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
Leaderboard
Amy Butte was named CFO at Navan, which offers an all-in-one travel and expense management solution. Butte’s tenure is effective June 2024. Last month, she joined the Navan board of directors and has stepped down from her position as audit committee chair to take on the expanded executive role for the company. Butte joins the Navan leadership team with more than 25 years of experience in the financial industry. She has taken companies public as a banker, research analyst, board director and CFO; most notably, the NYSE public as the exchange’s CFO.
“Throughout my career — regardless of role — I have been an advocate for forward-thinking, innovation, and the public markets,” Butte writes in a blog post released this morning. “That’s exactly what drew me to Navan.” She continues: “I want to take the combination of industry growth, product fit, and the promise of efficiency to be a CFO that helps other CFOs.”
Philip R. Mays was named SVP, CFO and treasurer at Alpine Income Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: PINE), effective June 17. Mays was most recently the CFO of Shadowbox Studios, from September 2021 to February 2024. Prior to that, from June 2011 to September 2021, Mays served as CFO and EVP of Cedar Realty Trust, Inc. Before joining Cedar, he served as chief accounting officer and VP of finance at Federal Realty Investment Trust.
Big Deal
Payscale Inc. has released its 2024 Top Performers Report regarding compensation practices. The research examines top-performing companies, defined as organizations that exceeded their revenue targets last year, and non-top performers, which are those that missed their revenue goals.
Top performers are found equally in both smaller and larger organizations. Overall, 21% of the companies surveyed (both smaller and larger organizations) exceeded their revenue targets in 2023, despite challenging economic conditions.
According to Payscale’s dataset, overall, 59% of top performers have a formal compensation strategy, compared to 51% of non-top performers. When looking at company size, at organizations with less than 750 employees, 51% of top performers have a compensation strategy, compared with 42% of non-top performers.
More than half of top-performing organizations (57%) embrace pay transparency and share pay ranges even when not required by law. But less than half of non-top-performers do so (43%) – a 14% difference that jumps to 19% when comparing large organizations.
The findings are based on a survey of 5,735 compensation professionals and HR leaders.
Going deeper
Human Connection: The Crucial Secret to Thriving in the Digital Age, a new survey from Wiley, finds people still feel connected at work despite hybrid and remote work environments and the rise of AI.
Of the employees surveyed, 78% said they feel connected with their coworkers, and 69% said they also enjoy making connections with their colleagues. About half of employees said they want to learn more about their coworkers by doing a team-building activity. And 59%)of respondents said that having friends at work was a factor in deciding to stay at a company. The findings are based on surveys completed by 2,008 individuals in North America, from individual contributors to executive leaders.
Overheard
“While I can’t promise to be able to match the humor that Richard Galanti has become famous for, I can promise the same level of open dialog and transparency you’ve come to expect. Oh, and to clear up some recent media speculation, I also want to confirm the $1.50 hotdog price is safe.”
—Gary Millerchip, the new CFO and executive vice president of Costco, told investors and analysts during his first earnings call with the company on May 30. In March, Millerchip succeeded longtime CFO Richard Galanti.
