CFOs today are no longer the book keepers of a company but more the Chief Future Officers, who through their strategies enable companies to add scale, precision and growth despite challenges. The 2nd edition of the Financial Express CFO Connect Conclave, held in Mumbai brought together these custodians of strategy and delved on the changing dynamics today.
Understanding who the CFO is?
Nilesh Shah, Group President & Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company, set the discussion rolling by addressing the CFO of today as “a goalkeeper. No one remembers them for the goals saved but people will remember the goals they allowed to be scored. A CFO has many responsibilities. Not only do they have to handle accounting, compliance and many other related aspects but also capital allocation. More companies have failed because their CFO was so good in providing finance instead of capital allocation. Effective capital allocation differentiates quality companies from momentum plays.”
Jay Galla, Co-Founder & Chairman, Amara Raja Group, highlighted the changing dynamics and reiterated why the CFO’s role is gaining significance by comparing the difference from earlier times, “Earlier the job of a CFO was a financial controller. Now he is no longer a controller but more of an enabler with a financial and strategic vision. They have a broad vision as they deal with a number of stakeholders and that is important. If something is wrong with the perception of stakeholders, that will affect the valuation. Valuation is purely based on perception and perception is based on facts. Ultimately it is sentiment and perception that drives the stock market especially in India, more than any other hard facts.”
Ameera Shah, Promoter and Executive Chairperson, Metropolis Healthcare shared her inputs from a promoters perspective and said that there is “Need to understand the value drivers in the business and the ability to know every cost and revenue and how it all ties in is very important as a CFO. The ability to evolve capability is most important.”
CFOs beyond balance sheet
CFOs today do not just keep an eye on the balance sheet. As Ravi Chawla, Managing Director And Chief Executive Officer, Gulf Oil Lubricants India highlighted that their “primary objective is to create value. CFOs and CEOs/promoters need to align goals and partners in growth. That is what will ensure the next level of growth.”
The day-long conclave sought to address various aspects of a CFO’s role through many angles. Eminents panels of CFOs discussed and debated various topics. In the panel discussion titled, Tech & AI In Financial Processes: The need of the hour.
Amit Agrawal, CFO & COO, Lockton India; Raghupati Mishra, CFO, Liberty Steel Groups; Sudhanshu Jain, Chief Financial Officer & Head – Corporate Centre, IDFC First Bank; Sameer Patel, Chief Financial Officer (CFO –BK India), Restaurant Brands Asia and Vishal Haikerwal, Business Transformation Leader, Applications, Oracle India highlighted how tech is changing business practices and why it is the need of the hours.
According to Sudhanshu Jain- CFO & Head-Corporate Centre, IDFC First Bank, “CFOs are important in driving strategy. Application of AI in finance functions is crucial in that context. Generative AI is the big buzz now. You can now extend analysis to unstructured data using it. The quality of data however still needs to be looked into. Cautious implementation is important at the moment.”
Param Reddy, CFO, TAFE, pointed out, “Right execution of the strategy is most important. This is what makes the difference. Good frameworks around enterprise risk management help the CFO’s ultimate execution initiative. A sense of collaboration across teams is crucial too to ensure an easy ride.” He was part of the panel that debated Balancing growth & profitability- The new imperatives and the others speakers in the panel include Deepesh Baxi, CFO & Wholetime Director, Castrol India and Yogesh Udhoji, Chief Financial Officer, Muthoot Housing
This apart, Vyom Doshi – CFO, AZB & Partners shared the CFO’s insights from a leading law firm and the challenges and opportunities therein.
CFOs of 2025: Balancing the long & short-term priorities
There were also detailed discussions on various other topics like balancing the long & short-term priorities and the speakers included Abhinav Jain, Chief Financial Officer, CoinDcx; Rajendran Arunachalam,Group CFO, Thermax; Rahul Tewari, Chief Financial Officer, Games24x7 and Vikas Jalan, CFO, PayNearby.
Anooj Mishra, Business Transformation Leader, Applications, Oracle India; Amit Malpani, Chief Financial Officer, Edelweiss AMC; Deepal Shah, Group Chief Financial Officer, AllCargo Logistics; Mandeep Mehta, CFO, PB Fintech and Rahul Y Mahashabde, Group CFO/ Group Finance Controller, Forbes Marshall discussed Digital transformation & investing for insights.
Meanwhile Chirag Mavani, CFO, The Souled Store; Ian Desouza, CFO, National Stock Exchange of India and Kaleeswaran Arunachalam, CFO, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals addressed Ethics, governance & sustainability angles.
The event was powered by Oracle and the Supporting Partner was FINALYZER.