want to work with you to explore how we can help the business together."

John Glasgow, CEO and CFO of accounting software provider Campfire, added that IT and finance leaders, as well as those in other "cross-functional support functions," need to "go beyond the key relationships of the business context." He cited examples such as ensuring other departments are involved in external team-building activities or brought into budget decisions early, which can alleviate some points of friction.

When building these relationships, leaders also need to consider the role of new technology. Bona Allen, Senior Vice President and CFO of Kajima Building & Design, said during the panel that when introducing automation, a key question is how employees should use the "extra time" gained as technology takes over manual tasks. She said: "My view is, to stay competitive, you have to stay relevant. You need to keep up with this technology, and then use the time saved to make the company better."

Takeaway 2: New technology, new approaches, but responsibilities remain unchanged

The effective use of technology has always been a focus for business leaders, especially finance executives, who must manage an organization's financial controls while paving the way for innovation. Therefore, it is crucial to clarify the actual capabilities of emerging technologies, such as agentic AI. Scott Dietz, Head of Industry Practice at Moody's Analytics, said during the panel "What's It Good For? Practical Uses of Agentic AI" that bringing agentic AI into the finance function is unlikely to fundamentally change the CFO's mandate.

Dietz said: "As finance professionals, the fundamentals of what we do and the tasks we are asked to accomplish won't really change with the addition of agentic AI." Finance leaders will still be responsible for the organization's "overall financial picture," but "I think the way you achieve that will fundamentally change."

CFOs can use agentic AI to accelerate key processes like reconciliation, but "the first big challenge is building the right infrastructure and foundation to run agents," said Vikas Agarwal, Business Technology and Innovation Officer at PricewaterhouseCoopers. "So, you need to choose the technology you're going to use... ensure you have a secure, private, cyber-secure environment, and understand how to connect different data sources in a safe and private way."

Takeaway 3: Higher expectations for the "next generation" of accountants

Looking to the future of the accounting profession, new technologies and new pathways will break down barriers within teams and push accounting to become more of a strategic driver within organizations, panelists said during the "Building the Next-Generation Accounting Team" session.

Jack Castonguay, Associate Professor of Accounting at Hofstra University, said during a panel discussion with John Gronen, CFO of AP automation software provider Yooz, and Laura LaPeer, CFO of UHY: "Accountants today 'are expected to know more and do more than in the past, and I expect that trend to only accelerate over the next five to ten years.'"

As technology continues to evolve and systems become increasingly intelligent, "we are increasingly using AI to handle tedious work, such as reconciliations, bookkeeping, and so on," Gronen said. "This frees up employees to become more data-driven decision-makers."

Therefore, when looking for new accounting talent, basic technological "savviness" and "adaptability" are key skills CFOs seek in potential new hires. However, Castonguay pointed out that focusing on fundamentals is equally important—the push forward of AI actually places greater emphasis on the importance of technical financial skills, rather than diminishing them.

Gronen said companies' expectations of new hires' capabilities are also expanding to include technical skills. For example, candidates who already know how to use business intelligence and analytics software like Tableau are a "huge plus" for employers. "I don't have to spend six months teaching someone how to use Tableau to create the reporting dashboards we need."

Takeaway 4: Compensation remains key

As the number of states passingnew CPA licensure rulescontinues to grow, technical skills will also become a focal point. While the passage of these laws is expected to attract more students to the profession, it also means many graduates will leave college with 120 college credits, rather than the previously required 150 credits.

Castonguay said: "In the past, many of the more advanced technical courses happened in graduate or fifth-year programs, depending on the program you were in. Now, colleges and universities have to move that content earlier." He brought his own accounting class to the panel discussion.

In this environment, although companies are still looking for skills similar to those sought a decade ago—including the ability to understand accounting standards and keep the business in compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)—these skills now command significantly higher compensation than they did ten years ago. Gronen said: "Honestly, I just hired a controller and a senior accountant who held the same positions at a company I worked for two years ago. I'm paying about 30% more now than I did three years ago, because the market has shifted in that direction."

Takeaway 5: Lessons from the nonprofit sector—"no mission, no margin"

Although CFOs must juggle evolving technology, talent demands, and an unstable economic environment, their primary responsibility remains largely unchanged—finance leaders are always responsible for maintaining financial health, ensuring the company has sufficient funds to execute key initiatives while avoiding overspending.

Achieving this balance is crucial for nonprofit organizations, said Kael Reicin, CFO and Chief Strategy Officer of the American Cancer Society, during the closing panel "How Nonprofit CFOs Lead Mission-Driven Finance": "We have to operate efficiently, otherwise we can't maximize every dollar donors give us. So, we must ensure we manage effectively and think about which KPIs really matter."

Fellow panelist Kelly Mahncke, CFO of USA Hockey, said: "No mission, no margin—that's an important concept I've used throughout my career to explain why nonprofits also have to consider the bottom line."

Mahncke said that to ensure operations run efficiently, finance leaders must be transparent with the board, audit committee, and other key decision-makers, whether the news is good or bad. This means CFOs need to be good listeners and good storytellers. She said: "In conversations, I find it most helpful to go 'from the macro to the micro.' That way you can give the big picture first, and if people want details, you can dive down to that level."