Interview with Dr. Jazmin Seijas Nogareda - CFO Korean Reinsurance Switzerland AG ​

Deloitte: Looking back over the past 10 years, how has the finance function evolved? ​

Dr. Jazmin Seijas Nogareda: I see three main areas of change: First people and communication, second technological advancement, and third the regulatory environment. ​

People and Communication: The connection with people has become far more important—with social media driving expectations for transparency, timeliness, and social responsibility. We are no longer the “Dilbert-style trolls in the basement”, hiding behind accounting rules. Employees and the public now expect us to explain the financial situation clearly and broaden our responsibility beyond company results to include areas like ESG. ​

Technology: While the hype around blockchain a decade ago largely remained talk, machine learning and now GenAI have truly arrived. For finance, currently the role is less about leading implementation and more about analysing business cases and making sure scarce resources go where they create real value. Yet GenAI already permeates our daily work—reporting, coding, analysis—in a way unlike anything I’ve seen over the past ten years. ​

Regulation: The promised “cutting red tape” never arrived. As a FINMA-regulated company we value the principles-based approach, yet reporting requirements and other demands kept increasing. In insurance we saw ORSA, the Financial Condition Report, IFRS 17, liquidity reporting, and now ESG reporting on the horizon. Finance has absorbed all this with no increase in resources, so much of the efficiency we’ve gained is consumed by compliance work that creates little direct value for clients or colleagues.

Deloitte: Did anything surprise you, or did any changes occur more quickly or more slowly than you expected? ​

Dr. Jazmin Seijas Nogareda: Amid all the changes, the core hasn’t changed much. We still live by a clean close, liquidity and capital discipline, tight controls, and decision-quality insights—the tools have evolved and we’re adding bots and models, but it’s new wrappers on the same core responsibilities. ​

Deloitte: How will the finance function change in the next 3 years?​

Dr. Jazmin Seijas Nogareda: GenAI with Chat GPT has been barely three years in our daily lives and it is amazing how fast it has evolved. So its use will spread further. Near term, companies will prioritise core operations—for us, technical accounting and claims. Within three years, as GenAI improves on quantitative tasks, finance will move up the queue: faster close, reconciliations and forecasting, supporting our role as stewards of data and capital. We expect "off the shelf solutions" to appear in the near future to embed GenAI more systematically in core finance and other business processes.​

Deloitte: Where do you see the current state of implementing Generative AI and / or Agentic AI in the finance function at your company? ​

Dr. Jazmin Seijas Nogareda: We are in the early phase, using GenAI (ChatGPT, Copilot) as an assistant. It already speeds up reporting, policy drafts and minutes, and helps with Excel formulas and Alteryx workflow code. We have not yet begun re-designing our processes in a fundamental way, but that will be the next step. Building on our early experiences with the tools should make us more open to new solutions and help us spot more opportunities, whilst we are preparing our compliance framework and IT infrastructure accordingly. To truly think outside the box, we as an SME company may also need external support with an outside-in view and easy to customise "off the shelf vendor solutions".​

Deloitte: How do you balance the finance role with people leadership in a small but growing company? ​

Dr. Jazmin Seijas Nogareda: In a small company, finance doesn’t sit in an ivory tower but is well connected to all other functions of the organisation. I have found the CFO role naturally extends into HR, communication and culture, because every hire and every process change has a visible impact. The challenge is to balance the rigour of controls and reporting with being accessible and building trust. In practice, the finance function becomes not only the steward of capital but also a connector of people. ​

Deloitte: How does being both a CFO and a board member shape your perspective? ​

Dr. Jazmin Seijas Nogareda: Wearing both hats makes me better at both. As a director I know what actually moves decisions—liquidity, capital, risk appetite—so as CFO I am concise. Being in the engine room also lets me at board level call out data quality and operational constraints early without missing the bigger picture and focus on governance and risk. Ultimately, finance isn’t just about accuracy, it’s about building trust at every level.