TECHNOLOGY
DATA AND ANALYTICS
Not quite Laurel and Hardy, but almost; the pair are seldom seen without each other. Data is currently serving as the star of debates in CFO circles about predictive vs reflective reporting, automation talks and, of course, the centrepiece of any C-suite strategy plan. The numbers don’ t lie; however, it takes a master controller to turn a few ones and zeros into a clear, meaningful strategy.“ As the stewards of corporate strategy, CFOs are thinking about AI in two ways: how it can help finance teams become more effective, and what risks need to be managed before AI has a material impact on the business,” says Ed Hardy, US Finance Services Leader at Deloitte, exclusively to Finance Chief. AI is becoming a central boardroom feature, precisely because it can automate easily. Talks about gen AI and agentic AI may focus on customer journey and procurement, while plain AI started out by automating simple tasks using vast amounts of valuable data.“ Deloitte’ s latest CFO Signals Spotlight report showed 59 % of CFOs said balancing business pressures to deploy AI quickly while adequately managing risks is the greatest challenge in developing effective AI governance frameworks. That suggests the issue may not be slow adoption, rather acknowledgement that guardrails need to keep pace with the potential to scale AI,” says Ed. financechief. com 89