What’s next for finance? Emerging trends for CFOs

The only constant is change. For CFOs facing uncertainty, that saying has never been more relevant. Finance leaders aren’t just dealing with tracking inflation, assessing resilience, managing risks, and creating effective links between finance and business strategy. They’re also expected to integrate automation and AI into teams that can withstand a new era of finance.

But by leaning into this challenge, financial change-makers ensure stability and sustainable growth. In The CFO’s Playbook for 2025, we uncovered some emerging trends helping finance leaders achieve just that. We spoke with finance professionals across Europe to discover how they’re creating a new era of financial stability. 

From finding technology that frees up the time needed for strategic thinking, to updating treasury functions, embracing the changing face of finance, or finding the right way to harness the power of AI, these trends can make the difference between a business surviving, or thriving.

Change-makers are the key to success

Across Europe, CFOs feel empowered to become business change-makers. Unlike previous years, they’re now recognised as strategic partners, with our report finding that 37% of CFOs are working on more high-level business strategies compared to five years ago.

But as financial decision-makers, they’re facing more pressure than ever before. CFOs are balancing additional responsibilities across hiring and HR while also stress-testing financial health, building teams that can cope with the new world of finance, and honing the skills they need to drive change. It’s a lot.    

“As we move into 2025, businesses will continue to face uncertainty, and for finance teams, this means doubling down on financial and risk planning to navigate potential surprises. One of my key priorities for 2025 is effectively managing this uncertainty while balancing offensive and defensive strategies and fostering greater collaboration across departments to break down silos. This is how businesses can maintain a clear view of their financial health and be the first to know when and if they need a booster shot.” —Søren Westh Lonning, CFO, Pleo

Key takeaway: The right technology can help CFOs reduce manual work, leaving more time for strategic thinking. It also uncovers data-driven insights that support business resiliency.

It’s time to change treasury

Treasury has always been a key function of finance, even more so as businesses grow and finances become more complicated. At the same time, worldwide economies and geopolitical factors are increasingly volatile. Now, treasury departments can’t only think about cash flow management; they also need to consider how to mitigate risks and boost business agility.

And that’s not always the case. Our report found that while most organisations have high levels of confidence in their treasury functions, confidence in financial agility is low. In fact, 42% of businesses aren’t confident they have enough visibility to make informed decisions while also remaining reactive to key financial events.

“If businesses want to develop greater financial strategy and agility, they must evolve the treasury function. Change-makers don’t spend their time on manual tasks; they spend their time identifying spend patterns and making their excess cash work harder. The sooner businesses equip them with the tools to make this possible, the quicker they’ll experience the results.” —Amit Kahana, Head of Credit, Treasury and Cash Management

Key takeaway: One of the best ways for treasury departments to boost financial agility is to focus on visibility. Real-time information combined with a single overview of accounts, currencies, and wallets can help treasury make informed, proactive decisions.

Finance teams are evolving

Finance teams are changing. CFOs are expected to contribute to more high-level business strategies, but they also need to build finance teams that can withstand the future. With such a strong focus on AI, it’s no surprise our report found that 65% of all businesses say they expect to place more focus on AI and tech skills when hiring for finance teams.

But, these skills must be combined with soft skills like teamwork and flexibility. It’s only by blending hard and soft skills that finance leaders can build teams that can keep up with the new world of finance: teams that can quickly and accurately analyse data, but also communicate with empathy. 

“Skills such as problem-solving are very important but cannot be prioritised at the expense of people skills. For CFOs and finance leaders, half the job of a successful financial strategy is communicating it; and being heard. This is the missing link between leaders and business accelerators; between those finance leaders that colleagues feel comfortable hearing from and those they feel comfortable conversing with.” —Martin Cerullo, CPeO, Pleo

Key takeaway: Hiring employees with the right blend of hard and soft skills ensures finance teams remain competitive, while also being fully prepared for the challenges of the year ahead.  

Avoiding AI overload  

Artificial intelligence has changed the face of many business functions, and finance is no exception. But are finance departments harnessing the power of AI in the right way? Possibly not. Our report found that 65% of finance teams using AI extensively say the overload of digital tools sends them back to manual tools like spreadsheets and calculators.

The right way to use AI

One of the best ways to use AI is to eliminate manual tasks, but only 30% of finance teams currently use AI in this way. At the same time, the biggest barrier to CFOs becoming change-makers is too much manual work and not enough time. Some of the best ways finance teams can use AI to free up time include:

• Expense management: Reducing manual data entry by automatically categorising transactions.
• Cash flow forecasting: Predicting liquidity trends using data, allowing proactive financial planning.
• Reconciliation tools: Instantly matching invoices to payments, reducing errors and saving time. 

“The time for cautious observation has passed, and the next 12 months will likely determine which finance teams emerge as leaders in the AI-enabled future. Those who act now, with clear strategy and purpose, will find themselves not just participating in the AI race, but helping to define its course.” —Pri Nagashima, VP of Data, Analytics and AI, Pleo

Key takeaway: Finance leaders need to prioritise tools that support decision-making at speed. Tools that offer real-time information, plus seamless integration, will become a vital way for CFOs to cut out the manual work, empowering them to become change-makers, not number crunchers.  

The future of finance

From struggling to get a seat at the top table, CFOs are now seen as strategic partners with the power to create sustainable business success. But to achieve this, they need the right blend of people and technology by their side. 

The trends we’ve highlighted above are a great way for CFOs to embrace the future of finance, but if you’re ready for more insights, download a full copy of The CFO’s Playbook for 2025.