“Navigating today's rapidly evolving business and technology landscape, while difficult, is also full of opportunities,” writes Jayajyoti Sengupta, Head of Asia-Pacific and Japan. “It necessitates swapping conventional modes of control for a strategic partnership and ownership of organisational capabilities.”

Excerpts from The Business Times’ article:

“Chief financial officers (CFOs) and finance professionals are now pressed to not just protect their organisation's assets and profitability, but also mitigate risk, navigate landscapes of business uncertainty, and deliver strategic value across operations.

Truth is, CFOs are well-positioned to lead this charge. Finance functions, more than others, are privy to a business' critical data and have the capacity and capabilities to measure and manage corporate performance and promote data awareness across the organisation.

It is therefore logical for CFOs to lead efforts in adopting Big Data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) or other technologies to streamline business operation and performance.

CFOs should craft a digital roadmap for transforming various business functions and implement next-generation digital technologies and strategies, such as autonomous and assisted robotic process automation (RPA) and AI-aided analysis and processing. These digital tools enable more efficient workflows and capture data for strategic purposes. With capabilities such as these, CFOs can transform finance and accounting, giving it the speed and agility necessary to do business at a digital pace. Such abilities, coupled with finance expertise, will make the CFO organisation a trusted adviser throughout the business.”

Please click the file icon to read the full article, first published in The Business Times dated October 18, 2019.