Going Beyond the Book 2023

4 | Going Beyond the Book 2023 [ EXPERT’S VIEW ] SHAILESH HARIBHAKTI Shailesh Haribhakti & Associates Chairman CFO OF THE FUTURE: EMBRACING THE EVOLVING ROLE The current disruptive macro environment is signaling three major factors that will shape the role of the CFO: Converging technologies evolving at an exponential rate: Artificial intelligence, blockchain, and other emerging technologies are transforming the way businesses operate, and CFOs must be at the forefront of this transformation. Sustainability: Businesses are under increasing pressure to reduce their environmental impact and operatemore sustainably. CFOs must play a leading role in developing and implementing sustainability strategies. Resource allocation: In a world of scarce resources, CFOs must be more strategic and efficient in allocating capital. They must also be able to identify and mitigate new risks. These factors are creating demand for a differently oriented CFO. The future CFO will be: Curious and a lifelong learner: CFOs must be constantly learning and adapting to new technologies and trends. An engaging entrepreneurial personality: CFOs must be able to inspire and motivate their teams, and to think outside the box to drive innovation. Amultidisciplinary professional with the highest ethics: CFOs must have a deep understanding of finance, accounting, and business strategy. Theymust also be ethical and trustworthy leaders. Clearly, a traditional, accounting, audit, and finance-oriented personwill not be enough. The expectations of the Audit Committees and leaders of the future are quite distinctive. The future CFO will have to reorient and rise to the occasion. A new breed of CFO will need to be developed by the ICAI, the CFA institute, and all the MBA and professional courses around. The syllabus will need to have a liberal dose of ESG, data science, and digital finance. The government will also need to be more resilient about recruitment at PSUs. Some of the NGOs which are becoming systemically important will need to source the right talent to suit their needs. International experience and cross border experience will prove to be the basic foundation required to perform well. Investing in such talent by way of learning and development will need to be specifically budgeted. Dun & Bradstreet