CFO Role Expands as Growth, Transformation and AI Agendas Converge, Oliver Wyman Forum and New York Stock Exchange Survey Finds
Based on responses from nearly 500 CFOs and representing roughly 12% of global market capitalization, the study finds CFOs are taking on a broader role in shaping strategy, capital allocation, and transformation in a volatile business environment. Seven in ten CFOs rank strategy, portfolio, growth, and transformation leadership among their top three roles today, and 72% expect that responsibility to grow over the next three years. CFOs are navigating multiple mandates simultaneously, including a widening remit; the convergence of growth and cost; the need to transform the finance function; the need to scale AI effectively; and the need to redesign the workforce. Twenty-four percent of respondents cited business model disruption and competitive dynamics as the single biggest force changing their role, followed by AI, digital, and data transformation (20%) and macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility (17%).
“This research shows the CFO role is expanding from protecting value to shaping how it is created,” said
Funding growth in myriad ways is a top concern among CFOs. Nearly two-thirds (64%) prioritize growth as their top driver of shareholder value, while 60% also rank cost management among their top priorities. Capital allocation reflects this balance, with CFOs prioritizing enterprise value creation (65%), strategic fit (62%), and financial returns (58%).
While most CFOs are increasing AI investment, only 6% rank AI deployment as their top lever for driving enterprise value. Bridging the gap between spending and returns is becoming a challenge as finance leaders work to translate AI ambition into measurable outcomes.
“AI is increasingly becoming the lens through which broader leadership questions are being debated – from capital allocation and productivity to operating model and talent. For CFOs, the challenge now is not just to fund AI, but to help move their organizations from experimentation to execution. Closing that gap will depend less on investment alone than on how effectively companies redesign processes, operating models, and ways of working to turn AI into measurable outcomes,” said
The report also finds that finance transformation is becoming a permanent strategic capability rather than a one-time modernization effort, built on redesigned processes, better data flows, stronger decision support, and a different workforce model. As CFOs take on broader enterprise responsibilities, the function itself is being pushed to deliver faster decision support, stronger scenario analysis, and better operating insight.
“Finance has emerged as the connective tissue across the enterprise, linking strategy operations and performance in real time,” said Michael Zeltkevic, Oliver Wyman Managing Partner and Global Head of Capabilities. “That requires an evolution in the finance function. The CFO role is now required to be more agile, continuous and embedded in how the organization runs day to day.”
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