Next-gen CFOs won’t just be ‘AI forward’—they’ll be expected to combine artificial and emotional intelligence
Good morning. C-suites around the world are expecting investments in AI to boost productivity, but how exactly does that factor into what CEOs and boards want from their CFOs?
I asked Jeff Constable, who leads Korn Ferry’s Financial Officers Practice in North America and co-leads it globally, what he’s hearing. “We are definitely seeing a need for CFOs to become more ‘AI forward,’” Constable said. That means having a willingness to lean into AI, especially as it relates to internal processes and systems that roll directly up to the CFO. And it could soon change how C-suites recruit new finance chiefs. "I suspect we will see that in the future, but it is early yet," he said.
There are signs that the start of this trend is brewing. Software development company Datarails released a report this morning based on an analysis of 2,000 job vacancies for U.S. CFOs, senior accountants, controllers, and FP&A roles. CFO job postings at public and private companies, including divisional CFO roles, seeking an executive with an “understanding or knowledge of artificial intelligence” has risen by at least 15% from January to April, according to the report. And by April, nearly one quarter (23%) of CFO job listings required some knowledge of AI.
In one example, House of Sillage, a maker of luxury perfume and cosmetics, was looking for a CFO who's “adept at leveraging technology and AI to drive growth and efficiency, with experience in firm acquisitions and predictive analytics,” according to the report.
Aspiring CFOs must not only be prepared for technological change but also "double down on their distinctly human qualities," including more sophisticated planning skills, which companies are increasingly seeking, according to Datarails' findings.
“The future belongs to those CFOs who can seamlessly integrate artificial intelligence with emotional intelligence, forging a new paradigm of finance leadership that is both data-driven and deeply human,” Jonathan Marciano, director of communications at Datarails, told me.
I recently shared PwC’s 2024 AI Jobs Barometer report, based on an analysis of over half a billion job ads from 15 countries and which tracked the growth of vocations demanding specialist AI skills, such as machine learning. The research included a look at ads for financial analysts in the U.S., with the postings requiring AI skills, on average, offering wages 33% higher than similar jobs without AI skills.
Many finance chiefs are aware of this growing need. When I recently sat down with Adobe CFO Dan Durn, we talked about generative AI—as well as a company's role in AI upskilling, including hackathons.
“Nobody goes to college today and gets a degree in generative AI. We're all kind of learning on the job and picking it up," Durn told me. "This technology is going to touch every aspect of an organization. And I think companies that are driving change with these technologies have a responsibility to bring their employees along.”
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com