For years, workforce decisions and financial decisions were treated as separate conversations. CFOs focused on budgets, reporting, forecasting, and profitability, while CHROs concentrated on talent, engagement, and organisational culture.
That approach no longer works.
As AI reshapes the workplace, the finance profession is entering a period of significant transformation. Routine tasks are becoming automated, expectations of finance teams are evolving, and entirely new skill sets are emerging.
Organisations that successfully navigate this transition will be those where CFOs and CHROs work together to prepare finance professionals for the future.
The Finance Role Is Evolving
Historically, finance teams spent a significant portion of their time collecting data, reconciling accounts, producing reports, and managing administrative processes.
Today, AI and Automation are taking over many of these activities.
This does not mean finance professionals are becoming less important. In fact, the opposite is true. Their value is shifting from processing information to interpreting it. Rather than spending hours gathering and validating data, finance teams are increasingly expected to provide insight, challenge assumptions, and support strategic decision-making.
As a result, finance professionals need a broader range of capabilities, including AI literacy, business partnering, data analysis, critical thinking, and risk and governance oversight.
Why CFOs and CHROs Need to Work Together
As finance roles continue to evolve, organisations face an important question:
“How do we prepare today’s finance teams for tomorrow’s responsibilities?”
The answer requires close collaboration between Finance and HR.
CFOs understand how the finance function needs to evolve, and which capabilities will drive future business value. CHROs understand how to develop those capabilities through learning and development, career pathways, organisational design, and workforce planning.
According to recruitment specialist Hunter Adams, the changing role of HR is making this partnership even more important:
“AI is changing the role of HR, with greater emphasis on skills, workforce planning, organisational design and helping businesses understand how roles will evolve as technology develops.
It is also making closer collaboration with Finance increasingly important. HR leaders need to work with CFOs to understand where AI can improve productivity, where roles or skills may need to change, and whether the right response is automation, re-skilling, recruitment or workforce redesign. Bringing together people insight and financial data will be key to making informed, commercially sound decisions.”
This shift highlights why workforce planning can no longer sit solely within HR, nor can technology transformation be owned exclusively by Finance.
Together, they can identify future skills requirements, define new career paths, determine what to look for when recruiting talent, and create effective strategies for upskilling existing employees.
By aligning technology investments with workforce development, CFOs and CHROs can ensure their organisations have the skills needed to thrive in an increasingly AI-driven world.
AI Up-Skilling in Finance
While hiring new talent will remain important, organisations cannot recruit their way out of every skills gap. Developing existing employees must also be a key part of the strategy.
This is where targeted AI and automation training can make a significant impact. Specialist consultancies such as Finance Innovation Now provide tailored training programmes designed specifically for finance professionals. These programmes help teams build practical, role-relevant skills, increase productivity, and develop the confidence to embrace new technologies as their roles evolve.
When supported by both Finance and HR leadership, these initiatives can accelerate adoption, improve employee engagement, and ensure that technology investments deliver meaningful business value.
Conclusion
The future of finance is not about replacing people with AI. It is about empowering finance professionals to focus on higher-value work that drives strategic outcomes.
As technology continues to transform the finance function, the organisations that succeed will be those that invest in both innovation and people. By working together, CFOs and CHROs can build a finance workforce that is adaptable, digitally confident, and equipped with the skills needed for the future.
