INTHEBLACK April 2026 - Magazine - Page 45
The CFO role is shifting quickly toward AI fluency,
systems leadership and greater strategic foresight.
ESG, ethics and data governance are rapidly
becoming core elements of financial stewardship.
Accountants can future-proof their careers by developing
adaptability, curiosity and strong human skills.
In the next 24 years, the CFO
function will extend well beyond
financials to encompass AI
governance, ESG impact and
human-centred leadership in
ways that are only just beginning
to be seen.
WORDS CHRIS SHEEDY
T
he role and functions of tomorrow’s finance
leaders will look very different to those
of today. As 2050 approaches, CFOs will
be responsible for overseeing autonomous
financial systems, developing and managing highly
predictive data ecosystems, multiplying their personal
performance levels with digital twins, and coping
with increasing demands concerning ethics, strategic
leadership and sustainability.
Much of this is possible today. Ralph Khoury FCPA,
CFO of the MENA region at WPP Media, says the
relevant technology exists right now — it simply has
not been stitched together at scale.
“When you go to bed as a CFO in 2050, your digital
twin, which knows exactly what you know and how
you think, will be deployed,” he says. “So, if you are
managing markets that are outside of your normal
time zone, colleagues in those markets will have
access to your twin to be able to make decisions,
have things approved and get things done.”
This vision is far from science fiction. “You are
going to have data at your fingertips,” he says.
“You will have supercharged real-time reporting.
All of your systems will interface with anything they
need to interface with, internal or external … it will
be seamless.”
BOLD SIGNALS intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 45
