Discover key insights from the 2025 conference, including practical approaches to AI maturity, finance’s role in building cost-conscious cultures, success tips for new CFOs, and the art of effective delegation. Sessions also explore digital controllership career paths, strategic cost optimization for lasting value, and implementing data governance that empowers AI.
2025 Conference Highlights
Resetting Financial Leadership in a Changing Economy
Session Highlights
Navigating the Hype: A Realistic Approach to AI Maturity in Finance
The idea that today’s AI technology will replace human workers in finance functions has greatly exaggerated the technology’s capabilities, and is both alarmist and leads to overinflated expectations when adopting the technology.
Currently, AI saves time and not money, delivering about a 2 hour net productivity gain per employee per week on average.
Finance has to deliver auditable financials with integrity. Blindly delegating finance’s responsibilities to an algorithm is problematic at best.
Finance’s Role in Creating a Cost-Conscious Culture
- Finance can and should influence the cost culture of an organization through its existing workflows.
Four approaches that are ingrained within finance’s workflows – budgeting, performance incentives, business partnering interactions, and on-demand cost analysis are the keys to achieving a cost-conscious culture.
Adopt and use the principles of different budget models in different functions and business units rather than using the same standardized budgeting model across the whole company.
Align cost incentives to the “what’s-in-it-for-me” (i.e., personal incentives), which range from personal payout-oriented (bonuses) to budget funding-oriented (central winbacks).
Succeeding as a New CFO
New CFOs should quickly establish priorities around two main sets of objectives: 1) enterprise performance, e.g. business growth and profitability and strategy execution and 2) finance function e.g. accounting close and budget cycle, transformation and AI use, and talent and skill development
The modern CFO role often extends well beyond traditional finance. New to role CFOs should be strategic about this, clarifying the current and desired extent of the role with company leadership.
To build strong C-suite and business leader relationships, new CFOs should consider teaming up with the CIO to lead digital strategy, fostering forward looking discussions with business leaders that focus on risk and performance drivers, and engage with the head of sales to understand and support their engagement with customers.
New Roles and Career Paths for a More Digital Controller Function
Legacy accounting roles are expected to fall from 68% in 2023 to 42% in 2028, while the numbers of technology experts and accountants with technology expertise are expected to double or more in the same period.
Controllers must identify the most relevant knowledge, skills and abilities their teams need, carefully consider what role(s) can be trained or developed in house, and what should be prioritized in hiring.
To close the gap between where the finance digital competencies are, and where they need to be, identify digital competencies that are adjacent to those with which accountants are already familiar. Leaders should also foster digitally literate accountants and advanced technology users step-by-step.
How to Create Long-Term Value with Strategic Cost Optimization
- CFOs are very focused on cost savings currently, but traditional cost structure models aren’t always the most effective to drive long term value creation. Sustained success is rare with just 11% of organizations able to keep their efforts going into a third year.
The long-term value creation of cost optimization initiatives is greatly improved by focusing efforts in a way that prioritizes and protects spending towards factors intrinsic to the organization.
Cost optimization and efficiency improvement strategies should be used for enabling costs. Enabling costs directly support mission-critical operational outcomes, and the optimization goal in this area should be to achieve a satisfactory level of performance with the minimum viable spend.
Save the date for 2026
Gartner Finance Symposium/Xpo returns to National Harbor on 27 - 29 May, 2026 with an additional day to provide even more insights and actionable takeaways for finance leaders.
Join the world's largest gathering of CFOs and finance executives.
"The conference offered solid insights and practical takeaways. It was a good opportunity to hear diverse perspectives on emerging finance trends and connect with peers across industries."
Mary Ng-Zuffante
VP Finance
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