Faced with an unprecedented succession of systemic crises, regulatory changes and technological breakthroughs, the finance function is faced with a major challenge: to continue to guarantee financial rigor while integrating growing complexity. It's time to move away from a logic of control centered on fixed data, and embrace a dynamic of continuous, agile decision-making connected to the company's real challenges.
These are the findings of our latest white paper, produced in partnership with Ifop and Les Echos Publishing, based on responses from 301 finance professionals - including 51 CFOs - and enriched by testimonials from the heads of companies such as SEB, Rexel, Arkema and Veolia. It highlights a finance function undergoing profound change, in search of concrete levers to remain reliable, agile and strategic.
From rigor to anticipation
For years, finance has been structured around one fundamental objective: guaranteeing the reliability of financial information. While this requirement remains central, it is no longer sufficient. In an unstable world, performance depends less on accuracy than on the ability to react, simulate, forecast and support. The CFO's role is evolving rapidly, without abandoning its fundamentals.
Yet only 27% of respondents to our survey have an integrated management tool, and 47% say they are now overwhelmed by the arrival of AI in their business. The paradox is striking: while 95% of finance departments place innovation at the heart of their roadmap, actual technological maturity still remains widely heterogeneous.
Hybrid skills: the new standard
It's not a question of pitting technological skills against financial expertise. Our survey clearly shows that 90% of CFOs consider it essential to integrate hybrid profiles into the finance function. The ability to manage an ERP project or exploit the potential of AI is no longer the sole responsibility of the IT department.
Technical expertise becomes a lever for autonomy, performance and strategic dialogue. The success of today's transformation projects depends on this dual competence, both analytical and technological, provided by finance itself.
Building a coherent roadmap
What our study also reveals is a need for alignment. All too often, technological projects are dictated by urgency (end-of-life of tools, compliance), without placing these choices within a long-term vision of management. The risk is to multiply the number of siloed projects, to exhaust teams, and to remain halfway through the transformation.
So it's time to build integrated roadmaps that combine compliance, performance and business value. Projects that are not just defensive, but have real transformative potential.
An opportunity to seize
2025 is shaping up to be a critical turning point: the scheduled end of old ERP systems, the rise of regulatory requirements (CSRD, electronic invoicing), the widespread use of modular and cloud-native architectures. This pivotal moment can be endured - or seized - as an opportunity to rebuild the finance function on a more strategic, technophile and human basis.
Our white paper outlines the main lines of action, proposes concrete cases and asks the right questions. It's up to managers to build a coherent, ambitious and realistic roadmap based on their own reality.
Tomorrow's CFO orchestrates technologies, talents and data to manage uncertainty. An enlightened strategist, he interprets weak signals and engages his teams in a sustainable transformation. This is our ambition.
Xavier Gardiès
Senior Partner Finance & Technology Transformation
Micropole, a Talan company
