This week, I was in attendance at the CFO Leadership Council’s Spring conference in Boston. Below are takeaways that include some answers to the questions I had before the event’s kickoff. These takeaways are based on the event’s panels and discussions I had with CFOs and others while I was there.
1. Collaboration efforts are focused on the CEO and human resources
As finance leaders are tasked with collaborating across their organizations, many are just beginning their efforts. While this process may seem overwhelming at first, many of the CFOs I spoke to, and those who gave speaking sessions, highlighted building relationships with the CEO and HR as a way to quickly see ROI on the time invested.
Whether it’s with the CEO to smooth operations, align strategic business planning or just to get to know them better personally, this relationship is a primary focus for many CFOs. HR collaboration is also crucial for CFOs, but for many different reasons, especially as healthcare costs continue to skyrocket and labor issues become more challenging.
“Your relationship with your CEO is probably the most important one you can have as CFO,” said Kate Jaspon, CFO of Inspire Brands (the owner of Arby's, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings and Dunkin') during her keynote. “As leaders, it gets lonelier the higher you go. Our CEO has and continues to put everything he has into this company, and that means a lot to me and us as an organization.”
2. AI hype is settling down
In conversations and panel discussions around artificial intelligence, one thing was starkly noticeable: conversations were more down-to-earth this year than they’ve been in years past. Questions were not out of fear of losing jobs or being left behind in the complete digital transformation of corporate finance, but rather about day-to-day use cases, how to be a better “prompter,” and how to govern employees' use of it.
![CFOLC East](/imgproxy/GJ_LlcdT9zHkx1odSZ-prYM2rCQuh0CSw0vFJG05fk4/g:ce/rs:fit:1600:0/bG9jYWw6Ly8vZGl2ZWltYWdlL0lNR18wMjkyLmpwZw==.webp)
AI is here to stay, that’s for sure. But, as made clear by recent data and at this event, its impact on the day-to-day life of CFOs and their teams is still minimal as long as they can control how it’s used, educate their employees on what not to do with it, and understand the challenges they face to avoid buying shelfware in the saturated AI tech market right now.
3. CFOs want new types of data to make labor decisions
While data quality is always a concern for CFOs, there seems to be a desire to obtain data points that address contemporary problems. Data from HR on the success of hires — not just the cost to hire or fill roles, but whether hires turned out to be successful employees — is information many companies lack.
With only 15% of companies growing talent from within, according to Wharton professor Peter Capelli during his speaking session, having data like this for their own company is crucial for finance leaders concerned about their future talent pool. He also mentioned it’s important for CFOs to have a plan for tragedy within the organization, and having insight into talent data can be a great help.
![Peter Capelli](/imgproxy/5_4KyQJhHWCLwZfocjncoUe1MBrHhIBLnkeZ4kG_ILw/g:ce/rs:fit:1002:480/bG9jYWw6Ly8vZGl2ZWltYWdlL1NjcmVlbnNob3RfMjAyNC0wNi0wN18xMTUwMTEuanBn.webp)
“The CEO transition is the biggest talent bet for CFOs,” said Capelli. “When we look at data from large companies when a CEO quickly steps down or dies suddenly, the share price usually goes up. CEOs are tough to get rid of, so when they leave suddenly or get hit by a bus and investors are confident in the CFO, it can result in an increase in share price. As CFOs, you don’t need their successor or your successor identified, but you do need a plan to get one if you had to.”
4. Healthcare cost concerns are growing and may impede growth
The costs of healthcare are increasingly troubling for companies looking to transition from small to medium-sized onward. Growing headcounts mean more insurance holders and dependents, which translates to higher costs for the business. Whether it’s hoping to save costs through the self-funding of plans, exploring reference-based pricing models, or offering proactive healthcare services to employees at their place of work, these are all ways in which CFOs are addressing these issues.
5. Female representation was abundant
Whether they were chief financial officers or aspiring CFOs, the days of corporate finance events being dominated by middle-aged men are over. During her keynote, Jaspon was asked about how she felt coming up as a woman and a mother of twins at such a large company within a male-dominated industry.
![Women CFOLC](/imgproxy/bFeuRuJGtkggGLTT4TmMHC_hlG90GqHgk-4cKsz8zlk/g:ce/rs:fit:1219:549/bG9jYWw6Ly8vZGl2ZWltYWdlL1dvbWVuX0NGT0xDLmpwZw==.webp)
“For me, it was about owning my seat at the table,” she said. “I was also a lot younger than those around me, and I had some imposter syndrome at some points. Now, I realize a lot of it was in my own head... [now] I focus on just hiring the best people, and through that, we are diverse in many different ways. I think it’s important for us as leaders that once you get your seat and own it, you have to hold the door open for others behind you.”
Her thoughts on work-life balance as a mother and CFO are also worth noting:
“I don’t think there’s such a thing as work-life balance,” she said. “Some days, family takes a bulk of the time; other days, work does. I think it comes down to the team around you and being able to support each other to ensure there is a balance between taking care of personal stuff and work stuff. Boundaries are really important — I don’t travel the week of my kids’ birthdays; that’s a non-negotiable for me.”
6. Keynotes spoke very little about finance and accounting
When I asked his thoughts about how the event went, CFO Leadership Council President Jack McCullough said it best:
“One thing I liked this year that I hope we can continue at our Dallas event is that our keynote speakers didn’t talk about finance and accounting. It was all about being a better leader, being a better strategist, partnering with the CEO and these are things we need to keep reinforcing. I think CFOs get it, and CEOs get it, but I’m not quite sure the rest of the business gets the importance of these things. They still think of the CFO as reporting history instead of making history. I think we did an excellent job of making that clear here, and hopefully, we can continue to do so in Dallas in the Fall.”