Transforming the Role of CFO in the AI and Technology Era with Ash Noah | Cloud Wars Live

Cloud Wars Live with Bob Evans

CFO — From Scorekeeper to Tech-Driven Visionary

• The CFO's changing role: Technology, specifically AI, is transforming the role of the chief financial officer (CFO) from a traditional scorekeeper who deals with financial reporting and risk management, to a futurist who leads enterprise-wide transformations. It allows CFOs to shift their focus from routine, time-consuming tasks to more strategic and forward-thinking responsibilities.
• The essential contribution of human skills: Value creation is a collaborative effort between humans and technology. Skills needed included empathy, communication, and consensus-building. In a future where automation handles routine tasks, finance professionals must harness these human skills to co-create and work together.
• Value creation through intangible assets: CFOs must shift their focus from managing financial and tangible assets to managing intangible assets like human capital, intellectual capital, social and relationship capital, and natural capital. These intangible assets often account for a significant portion of a company's value. Finance professionals need to use proxies and metrics to understand and quantify their impact on business outcomes.

The Big Quote: "It's not just about automation for the sake of reducing workload, but actually to look at technology as an enabler of . . . transformational changes in your business model. How do you serve your customers in new ways? How do you transform your business model with new products?"