Andrea Dalla Fini, Senior Finance Leader at Sony, talks to The Ortus Club about the CFO’s evolution from bookkeeper to growth architect and why high-level executive dialogue is the key to synchronising financial sustainability with commercial ambition.
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Executive Summary: Key Takeaways
- The Forward-Looking CFO: The modern finance function has shifted from recording the past to predicting the future, requiring leaders to translate commercial activities into actionable financial returns.
- The Seat at the Table: A recurring strategic failure in many organisations is excluding finance from initial decision-making. The CFO must be an early-stage business partner to ensure project viability.
- Simplicity as a Leadership Skill: A critical competency for today’s finance leaders is the ability to deconstruct complex financial data into simple, digestible insights for the broader organisation.
- AI as an Augmentation Tool: While Artificial Intelligence excels at simulations and statutory reporting, its true value lies in empowering the strategic judgment of finance professionals.
Andrea Dalla Fini, a senior finance leader with two decades of experience at global giants like Sony and Reckitt Benckiser, argues that the most successful CFOs are those who move at the same speed as the business. According to Dalla Fini, the evolution of the role requires a transition from looking at “how we closed yesterday” to “how we will close tomorrow.” For leaders like Dalla Fini, achieving this requires active participation in executive roundtables where strategy and finance intersect in real time.
How do you balance professional rigor with the speed of modern business?
Andrea reflects on his career at Sony and Reckitt Benckiser, noting that early exposure to fast-paced, multinational environments is what defines a leader’s mentality.
“I was lucky to have my first two experiences at very strong and modern companies, Reckitt Benckiser and Sony. These companies are like a school when you are at the beginning of your career; they teach you how to think, the speed you need to move at, and the right mentality. I have always seen my role as being a key business partner, supporting business leaders with the processes, tools, and planning instruments they need to perform in very challenging businesses.”
Why is the ability to predict the future now the core challenge for finance?
Andrea highlights that the value of a finance professional lies in their ability to serve as a translator between commercial operations and financial results.
“In my opinion, the main challenge now is to predict the future. This is crucial. The core ability of a finance professional is to translate all the forward-looking commercial, operational, and marketing activities into numbers. You need to understand what kind of money is needed to finance those activities and what the return will be. This allows you to anticipate events and make things happen.”
What is the most common strategic mistake companies make regarding finance?
The most significant oversight remains the physical and metaphorical distance between the finance department and the decision-making table.
“The main mistake I see, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises, is not having a finance person at the table when decisions are being discussed. You can talk about commercial, sales, marketing, or operations, but in my opinion, it’s a mistake not to invite a finance perspective to those discussions. The finance department will get closer and closer to the business. I see a future where the CEO and the CFO work at almost the same level as a good mix to drive the business.”
How can leaders leverage AI without losing the human element of finance?
While AI offers immense potential for simulations and efficiency, Dalla Fini views it as a value-add rather than a replacement for human intuition.
“There is a huge amount of innovation potential with Artificial Intelligence. AI can support all the reporting and statutory requirements, and you can also do simulations very easily. However, in my opinion, AI cannot replace people at the moment. It is a very good value-add for people working in finance and other areas. A finance professional has to ensure that all decisions are financially sustainable and compliant, but they also must generate value in the future.”
Why is simplicity considered the most critical skill for a modern CFO?
True leadership in finance involves demystifying the numbers so that every stakeholder in the organisation can move in the same direction.
“To make things easy. Finance is not as difficult as people outside the field might think. A CFO’s job is to relax and explain complex topics in a simple enough way that all the people in the organisation can understand. The question a finance person is asked to answer now is, ‘How will you close tomorrow, next month, or in the next few years?’ rather than ‘How did you close yesterday?'”
Join the Conversation: The Ortus Club’s Executive Network
Andrea Dalla Fini’s vision of the Finance Business Partner relies heavily on the ability to collaborate across functions. When a CFO steps out of the traditional room full of papers and engages in high-level dialogue with commercial and operational peers, they transform from a gatekeeper into a growth architect.
At The Ortus Club, we specialise in creating knowledge-sharing environments that facilitate this proximity. Our executive roundtables allow finance leaders to sit alongside their C-suite counterparts to discuss the future-looking challenges Dalla Fini. For senior leaders who recognise that success is found at the intersection of finance and strategy, there is always a seat at our table.
FAQs
Q: Why is executive dialogue essential for modern CFOs?
A: As finance shifts to a forward-looking function, direct conversation with other business leaders is necessary to translate market trends into financial forecasts before the books are closed.
Q: What does it mean for a CFO to be a business partner?
A: It refers to a finance leader who actively participates in commercial and operational planning, ensuring that every strategic move is both compliant and financially sustainable.
Q: How does The Ortus Club support finance leadership development?
A: By hosting curated, pitch-free discussions, we allow finance executives to share insights on risk management and innovation with a global network of their peers.
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