Navigating Uncertainty: Easing Pressure on CFOs with Intuitive Technologies 

By Elias Apel 

As 2025 gets into full swing, CFOs, their teams, and the wider business need to consider how to deal with growing day-to-day pressures. Many are turning to or considering AI tools to alleviate the burden, however the influx of tools and technologies in the market are making it harder for finance teams to know which will require a steep learning curve to adapt to, and which will manage complexity from day one.

There’s no denying that the responsibilities of finance leaders have grown immensely over the last few years. While the traditional expectations of the CFO role itself have stayed constant, leaders have been impacted by fresh regulations, geopolitical uncertainty and unstable economies. As a critical part of the C-Suite team, it’s essential that CFOs can deliver on the traditional aspects of their role while also adapting to new expectations.  

These increased demands are creating an expectation for CFOs to keep up with the pace the market is calling for in delivering wider and more complex insights. Perhaps for this reason, more CFOs are choosing to move on from their roles or retire early, leaving organisations vulnerable at a time when strategic financial leadership is critical. 

As 2025 gets into full swing, CFOs, their teams, and the wider business need to consider how to deal with growing day-to-day pressures. Many are turning to or considering AI tools to alleviate the burden, however the influx of tools and technologies in the market are making it harder for finance teams to know which will require a steep learning curve to adapt to, and which will manage complexity from day one.  

Evolving expectations for the office of the CFO  

According to a report by Russell Reynolds, CFO turnover reached a three-year high in 2024, citing in particular a spike in turnover in the technology and industrial sectors. The report also highlighted that FTSE 100 CFOs have been retiring early, likely due to the increasing industry pressures. With an IPO boom anticipated later this year, there are concerns the pressure on the office of the CFO is only set to increase.   

Alongside this, as businesses face increasing pressure, CFOs are being relied upon to help facilitate a broader set of tasks assigned to the C-Suite team. According to a survey by Egon Zehnder, CFOs have seen their responsibilities increase by 82% in the past five years, particularly in the areas of ESG (55%), M&As (44%), corporate strategy (38%) and risk management (36%). Although these outputs will have a net positive impact on the wider organisation, to deliver on what is expected of them, CFOs need to find a path to optimise the manual parts of their role that prevent them from expanding what they are able to deliver.  

The role of intuitive technologies  

While many organisations are turning to emerging technologies to address growing pressures, they must be mindful to ensure that what they implement is actually actionable by the day-to-day team and isn’t going to create more inefficiencies. It’s like adding a new state-of-the-art coffee machine in the office to boost productivity, and then the machine being too complicated to use thereby negatively impacting productivity. 

Prioritising intuitive technologies – that require minimal effort or training to obtain value from – has the potential to make a real lasting impact for leaders and their teams. These tools simplify decision making, increase efficiency and enhance accuracy. They then allow finance leaders to focus on strategic planning and long-term success – rather than being held back by the complexities of traditional reporting systems.  

On top of this, it’s important that businesses prioritise solutions that are easy to use and seamlessly integrate into the organisation. To meet the standards now expected of tools, new technologies need to talk to all parts of finance software and pull from previous data – not be deployed in silos.  

Despite this clear need for intuitive technologies, according to a Deloitte survey report, only 9% of finance teams are currently using GenAI. GenAI has intuition built into its core and can deliver on finance leader’s technology expectations, for example by processing large volumes of data quickly, but is being overlooked by many as the answer to rising burdens.  

Meeting the needs of the industry  

To remain strategic and cope with mounting pressures, the office of the CFO needs AI tools that remove the burden across multiple priorities, such as consolidation, financial planning and disclosure management support. The right tools can streamline regulatory reporting to ensure that financial operations meet evolving standards with minimal manual intervention, giving businesses the ability to adapt to any changes in reporting with ease.   

As regulations change, intuitive technologies can automatically update internal systems and processes, easing the pressure on finance leaders. Automated financial tools and advanced analytics can support finance leaders to process data, while AI-powered forecasting models help reduce manual tasks. CFOs can then take the insights generated by the tools and focus their energy on high-level tasks such as evaluating the company’s long-term financial goals, analysing market trends and making recommendations on how to ensure sustainable growth. The clear impact of these tools is two-fold, going beyond reducing the burden of repetitive manual tasks and actually allowing finance teams to rise to the challenge of generating strategic insights for the wider business. 

Organisations that prioritise intuitive technology implementation will support their finance teams, and by association leaders, and alleviate pressure, fostering a technology-driven workplace culture. This will help to dissipate the highly pressured environment currently driving leaders out of their roles, freeing up CFOs to face the strategic challenges of 2025 head on.

About the Author

After studying business administration, Elias Apel spent more than a decade working in M&A and corporate finance consulting. He first joined Lucanet in 2018 with the goal of expanding the international partner channel, and was appointed to the role of CFO in May 2022. Since October 2023, Elias has been responsible for strategy, finance, M&A and business development as Lucanet’s CEO.?