Barry Payne, Director of External Relations at AICPA & CIMA stopped by during the Government Performance & Accountability Committee’s (GPAC) Fall Conference to provide the latest developments from AICPA & CIMA’s Future of Finance project and America's group of the same name.
The topic of his discussion was rightly entitled "Riding the Waves of Transformation," He offered vital insights into how finance professionals can successfully navigate the ongoing waves of transformation, especially with the advent of technologies like Generative AI (GenAI) and turned to GPAC to provide the public sector impacts.
The session highlighted that the pace of transformation, especially in accounting and finance, is accelerating and at a very rapid pace. Finance professionals are expected to become more than just numbers experts—they must evolve into Chief Future Officers (CFOs), providing strategic foresight and adding significant value to the business.
Embracing the Role of Chief Future Officer:
Shared were outcomes from the Future of Finance Summit, a collaborative where global finance leaders of some of the largest companies come together to discuss what they are seeing in their organisations. He segued with the need for government entities to be represented in these conversations. The conclusion—we are facing a lot of the same issues. Finance teams are expected to adopt a proactive and forward-looking role. This involves shifting from reactive to strategic thinking, transforming mindsets, skillsets, and toolsets to remain relevant in an increasingly automated and AI-driven world. To sum up the vision for the CFO role in 2025: “The finance organization is agile, responsive, and deeply integrated into the broader business ecosystem, making finance a dynamic and appealing career destination.” This struck a chord with GPAC members that finance professionals know and understand how the business works. This is the only way to be effective value adders to our respective entities, that way we can effectively drive insights and strategic decision making.
Barry presented three important components: mindset, skillset & toolset and visually demonstrated the importance of finance organizations having a vision statement of their own and the importance of everyone being on the same page mentally (mindset) as well knowing what the organization is trying to accomplish overall. To engage up and coming team members it‘s critical to foster a culture of curiosity and thinking creatively by engaging them into the vision, seeking feedback and achieving buy-in. The next component is skillset, to prepare an organization to harness the best out of technology by changing their mindset, it is helpful to share what is being accomplished then training and equipping them to use the technology (skillset).
futurist Dan Burrus: “How you think about the future shapes your actions today and your actions today will shape your future. In other words, your future view is the future you.”
A 2020 entitled Transformation: The Human Perspective which discussed ways to engage their own organisations. A study within the report showed that 89% of transformation success in organizations is in the people--embracing change, growth mindset, collaboration, soft skills, and technical skills being the drivers given. Today, four years later, the results of this poll still hold true. As it relates to finance professionals, some things world finance leaders concluded will allow us to better serve our organizations were that in addition to the roles we currently serve, being more forward-looking, strategic, value partners. Inevitably, the finance role is shifting to data managers and strategic business partners to help the organization be sustainable and competitive in an ever-transforming landscape. The only way to maximize introducing and leveraging innovative technologies (toolset) within our organizations is to first tackle mindset & skillset.
Talent Development:
Issues with talent development have been a recurring theme across the finance profession and it is a topic discussed regularly within all professional gatherings. There are several core areas that we as finance professionals and leaders are fostering in the next generation of finance professionals. The future of our profession relies heavily on hiring and developing talent with new skills, particularly those related to AI and emerging technologies. Upskilling around AI, critical thinking, and data analytics was emphasized as a critical need.
Historically, finance professionals placed a lot of emphasis on developing the technical skills necessary to “do the job,” but the methodology is morphing along with the changing role that finance is playing in our organisations. It is the soft skills that we as a profession need to include in how we communicate, relate, and help our organisations.
The number one skill identified by finance leaders was the ability to be agile--that is taking the technical information that we have in the numbers & data and synthesizing it using strategic and critical thinking to provide practical advice to advance our organizations. Other soft skills identified were storytelling/communication, business acumen and people skills. Successful finance professionals balance hard (technical) and soft (leadership, emotional intelligence) skills, ensuring a comprehensive approach to talent development. We must put more effort into communicating not only effectively but personally the data driven insights that we must facilitate the mission of our organizations.
And of course, the emergence of AI affects talent development of both technical and soft skills.
What do I do?
In response to the transformation mindset that technical skills alone are not enough to ensure success both now and, in the future, finance professionals needing to combine technical abilities with strategic forward thinking coupled with emotional intelligence.
We invite you to take a look at the CGMA Finance Leadership Program. This also serves as the education for the very first Professional Apprenticeship for accounting and finance in the United States. This enables organizations to not only upskill existing staff but provide a structured program to develop a broader talent pool.
There are three areas of focus 1) study for the CGMA designation, 2) on the job training while learning competencies through the CGMA Finance Leadership Program and a 3) mentorship component that focuses on fusing the hard and soft skills. This apprenticeship program is approved by the US Department of Labor and already has 30 organizations using the program.
Mr. Payne’s presentation was eye opening and thought provoking. It articulated what finance professionals across all industries have been facing and served as a reminder that finance is no longer just about historical data and analysis but about shaping the future and creating value in an increasingly complex business landscape.
Links & Resources
AICPA & CIMA/KPMG. Finance Transformation: The Human Perspective.