CFOs at a crossroads: Modernising finance for the future

Legacy systems drain over 30% of finance teams’ productivity, yet 74% of CFOs admit their organisations still rely on outdated tools. This stark reality framed the urgency of this session on modernising finance for the future at the recent CFO100 Conference in Mumbai.

An industry expert, Mahima Arya, Associate Director – Presales, CCH-Tagetik, talked about the CFO’s dual mandate: driving digital transformation while anchoring enterprise performance management (EPM) in a fractured technological landscape.

The evolving mandate of the CFO

A recent survey of 50 CFOs revealed a seismic shift in their role. No longer confined to compliance and balance sheets, finance leaders are now tasked with driving digital transformation, bridging siloed systems, and providing strategic foresight. As regulatory demands balloon—exemplified by annual reports expanding from 160 pages in 2016 to over 250 today—CFOs must juggle ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) disclosures, risk assessments, and long-term planning. “The office of the CFO is no longer about hindsight; it’s about foresight,” said Mahima.

The digital pivot: Integrating legacy systems with cloud solutions
The push to modernise finance faces a critical hurdle: integrating decades-old systems with agile, cloud-based platforms. Over 80% of organizations still rely on fragmented tools like Excel spreadsheets, creating data silos that hinder real-time decision-making. “Imagine driving a car without a dashboard,” Arya analogised. “You need a unified route—your budget and forecasts—to allocate resources effectively.”

The stakes are higher amid rapid business model shifts, mergers, and new regulations like India’s VRSR (Voluntary Retirement Savings Scheme). Companies that fail to harmonise their systems risk operational paralysis.

AI as the finance function’s co-pilot: From skepticism to strategic enabler
A survey of 480 finance executives underscored AI’s rising prominence. Once met with skepticism, generative AI and automation now dominate strategic roadmaps. Use cases ranged from automating routine tasks (e.g., invoice processing) to predictive analytics. “We’ve crossed the bridge from doubt to optimism,” said Arya. “AI isn’t replacing humans—it’s amplifying their capabilities.”

CCH Tagetik’s platform exemplifies this shift. Its AI layer analyzes internal and external data—marketing campaigns, dealer networks, pricing trends—to identify key business drivers. For instance, predictive models forecast sales impacts months ahead, enabling proactive budget adjustments. Anomaly detection flags outliers in real-time, while natural-language tools like “AskAI” democratise data access. “You can query, ‘How did Q3 performance compare to last year?’ and get instant insights,” Arya explained.

Case study: CCH Tagetik’s unified EPM platform
CCH Tagetik’s Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) system aims to solve finance’s fragmentation problem. By consolidating planning, forecasting, consolidation, and compliance on a single platform, it bridges gaps between legacy IT systems and modern workflows.

Key features include:

• Driver-Based Analysis: AI identifies variables impacting outcomes (e.g., sales fluctuations tied to marketing spend).
• Predictive Forecasting: Models adjust budgets based on real-time data, reducing manual recalibration.
• Regulatory Agility: Automated reporting adapts to evolving standards like ESG frameworks.

“EPM is the car, AI is the GPS,” Arya quipped. “Together, they ensure you’re not just reacting to change but anticipating it.”

Finance as a transformation catalyst

The future demands that finance teams evolve from back-office operators to strategic partners. With AI handling grunt work, CFOs can focus on scenario planning, M&A strategy, and innovation. “Finance must steer the organization, not just track it,” Arya emphasised.

Yet challenges persist. Data quality remains a bottleneck—AI’s efficacy hinges on clean, harmonized inputs. Cultural resistance also looms; democratizing analytics requires upskilling teams to interpret AI-driven insights.

The new frontier of financial leadership

As regulatory, competitive, and technological pressures converge, CFOs who embrace AI-augmented platforms like EPM will thrive. Those clinging to spreadsheets and silos risk obsolescence. The message is clear: In the race to modernise finance, the finish line is perpetual adaptation.