Thomas Rousseau shares his vision of current and future developments in the transformation of finance functions.
Finance Forward, the event that brought the corporate finance ecosystem together
On June 24, 2025, Finance Forward, organized by Micropole and Talan at the Musée National de la Marine in Paris, brought together over 150 decision-makers and finance function experts. The aim was to create a forum for constructive exchange between peers, to decipher the major transformation challenges facing finance departments up to 2030.
A morning of keynotes, round tables, conferences and workshops explored themes at the heart of the function's challenges: modernizing technological tools, adapting to new regulations, performance management, strategic data exploitation, and the growing role ofartificial intelligence.
Participants were able to discover the technological solutions of our partners, including Anaplan, Board, Informatica, Jedox, Oracle, Pigment and Sage.
At this morning's event, Thomas Rousseau, CFO of Veolia Propreté France Recycling, shared a clear vision: solid, modern and intelligible finance, which is the foundation of the company.
Three imperatives at the heart of the transformation
For Thomas Rousseau, today's finance function faces a triptych of priorities:
- Regulatory - with mandatory tax-compliant electronic invoicing scheduled for 2026.
- Technological - with the need to renew aging and sometimes obsolete information systems.
- Human - with training and support for financial teams in these new tools and technologies.
So the challenge is not just to comply or invest in new systems, but to prepare employees to evolve with these changes.
Towards finance with hybrid skills
The question of hybrid profiles is currently the subject of much debate. For Thomas Rousseau, the answer lies in the belief that every finance employee must possess this dual skill set - business expertise and mastery of data.
This vision breaks with the logic of strict specialization between financiers and IT experts, and instead advocates the emergence of augmented financiers, capable of interacting directly with information systems.
I'm more in favor of each employee carrying this dual skill within him or herself, so as to be able to create links directly rather than having to manage this interaction between two different teams.
Regulations: turning constraints into opportunities
Far from seeing regulations as mere obstacles, Thomas Rousseau sees them as a strategic opportunity.
Historically, he points out, finance departments have found it difficult to obtain budgets to improve their processes, except when they can invoke a legal obligation.
Tax-compliant dematerialization, scheduled for 2026, is a perfect illustration of this lever: since processes and systems will have to be adapted, the finance department can take advantage of the opportunity to initiate broader improvements (internal processes, team training, IT modernization).
In other words, regulatory constraints become a gateway to financing and accelerating transformation.
The role of the CFO: from financier to manager
Thomas Rousseau clearly distinguishes two levels: the role of the CFO and that of the finance department.
The CFO is no longer just a numbers expert. He or she must now behave like a real manager, on a par with his or her peers, and actively contribute to the organization's major decisions in a context marked by geopolitical, technological or environmental constraints.
The finance department, for its part, must continue to produce and analyze financial data, but with greater speed and relevance. The aim: to provide the right information at the right time, without drowning your contacts in an excess of figures.
In a world where priorities change from year to year, Thomas Rousseau calls for regular "thermometer-breaking" to adjust indicators and stay relevant.
Tomorrow's finance in a nutshell: "Socle".
Asked which word best sums up his vision of tomorrow's finance, Thomas Rousseau chooses "base".
A term that reflects two essential dimensions:
- Solidity: a stable, reliable foundation on which organizations can build.
- A common language: finance that everyone can understand, free of jargon and acronyms, to become a vector of cohesion and shared understanding.
