Earlier this month, ICAEW and Board Intelligence convened over 70 CFOs, CEOs, chairs and board members for our annual CFO and Board Summit at Chartered Accountants’ Hall in London.
Themed around the role of management and boards in long-term growth, and conducted under Chatham House rules, the event featured keynotes from former Unilever CFO Graeme Pitkethly, Board Intelligence CEO Pippa Begg and ICAEW CFO David Franklin.
There was also a panel discussion with Octopus Energy CFO Stuart Jackson, Macfarlane Group chair Aleen Gulvanessian, Adnams CEO Jenny Hanlon, Harwich Haven Authority CFO Jake Storey, and portfolio non-executive and former Capita CFO Patrick Butcher, followed by audience questions.
Here are some key takeaways.
“Growth is only sustainable as a byproduct of good strategy”
Revenue growth can bring many advantages to a business, growing profits when costs are fixed, introducing cultural dynamism and helping to retain talent.
It’s certainly preferable to the alternative. Some growth is required “just to stand still”, in the face of both inflation and technological evolution. As one guest put it, “The core of every business is decaying, so the question every board should be asking is, is our rate of innovation faster than our rate of decay?”
But attendees were also aware of how business growth can both drive economic prosperity and impact our shared environment – as one audience member put it, “how are we leaving behind a legacy for the next generation?”
There was a strong appreciation in the room for the nuances of long-term versus short-term growth.
“The tremendous growth of the past 50 years has been fueled by burning hydrocarbons and consuming resources. If you project that forward another 50 years, it clearly doesn’t make sense,” said one attendee. On a macroeconomic level, this means asking whether we can find a growth model that is “resource generative rather than resource consuming”.
On an individual business level, “those that are carbon positive and resource generative are the ones that will grow long-term; the others by definition can’t be long term,” so each organisation needs to consider how its sustainability strategy plays into its business growth strategy.
Several pointed to ways that sustainable business growth could go hand in hand with positive environmental and social impact, pointing to investments that reduced waste and emissions, while simultaneously either cutting operating costs or increasing revenues.
But the consensus was that this was not always easy. Supportive shareholders are a must. And as one guest put it, it’s also “a much more complex challenge to build sustainable, long-term growth than growing by doing a build-and-buy.”
“The CFO allows everyone else to sleep at night”
Guests also reflected on how the finance function had evolved. The “accountants will save the world” sentiment – popularised by Peter Bakker in the early 2010s – may have set expectations slightly too high, but there was agreement that the CFO had become a “source of creativity and an orchestrator of the organisation’s strategic position”.
One attendee said that when they started their career, finance was about reporting the past and controlling the present. Today there’s a license to be more ‘in the business’ but this depends on getting the basics of finance right: “The things that never get noticed but that mean everyone can sleep at night.”
The modern CFO also needs to communicate more effectively than before to explain the organisation’s value creation model and the ‘why’ of capital allocation.
Other changes raised included the increase in non-financial reporting, the greater need to interact effectively with board committees and a step-up in risk management and controls. “Risk management is the job of the board, but it’s the job of finance to connect it to business strategy,” as one guest explained.
“Apply to be CEO, even if you don’t get it”
Discussion later turned to career progression, including the shift from CFO to CEO. One who had made the jump to CEO advised CFOs who were uncertain to have a go: “You're still doing the day job, and that's really hard, because you want to start tinkering straight away, so you spend a lot of your life in boxes.
“But you will never damage yourself by giving yourself an opportunity. The worst that's going to happen is they give it to someone else. The actual process is quite informative. You will end up a stronger CFO as a result.”
Not everyone agreed such a move was for them, however, especially as CFOs were already broader business people now: “I never wanted to be the person in charge. I was quite happy to be the person next to them.”
One veteran also had some advice for those in their mid-career, reflecting on the value of taking perhaps unglamorous positions such as chief accountant: “Everyone wants to get to know you because you decide whether something gets into the P&L. It’s a brilliant position that comes with an instant network.”
“2024 was the year of what AI will do. 2025 has been the year of what AI is doing”
After years of buzz, the gathered leaders acknowledged that AI is starting to cut through in many business areas. “We’re at the steep part of the curve, but we have no idea how far it will go,” said one.
Europe is at risk of falling behind however, with one speaker talking about the much greater pace of adoption in the US and the Middle East.
There are direct implications for finance professionals and board members. Another attendee recommended using sandboxes to allow people to experiment for themselves. “I use four different AI agents each day,” they said. “It will change roles quite fundamentally.”
Not everyone was convinced the world was turning upside down any time soon though: “Consultancies used to talk about big data analytics. A lot of that has just been rebadged as AI.”
Past technological innovations could be a good guide for the future. “I remember the first day that we got a PC, and the first day that we got email. They were transformational but the only lingering question is around productivity, and why it feels like we’re all still working super hard everywhere. AI probably won’t answer that, but I don’t think we should be fearful about it.”
To accompany the Summit, ICAEW conducted interview-based research into how CFOs and board members viewed their role in long-term growth and their role. The findings will be published on our site in the coming weeks.
