Finance Skills in the AI Era: What Skills Are Needed in Finance Today?

Growth, transformation, and business strategy are among the many—and always growing—responsibilities of today’s finance leader. But for leaders to further those goals and meet the needs of their organizations, it may require taking a step back to focus on the basics and strengthen their finance skills.

We asked CFOs from around the globe what corporate finance skills are essential for leaders seeking to become—as the role demands—future-ready. Their collective expertise and input add up to a finance skill set and professional development plan that includes:

• Developing agility and a growth mindset.
• Building strategic foresight and data leadership.
• Achieving digital and artificial intelligence (AI) fluency.
• Strengthening change management.
• Enhancing communications and collaboration.

Every finance leader is part of a team that’s integral to the success of the business, so we’ve also included recommendations for developing their team’s finance skills for the future, as well as strategies to counter the ongoing finance talent shortage.

CFO Insights: Building a Future-Ready Finance Skill Set

Explore key skills global CFOs say are essential for finance leaders and their organizations to contend with economic volatility and drive growth.

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How Can Finance Leaders Foster Agility and a Growth Mindset?

We’re past the days when finance leaders could stick to the numbers and be reactive instead of proactive. Now, organizations count on them to know about the entire business beyond finance. They must see challenges coming, explain business impacts, guide strategies and growth, and prepare other top leaders to do the same. As Victor Domingos, CFO at SAP Concur, observes: “A growth mindset has to be there if you’re aspiring to a C-suite role.”

Steps to Become Agile and Growth-minded

• Review past decisions for lessons learned and dedicate time to shadow other experts, listen to podcasts, read books, and attend webinars that expand your view beyond the finance function.
• Advise in a cross-functional initiative and create a forum for business teams to share lessons from projects and experiments. They’re both venues to model a growth mindset.
• Broaden metrics to include success indicators that demonstrate agility, such as time to market and product lead time, and their impact on the business.

How Can Finance Leaders Develop Strategic Foresight and Data Leadership?

Economic volatility is a fixture of late, and finance leaders are counted on to see risks and opportunities coming—and move quickly. Leaders must strengthen corporate finance skills that build foresight and speed, such as scenario planning and simulations. They also must turn fast-evolving data into actionable insights that fuel decision-making across the organization, and provide their team the training and tools, including AI, to deliver on that mission.

Ways to Become More Strategic, Data-fueled, and Forward-thinking

• Track two or three industry-critical trend indicators, standardize KPIs and reporting tools, and implement a standard dashboard for budgeting, cash flow, and expenses.
• Develop scenario models for annual planning, bolster your team’s finance skills in AI-fueled scenario planning, and use simulations to test major decisions.
• Make a “future watch” section part of leadership meetings and create a foresight council that shapes the organization’s strategy.

How Can Finance Leaders Become Digitally Fluent and AI-Ready?

It’s difficult for leaders to take advantage of all the ways in which AI is changing finance if they don’t understand the technology and how to implement it. For the sake of their companies and careers, leaders must go to school on intelligent tools, model digital fluency, and help close the AI knowledge gap that concerns 74% of CEOs.

Learning to Take Advantage of AI and Automation

• Take a course in automation and AI skills for finance from a business school or other professional institution.
• Partner with IT to automate a manual business process, test AI tools for forecasting and spend analytics, and train your team on how to improve AI prompts and interpret and verify results.
• Build a finance-wide AI strategy aligned with your organization’s digital roadmap, and institute governance for ethical and compliant use.

How Can Finance Leaders Manage and Lead Through Change?

A forward-thinking leader is expected to drive change instead of just tolerating it. They’ve become skilled in change management and ensuring employees, systems, and strategy are aligned. “Things are changing rapidly,” says Sonja Simon, CFO at SAP Americas. “As finance leaders, we need to continuously reinforce with our team that they have to be comfortable with this uncertainty and also reward them for taking risks.”

How to Strengthen Change Management in Your Organization

• Make clear why a change is needed and regularly include staff in shaping initiatives.
• Develop change management playbooks—including communication plans—and work with HR and IT to align training, incentives, and systems.
• Create a finance-led transformation steering group.

How to Improve Communication and Other Soft Finance Skills

In order to drive change and growth across their organization, today’s leaders must be adept in soft financial skills such as building relationships, collaborating, and communicating with fellow leaders and other teams. The ability to clearly explain results to board members is, in fact, a finance skill that leaders think boards value even higher than financial expertise – 39% vs. 31%.

Strategies for Improving Communication and Collaboration

• Explain financial updates through business impact and not just numbers.
• Assess stakeholders’ priorities and tailor communications to each audience.
• Mentor future leaders in how to become emotionally intelligent and build influence.
• Establish a common language and goals by leading cross-functional efforts that align programs and people.

You Can’t Build Success Without Building the Team’s Financial Skills

A growth mindset, strategic foresight, data leadership, digital and AI fluency, change management, and communications are all valuable finance skills for an individual leader to have. But their full business impact cannot be realized without the support of your team.

So, in addition to improving your own finance skills, leaders should concentrate on Building a Future-Focused Finance Team to prepare for what’s ahead, as well as contend with the ongoing finance talent shortage. Let’s conclude by touching on key ways leaders can make professional development not just a personal project but a team effort.

Train with Internal and External Courses and Experts

• Create a training plan combining internal learning modules and external courses.
• Engage outside expertise for highly specialized finance skills.
• Leverage internal experts to lead workshops and participate in mentoring programs.
• Collaborate with other teams to enhance cross-functional skills.

Emphasize Automation, Data Management, and Integration

• Automate repetitive manual processes to free employees for strategic work.
• Train your team in advanced data management.
• Consider a single platform for travel and expense management that integrates with other finance systems and business processes.

Focus on More than Cost Savings and Productivity

• Develop AI fluency and adoption by looking beyond gains in productivity and savings to increases in new ideas and insights.
• Communicate to your team that the intent is to tap AI to replace mundane tasks, not their jobs.

Attract Young Talent with Tech and Growth Opportunities

• Promote opportunities for career development and mentorship.
• Work with HR and IT to improve the workplace user experience, including offering flexible and hybrid work options.
• Highlight the state-of-the-art tech and tools your business has adopted to align with candidate expectations.

FAQ: Building Future-Ready Finance Leadership and Teams

1. How Can Finance Leaders Develop Agility and a Growth Mindset?

Finance leaders must go beyond the numbers to anticipate challenges, guide strategy, and prepare others to do the same. Reviewing past decisions, engaging in cross-functional projects, and broadening metrics to include agility indicators help foster a proactive, growth-oriented mindset.

2. What Steps Can Strengthen Strategic Foresight and Data Leadership?

Building foresight means using scenario planning, simulations, and trend tracking to identify risks and opportunities early. Leaders should standardize KPIs, implement dashboards, and create “future watch” discussions or councils that guide organizational strategy through data-driven insights.

3. How Can Leaders Become Digitally Fluent and AI-ready?

To lead effectively in the digital era, finance executives need to understand automation and AI. Taking executive-level courses, testing AI tools for forecasting and analytics, and instituting ethical AI governance can help close the leadership knowledge gap and prepare teams for intelligent technology.

4. How Should a Leader Manage and Lead Through Change?

Driving change requires clear communication, inclusive planning, and strong alignment across departments. Creating change management playbooks, collaborating with HR and IT, and forming finance-led transformation groups support successful transformation.

5. Why Are Communication and Collaboration Critical Soft Finance Skills?

Effective communication helps leaders translate numbers into business impact and influence decision-making. By tailoring messages, mentoring future leaders, and leading cross-functional initiatives, finance executives can build trust and alignment across the organization.

6. How Can Leaders Build a Future-focused Finance Team?

Investing in professional development, AI skills for finance, and automation frees teams for strategic work. Promoting mentoring, collaboration, and career growth helps attract and retain skilled finance talent for the future.