Accenture Research Shows CFOs Play Crucial Role in Digital Transformations

According to a new study by Accenture, Chief financial officers are playing a crucial role in digital transformation by leveraging new data and analytic technologies and by assuming greater influence in decisions about technology investments. A few highlights of the study are below:

• More than 3/4  of Banking CFOs surveyed believe that driving business-wide operational transformation is part of their responsibility.
• Finance is Taking a Lead Role in Data and Analytics.  According to the research, CFOs’ biggest potential strength is the ability to harness data to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of not just the finance function, but the entire organization. 
  Banking finance executives are more likely than those in other industries to provide proactive analysis of future business scenarios throughout the. 
• Challenges Finding Finance Talent with Data and Analytics Skills.  The need for sophisticated data analysis among banking professionals is creating a new challenge: recruiting and retraining talent to execute on the analytics enabled by additional data and advanced tools. 

“Financial services CFOs are increasingly performing a difficult balancing act between managing risk and unlocking value,” Culp from Accenture said. “The use of data and the broader adoption of digital technologies offer an extraordinary opportunity, but only if the finance team – and the broader organization - have the talent, skills and resources to capitalize on them.”