Benjamin Lehrer’s Post

The new era finance mantra: seal the pipe before you add more pressure. Because the technology vendors? They're just going to keep selling you more faucets. Meeting with Chicago CFO Alliance members this week, there are common pressures impacting CFOs regardless of plans and upcoming initiative: new tech provider overload, suspect data foundations, skill gaps, time constraints, and one that's impacting 100% of CFOs -> pressure to show proof of ROI. Yet the tools keep coming. Nick Araco JR Araco shared observations from last week's Finance & Accounting Tech Expo in New York. 1,200+ attendees. Dozens of vendors showcasing AI-powered capabilities. No call outs here, but many of the vendors couldn't answer a critical question. What's the impact on my team and the impact value I can showcase? Seems fundamental, but it's endemic in the rush to get tools to market. Here's what the group discussed on the question set that Finance leadership needs to own at the point of any new tool consideration. Integration reality. What are the actual pros and cons of plugging this into your existing system architecture? How does it impact your data repositories? Your access? The flexibility in an ever-changing tech stack down the road? Product roadmap risk. You don't control vendor roadmaps. What happens when they pivot or don't advance features for components you're depending on? Ongoing resource requirements. Who manages this? Who maintains it? What skills are really needed to maximize the functionality? Is it realistic given current team skills and time, or are more investments a prerequisite? Until you solve data and capability infrastructure, and truly seal the pipe, you get leaks at best, blow outs at worst. Technology vendors will always have something new to pitch. But the foundational work that makes technology actually deliver value? That responsibility sits with us. What's consuming more of your evaluation time, new tool capabilities or the internal infrastructure required to make it work? Get in these dialogues with us! Check out CFO Alliance at www.cfoalliance.com. #peercommunity #cfo #financeleadership