It’s no secret that CFOs are juggling full plates.
Along with managing finance transformations and reporting on company performance, CFOs need to stay on top of shifting regulations and evolving industry trends. It means that finance is no longer just about numbers — it’s about insight and foresight.
Today, technology is reshaping how CFOs do business – think ERP systems, BI dashboards, data analytics, and increasingly, artificial intelligence (AI).
While technology is inarguably valuable for CFOs, the question is, how much technical depth do you need as an aspiring CFO? Furthermore, which skills will set you apart as technology continues to redefine the role?
These are the questions at the centre of Robert Half’s latest session of the Aspiring CFO Series. This session explored insights from Tim Fawaz (CEO, Craveable Brands), Sally Keller (CFO, DermCo) and Kausalia Apparao (CFO, Hall & Prior Health and Aged Care Group).
Tim draws upon a wealth of experience for his current role as Interim Group Chief Executive Officer of Craveable Brands (owner of Oporto and Red Rooster). Previously serving as the company’s CFO, Tim has had an enduring career spanning multiple C-suite roles in businesses such as Moelis Australia Hotel Management, City Chic Collective Ltd, EziBuy and Big W.
Boasting more than 25 years of experience as a finance executive, Sally boasts a stellar international reputation in sectors such as healthcare, environmental services, retail, media and technology. She has been a key partner in businesses such as Pollination Group, Climate Asset Management, Healius, Johnson and Johnson Singapore, and Deutsche Bank. Sally is a member of CPA and was the recipient of the University Medal at UNSW.
Kausalia is a seasoned finance and governance professional with over 25 years of post-CA experience. She holds 20 years of experience in senior leadership roles across global seafood manufacturing and the health and aged care sectors. Her expertise spans financial strategy, governance, and information and communication technology leadership. With a strategic approach to change management, Kausalia consistently leverages technology as a key enabler, helping organisations to modernise operations, enhance service delivery, and build resilient, future-ready systems.
Together with Pascale Desplentere (Associate Director, Robert Half), these subject matter experts deliver a not-to-be-missed conversation, providing firsthand insights into navigating the intersection of finance and technology.
Pascale draws on nearly two decades of recruitment expertise and an abundant knowledge of workplace trends. Uniquely poised to provide extensive insights into financial projects relating to system implementations, transformation, M&A, and process improvement, she says, “Technology is now inseparable from finance.”
For aspiring CFOs, it’s more important than ever to know how to use technology, but also how to translate it into commercial outcomes. Because, as this conversation proves, tech fluency defines today’s high-impact CFO.
Turning data into commercial insight
If you’re an aspiring CFO, you might be asking, “What are technical skills in finance that I need to secure the top job?”
According to Sally Keller, early experiences with technology can drive future career directions. Looking back on her own journey, Sally says technology played an “absolutely critical” role in her first CFO role at Johnson and Johnson.
She says, “The CEO and I were flying blind - we had no financial information, no operational information, no KPIs. The team coming through finance had forgotten who their customer was.”
Reflecting on the process of building BI dashboards and daily performance reports, Sally explains how “game-changing” these tools were for her as a CFO, and for the wider business.
“After engaging a consultant to build the system, it became quite clear who in the business was doing well, and who were our best and most important customers. Then we could package up certain things, and that's how we won business.”
“We had to reorganise the sales force into a customer-facing, rather than product-facing, model. It was a huge change, and that's part of the reason why I was put into that role,” says Sally.
Audience members posed the question, “Is it my job as a CFO to make sure that I'm on top of the latest systems?”
Sally’s answer was, “not necessarily”.
“I often get asked, ‘What are technical skills in finance that are non-negotiable for a CFO?’ Sure, it’s good to be abreast of new and emerging systems; however, it’s knowing how to use them that counts.”
“Ultimately, it’s my job to make sure that the system I'm using is on top of the latest rules and regulations, so that, from a liability standpoint, the directors of the company I am working for are covered.”
Sally emphasises that, along with navigating technology, modern CFOs must interpret data to tell the “so what” behind the numbers.
“Financial data cannot truly be explained without operational data. Drilling down into operational data reveals what's happening behind the financial numbers,” she says.
“BI tools are fabulous, but you have to manage that data. It’s not a set-and-forget - you have to make sure of the data integrity.”
To that end, Sally encourages all aspiring CFO’s to have some competency with BI tools. In her words, “it’s a must”.
“You definitely need to know how to use BI. If you don't know how to use it, you should take some courses,” says Sally.
Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to technology and commercial insights. As Sally reiterated, it can be the sign of a truly competent CFO.
Sally says, “As an aspiring CFO, it’s important to understand the value that future employers are likely to place on your ability to navigate technology and make sense of data. To put it simply, it’s crucial.”
“I’ve seen firsthand how these capabilities feed into business growth. Reflecting on my own career journey, I know that these skills allowed me to make smarter, sharper choices for my businesses. I was able to be agile, make data-driven decisions, and boost forecasting accuracy. I certainly don’t think my trajectory would have been the same without these fundamental skills.”
Why ERP implementation experience matters
The panel was asked, ‘What are technical skills in finance that can be career-defining?’
Tim and Kausalia were quick to note the importance of ERP projects, encouraging all aspiring CFOs to put their hand up for one.
Kausalia credits an ERP project for paving the way for her professional success.
She says, “Every CFO has an early moment where technology plays a critical role in their career, potentially even paving the road from accountant to CFO.”
“I was on maternity leave from my role in a fisheries business when I was appointed to lead the ERP project for the company.”
Kausalia says the number one problem she was required to solve was profitability in a sector where variances in price and exchange rate can impact results across global markets.
“I documented the requirements for the CFO and worked out a technology solution with a data warehouse to capture all the data. I also created reports that showed the data in plain English to the senior managers.”
With a focus on delivering technology-driven solutions to drive profitability, Kausalia says this early learning experience was invaluable.
“I was using analytical work to find answers to problems faster for the commercial managers. Leading this ERP integration helped to empower me to be a competent CFO.”
Similarly, Tim believes that ERP projects teach resilience.
“It teaches you about stakeholder management because change is really difficult for people. And it teaches skills like understanding the stakeholders' wants and needs, and the value of communicating,” he says.
“It's a valuable experience to have as it teaches you lots of skills. Navigating stakeholders is so important when you're a CFO, including managing boards, accounts payable clerks and business units. This type of project experience is ideal because of the sheer breadth of skills it fosters.”
Tim says you can’t discount the value of ERP projects.
“I wholeheartedly believe that these projects help to foster resilience, process efficiency, and cross-functional leadership – all essential skills for any aspiring CFO. Ultimately, CFO candidates need that calm, sensible mindset – a level of clarity and an ‘every problem has a solution’ mindset. These projects will help to cultivate that.”
Considering whether to take on a new project?
Be sure to take on Kausalia’s advice: “Do pick up tech projects because it is your future.”
Bridging IT and finance: The CFO as technology partner
Let us help you find your next CFO
Tim is a firm believer in the power of technology within the finance function.
He says, “We’re dealing with a significant amount of data – much more now compared to when I started. I ask myself, ‘How effective am I at getting cut through on the information available so that I can make decisions based on imperfect information?’”
“I’ve learnt that technology is a true enabler for efficiency, productivity, and understanding what’s really going on in the business.”
In his current role at Craveable Brands, Tim oversees the company’s IT department. When asked if CFOs should take responsibility for IT, Tim says the answer is nuanced.
“It varies based on the skill set, the appetite of the CEO to let the reins go to the CFO, and the size of the company,” says Tim.
“We (Craveable Brands) are a mid-sized enterprise. It makes sense for us to have middle-credentialled people running areas like IT. But it can also depend on the skills of the business and sometimes the quality of the CFO.”
“I don't think every CFO is suited – or every enterprise is suited – for the CIO to report to the CFO,” says Tim.
Tim explains that part of a CFO’s role is to align tech investment with commercial strategy, lead cross-functional collaboration, manage vendors, and drive accountability.
To that end, overseeing the IT department is often a very sensible approach.
“The CFO adds value – we get a lot of requests for proposals. We're looking at costs and technology. And when I can see things aren't working – because the customers in a franchise are pretty vocal – my engagement with IT means I can ask ‘Have you looked at this?’, ‘Have you considered that?’, or ‘Have you talked to someone?’”
“IT is becoming a customer-centric business – one that sees companies rely on software vendors. I don't even think you necessarily need a highly technical information officer because the skill is changing in this area as well,” Tim says.
Building a data-first finance function beyond Excel
If you think exceeding at Excel is your ticket to a CFO role, think again.
As all panellists agreed, building a data-first finance beyond Excel is the true marker of a results-oriented CFO.
As Tim explained, “anyone can look at a P&L and say it's not performing or it's performing. But our job is the ‘so what’.”
“A strong financial professional stands out by stitching together discrete pieces of information to tell a story around the data. From there, points can be pulled out to help management understand what needs to happen to get a poorer performing business into the top performing cohort.”
Good-quality reporting is essential, and it’s something all the panellists encouraged aspiring CFOs to pursue.
Tim says, “The first step in this process is to engage with the business, be an active listener, and seek to understand what the business needs to join the dots. Talk to your customer base, understand what information they need to really tell that story."
“The days of just providing a P&L with variance analysis are gone. You've got to actively seek and understand, and be curious. That's where you're adding real value to the business.”
BI tools such as Power BI and Cognos are instrumental in creating a data-first finance function.
As Sally stressed, it’s something that can sharpen an aspiring CFO’s competitive edge.
“Put it this way, if I were hiring a CFO, I would prioritise a candidate with Power BI skills. If I had someone saying, ‘I've done this before, I can build it, or I can outsource it and manage it,’ that would give me confidence that I'll be able to get my efficiency metrics so that I can see what's happening within the business.”
Kausalia reflected on her experience with optimising the reporting in her business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She says, “When COVID happened, we started going into digital. The business expanded in a massive way, and we didn’t have data warehousing or a BI stream. We didn’t have the budget for it because it was a time when aged care was struggling.”
With the help of the Robert Half team, Kausalia was able to find the right professional to execute the business needs within her budget.
“I told the Robert Half team I was looking for someone young and driven – someone who we could mould and work with. We ended up finding a specialist who didn’t have a degree, but who was able to build a Power BI using an Excel report from our accountant. This has formed the Power BI suite of reporting that we still use today,” Kausalia says.
While technology can seem overwhelming, it’s important to be realistic about what is required of CFOs.
Many aspiring CFOs often assume that they need to be tech experts, knowing everything from coding to cybersecurity.
Pascale says this is not the case.
“Sure, technology has become central to the CFO role (think ERP projects, dashboards and AI), but being a tech expert won’t necessarily make you a better CFO.”
“Ultimately, the role centres on strategic financial leadership rather than technical execution. So, while you don’t need coding skills, you must understand data integrity, governance, and how systems interconnect,” Pascale says.
“As I always tell my clients, success isn’t about being the most technical person in the room. It’s about knowing how to lead change and make data meaningful.”
The human side of tech leadership
In the current age of AI, digital systems, and automation, it can be tempting for aspiring CFOs to focus solely on building technical skills.
As the panellists pointed out, it is far more important to balance technical skill with people leadership and purpose.
High-performing CFOs don’t stand out because they can code or because they can roll out a new system; they stand out because they can lead people through change.
According to the panellists, this distinctly human trait is the real differentiator in the digital era.
As thought leaders in their respective fields, they all agreed that the strongest CFOs possess four key traits:
1. Curiosity – the instinct to delve into the “who”, the “what”, the “why”, and the “how”.
2. Communication skills – the ability to interpret the story behind the numbers and translate it clearly for every stakeholder.
3. Stakeholder management skills – the power to align teams and foster trust across different functions.
4. Mentorship capabilities – the strength to lift others as they lead.
As Kausalia put it: “If you can’t measure what your team is doing, you can’t sustain change.”
The greatest CFOs acknowledge that data and people are intertwined—and that sustainable progress comes from combining both with consideration and intention.
So, if you’re an aspiring CFO asking ‘What are technical skills in finance that I need?’, know that mastering technology matters. However, mastering the human side of technology is what will set you apart.
AI and the future-ready CFO
View the 2024 discussion on the role of technology in finance
In 2025, AI is commonly referenced when aspiring CFOs ask, “What are the technical skills in finance that I need?”
What was the panel’s verdict?
Sally’s advice was to learn AI like CFOs once learned Excel.
“I’d encourage all finance professionals to understand and harness AI – it’s an opportunity for the next generation.”
She says, “If you can master AI and add value, and make the job of the CFO easier, you are going to be very interesting to people when you're sitting in the interview – and you will be at the top of the pile.”
Kausalia agreed, but cautioned that AI should be used as a research and productivity tool, not a replacement for judgment.
She also discussed the cultural implications of AI within a CFO’s team.
“CFOs today will have young people, often Gen Zs, in their team. Many will already be tech-savvy. If a CFO doesn’t know AI, they won't be able to meet these people or retain staff,” she says.
As the panel emphasised, CFOs who embrace AI and automation will lead transformation, not react to it.
With nearly twenty years of recruitment experience, Pascale knows exactly what it takes for CFOs to leave a lasting impact (and a lasting legacy).
She says success isn’t about being the most technical person — it’s about connecting technology to outcomes.
“The best CFOs connect technology to business outcomes, showing boards and teams the ‘so what’ behind the numbers.”
According to the panellists, modern businesses are seeking ‘so what’ CFOs – leaders who are curious, agile, and adaptable.
The finance function is evolving, and the CFOs who embrace technology will be the ones who stay relevant and in demand.
Stay tuned for our next session of the Aspiring CFO Series, where we deliver more essential advice for financial visionaries. In the meantime, you can explore more of the Aspiring CFO Series here.
Would you like to connect with consultants for advice on hiring technology-driven finance leaders? Contact your local Robert Half office today.
