INTHEBLACK April 2026 - Magazine - Page 48
“Today, if you are running SAP, its output is your
responsibility. I see it the same way once we are
all using AI. Its output will be our responsibility.”
F E AT U R E
RALPH KHOURY FCPA, WPP MEDIA
Ryan has spent much of her career in the not-forprofit sector, where ethical decision-making is tightly
interwoven with organisational purpose. She agrees
that the human side of management will become
increasingly important in the future workplace.
“Because my work and my personal values
are ethics based … integrity has to be one
of my strongest values,” she says. “Even if that
means you have to say no to the chair or the CEO.”
For Ryan, this depth of human stewardship
is what will separate tomorrow’s CFOs.
HUMAN STRATEGISTS
Human connection will matter more as the profession
moves into an era dominated by intelligent machines,
Ryan believes. Despite, or perhaps because of,
the complexity and capability of future systems,
strong links and communication between people
will become more important for business success.
“CFOs will need the ability to understand the
new generations coming through, and appreciate
how remarkable they are,” she says. “To be great
managers of people, finance leaders must also
spend time learning about themselves and becoming
more self-aware. Through that, they will learn to be
resilient and thrive in uncertainty.”
Of course, this is not in lieu of managing the
core finance functions within the organisation,
but in addition to those functions. The core finance
responsibilities will be almost entirely strategic,
a direction they may already be heading in today.
Ryan has shifted RSL Queensland’s finance
culture from backward-looking compliance to
forward-looking strategy.
“I think the game has already lifted for CFOs,”
she says. “All quality conversations should now
48 INTHEBLACK APRIL 2026 SPECIAL EDITION
be about strategic finance.”
Tools powered by technologies such as AI will simply
enhance that communication, rather than replace it.
“Technology should help you articulate better.
It should help you simplify the complex,” Ryan says.
“You’ve got these tools and an increasing abundance
of data. It will be your role to simplify it and tell
stories in ways that help committees and boards
make critical decisions.”
ETHICS IN THE AI AGE
Navigating ethics in a data-driven world is another
area of increasing complexity for future CFOs.
As with the management of change and the ability
to communicate clearly, ethics is also a very human
challenge, says Nicole Gorton, regional director
at recruitment agency Robert Half and a specialist
recruiter in the CFO market.
The future CFO’s responsibilities are increasingly tied
to the implications of automation, data collection and
AI adoption, she says, as well as to conflicts of interest.
“As AI relates to financial data — ‘How do we
use it? How do we protect it?’ — that will fall to the
role of the CFO.”
When organisations are innovating and operating
with such technologies, there must be appropriate
checks and balances in place to ensure a level
of transparency, clarity and understanding, as well
as to help eliminate unethical behaviour.
The responsibility for these checks and balances
will lie with the CFO, often working closely with the
chief information officer where additional technical
support or guidance is needed.
While this oversight grows and as CFOs are
increasingly responsible for developing, explaining,
implementing and enforcing the various levels
