Chief financial officers have always had to deal with new—sometimes unforeseen—issues. However, the very nature of change appears to often be, well, changing. Speed has altered the equation, often leaving little time to make decisions, let alone weigh options. Geopolitical turmoil, for one, has spread lightning fast, forcing companies to act swiftly to try to secure supply chains and, where necessary, pull out of once lucrative markets. Sources of capital have tightened, while the cost of capital itself has escalated. Increasingly, stakeholders and investors are applying pressure on companies to both improve performance and act on climate change. Meanwhile, breakthrough, possibly disruptive, technologies like generative AI seem to be arriving on the scene at a dizzying pace.

The reality is, the job description for a chief financial officer has expanded mightily in the past few years. Thus, when disruptions happen, CFOs will likely feel it on a number of fronts. Indeed, consider the wide array of board-level considerations that often involve input from CFOs.

To varying degrees, all of these topics are front and centre for many chief financial officers. In some cases, they are reframing the job itself, pushing finance executives well beyond traditional functional boundaries. And while these seven drivers typically require CFOs to think big-picture—and years out—finance chiefs still need to make sure that their teams deftly handle the day-to-day, core tasks of the finance function.