For as long as modern corporate finance has existed, CFOs have relied on a familiar set of measures to evaluate investments and explain performance. Revenue growth, margins, cash flow and capital allocation remain essential indicators of business health and growth potential, but they are increasingly proving incomplete.
According to EY’s latest Global DNA of the CFO Survey, more than two-thirds (68%) of CFOs believe enterprise value metrics need to be reevaluated. The findings suggest finance leaders are wrestling with a fundamental question: What counts as value when traditional measures no longer tell the entire story?
In an interview with CFO.com, Myles Corson, EY’s global strategy and markets leader for financial accounting advisory services, said finance leaders need to rethink how they define value.
“If anyone in the organization has the ability to define and measure the value of AI and other complex technology, it’s finance,” he said. “Finance leaders should change their mindset and not solely focus on what’s measurable financially, because that risks investments being directed to drive efficiencies rather than revenue or growth.”
The challenge extends beyond AI and into a larger debate about who should define value inside the organization and how that value should be measured. While 60% of CFOs surveyed said finance should help define how organizations create value, only 26% currently lead discussions around key value drivers and just 25% lead investment decisions where returns are uncertain.
The measurement problem
The survey found widespread concern that existing finance scorecards are struggling to keep pace with the realities of modern business.
Nearly seven in 10 respondents said enterprise value metrics need to be revisited, while slightly more (71%) said traditional measures are no longer sufficient for evaluating initiatives that combine people and technology. Half of the respondents also identified proving return on investment upfront as one of their biggest challenges when assessing value created by emerging technologies and new ways of working.
“The traditional finance scorecard is still essential, but it is no longer enough on its own,” Corson said. “The survey highlights that nearly 70% of CFOs believe enterprise value metrics must change, and many acknowledge that existing financial measures do not fully capture value created by technology, data and new operating models.”
That reality is forcing finance leaders to broaden how they think about performance. According to Corson, organizations still need to track traditional measures such as revenue, profitability, cash generation and return on invested capital. At the same time, they need ways to evaluate customer outcomes and operational resilience.
“There is also a need for a mindset shift,” he said. “Not every investment can be evaluated through a precise, short-term return calculation.”
The findings suggest many organizations have not yet made that shift. Nearly half (47%) of CFOs surveyed said their teams lack the ability to effectively measure value created by initiatives involving emerging technology or new operating models.
That likely creates a major challenge for finance leaders tasked with guiding strategic investment decisions. “What’s clear is that this is not a question of ambition,” Corson said. “The gap reflects the fact that the environment in which value is created has changed dramatically in recent years.”
When finance lacks confidence in how value will be defined and tracked, he added, it becomes significantly harder for CFOs to take ownership of higher-stakes decisions involving uncertain returns. “Ultimately, a modern scorecard must support better decisions as well as reporting on performance,” Corson added.
AI is exposing old weaknesses
While AI dominates conversations about the future of finance, EY’s findings suggest the technology is exposing problems that existed long before generative AI arrived.
“[Operational skills] are going to be even more pronounced in a world of AI-enabled enterprise workflows which CFOs have the opportunity to architect.”
-Myles Corson
Global Strategy and Markets Leader, EY
Less than a quarter (21%) of respondents described their finance organizations as advanced or leading in AI readiness. Data quality challenges topped the list of barriers preventing broader adoption, and respondents pointed to difficulties articulating AI’s benefits and a lack of skills or resources needed to support implementation.
“What the survey findings make clear is that the constraint is not access to technology,” Corson said. “It is readiness across data, skills and mindset.”
Many organizations have already launched AI pilots inside the finance function, but translating those efforts into measurable business outcomes has proven more difficult. The challenge is scaling those initiatives into capabilities that consistently influence business performance and proving their value when the benefits are indirect, long-term or spread across multiple parts of the organization.
“They may have proofs of concept in place, but they lack the underlying data foundations and confidence to apply AI consistently in business-critical decisions,” Corson said. “There is also a degree of uncertainty about how to translate AI-generated insights into action, which limits its impact.m
“I would not say the changes have been overstated,” Corson said when asked whether discussions about the evolving CFO role have gotten ahead of reality. “Reporting, controls and compliance are fundamental to the function. But CFOs are now being asked to fulfill a significantly broader role on top of those responsibilities.
That tension sits at the center of many finance transformation efforts today, as organizations want finance leaders focused on insight and decision support, but many accounting and FP&A teams alike remain burdened by the work required to produce and validate data and information.
“The priority now must be to transform operations through automation, simplified processes and redesigned operating models so that CFOs can dedicate more time to strategic activity,” Corson said.
The rise of the COFO
The EY survey also points to a broader shift taking place inside the finance function: a rise in CFOs taking on more operational duties as the finance function becomes increasingly automated.
Only 27% of respondents in EY’s report said finance is primarily viewed as a strategic partner in value creation. Yet expectations placed on CFOs continue expanding well beyond reporting, compliance and stewardship.
Finance leaders increasingly find themselves involved in workforce planning, technology investments, operating model decisions and enterprise transformation initiatives. In many organizations, that means delegating more day-to-day finance responsibilities so they can apply their financial perspective to broader business decisions. Some companies have formalized that shift through the COFO, or chief operating and financial officer, title.
“What we are seeing is a clear shift toward a more enterprise-focused CFO role, in which the well-recognized ability for CFOs to transcend business boundaries and bring different functions together can truly pay dividends,” Corson said.
He believes AI could accelerate that trend. “[Operational skills] are going to be even more pronounced in a world of AI-enabled enterprise workflows, which CFOs have the opportunity to architect,” he said.
The report also found 38% of CFOs believe they are evolving faster than their leadership teams outside of finance, and more than two-thirds said new leadership styles and capabilities will be required in the years ahead. Technical finance expertise remains critical, according to Corson, but future leaders will also need stronger capabilities in technology and strategic decision-making.
“The future finance leader is not just a stronger technician, but a more complete enterprise leader,” Corson said. “One who can combine financial discipline with strategic thinking, technological fluency and the ability to lead change.”
