Future Trends from Leaders in Business

In our most recent podcast series, “Leaders in Business” we had the privilege of chatting with five leaders in the business world and diving deeper into their thoughts regarding their professions. Throughout this series, we asked each leader to share their insights on upcoming trends in finance. Their responses are below.

Our first podcast guest was Anders Lui-Lindberg, co-founder of the Business Partnering Institute. When we asked Anders about his thoughts on the future trends in finance, he emphasized the emerging capabilities of finance. He pointed out that the previous decade was focused on efficiency, whereases the current decade emphasizes effectiveness.

Anders stated, “We can't just be cheap; we need to be good as well.” He said that to do this we need to make better decisions and tackle data challenges. He also stressed the need to create career paths in finance that reward exceptional performance in specialized roles.

Our next podcast was with Prashanth Southekal, leader of the DBP Institute, who also leads PACE’s Data Analytics Interest Group. Prashanth emphasized two important aspects of the future of finance: the technology side and the business side. Within the technology side he highlighted the significant role that artificial intelligence (AI) will play in the future of finance. He explained that the key ingredient for making AI work effectively is good quality data. He also said that the business aspect is very important in terms of creating the right culture and the right training or skills to manage good quality data. He discussed th

e importance of maintaining control over AI technology and the need to prioritize the human element in decision making. Lastly, Prashanth said that in the next 3-5 years, we will see the proliferation of AI technologies and an emphasis on training the businesspeople to use them.

When Asif Masani, Financial Planning and Analysis Manager for Coursera in India, was asked about the future trends in finance, he discussed specifically the trends he sees evolving in his area of work: financial planning and analysis, FP&A. Important trends include more cross functional collaboration and interacting with other departments more frequently. He mentioned how he sees a stronger focus on strategic planning. Lastly, Asif talked about the technology and AI he sees evolving in the future, noting that AI will help free up finance professionals’ time, enabling them to focus more on cross functional projects.

Aliyyah Abdullah holds a management role in the Recycling Council of B.C. in Canada and is a freelance writer. Aliyyah shared some very insightful thoughts on the future in finance. She mentioned the increasing importance of sustainability/ESG and the need for finance to play a role in helping their organizations address issues in this area. She also talked about data security evolving not just for small and medium organizations but also for large organizations. Lastly, she mentioned the soft skills revolution, specifically the skills of communication and emotional intelligence.

Our most recent interview was with Edward Roske, Chief Performance Officer for Argano wor

ldwide. He believes a top trend for 2023 is the need for increased planning for uncertainty. He noted that we must now consider geopolitical risk when planning. Another trend he sees is the acceleration of digital transformation, where we will go from people power to more computer-based power. Lastly, he mentioned AI changing our day-to-day jobs and how we do business. He stated AI to be “The greatest tool to expand our abilities since calculators and computers.”

A diverse group of people shared their ideas on what the main trends will be in 2023. In short, effectiveness, technology (including Artificial Intelligence), a focus on strategic planning, ESG, soft skills, and being prepared for uncertainty are all being seen as the important trends.