CFO Chats with Stan Zabolotsky, Group CFO of The Flexi Group

Could you tell us about your career journey and how you came to be a CFO?

I started my career in accounting at Siemens in Canada, working as a financial controller in the energy sector while also earning my accounting designation. After about four years, I realised I wanted to learn more about the finance side of things rather than pure accounting. This led me to pursue an MBA and transition into investment banking, which ultimately paved the way for my journey to becoming a CFO. I’m now the Group CFO at The Flexi Group, a co-working company with a presence in eight different countries.

What have been the most significant challenges you’ve faced in your career?

Because my career has evolved across different industries and roles, I was pretty much starting from scratch each time. I had to learn to adapt very quickly to different environments, company cultures, and roles where different things might be prioritised. Learning to be highly adaptable has been the most crucial skill I’ve developed over the years.

What are the key trends and opportunities in finance that businesses should be focusing on?

The most significant trend is artificial intelligence. The opportunity is to use these new technologies to improve processes and make the business more efficient. However, this must be balanced with the cost of implementation. You have to carefully prioritise which parts of the business to improve first.

Critically, you must consider the impact on your existing staff. If you automate processes, you risk making certain roles redundant. The key is to have a forward-looking plan that focuses on upskilling your employees. This allows them to move away from repetitive, monotonous tasks and focus on more value-added, intellectual activities that contribute to their career progression. It’s a chance for them to grow with the company as it becomes more optimised.

How do you see the finance sector evolving over the next three to five years?

Again, it all comes back to AI and technology. Historically, many finance activities like processing invoices, making payments, and even creating financial statements have been repetitive. These structured tasks are prime candidates for automation.

This will cause a fundamental shift in the finance function. The focus will move from simply creating the output to understanding and analysing it. An analyst who once spent 80% of their time building financial models might now spend only 10-20% on that task, using the rest of their time to improve the model, extract deeper insights, and present the information more effectively.

This will uplift every role and likely remove many organisational layers. You won’t need as many people in the middle translating information, which will lead to leaner, more streamlined organisations where everyone can contribute more intellectually.

Will technology have a big impact on financial strategy and decision-making?

Absolutely. AI can process a nearly unlimited amount of data and factors, which will drastically improve a company’s decision-making capability.

As a result, the key competitive differentiator will shift. Instead of competing on decision-making ability alone, companies will start differentiating themselves based on the volume and quality of the data they can access. This creates a powerful incentive for industry consolidation and M&A, as businesses will want to merge their data sets to make better decisions and move forward at a faster pace.

What is the biggest mistake you frequently see companies make?

Too many companies don’t focus enough on attracting and retaining the right staff. A glaring mistake is having a recruitment funnel that isn’t optimised. Many just post a job ad and wait, rather than proactively defining the ideal profile and creatively finding that person, even if they aren’t actively looking.

Another major issue is focusing too much on past experience during interviews. When you do that, you might hire someone who is stuck in their old ways and not adaptable to your company’s culture. I believe it’s far more important to test a person’s ability to think on their feet and solve problems during the interview. You need to see how they deal with unfamiliar situations, not just let them talk about areas where they are comfortable.

What is the single most critical skill that finance leaders should have today?

Without a doubt, it’s communication skills. Many people in finance start in roles that are heavy on number-crunching and light on communication. As they get promoted, they often lack the coaching needed to become effective communicators, yet their senior role is all about it.

Your job as a leader is to guide analysis and then communicate it effectively to your board, investors, and other stakeholders. It’s not about how complicated your analysis is, but the opposite: how well you can simplify complex topics and tell a story with the numbers. In my experience, this is both the most important and the most lacking skill among finance leaders.

How do you approach mentoring the next generation of finance leaders?

My style is to give people space and avoid micromanagement. I always ask for their opinion and encourage them to think for themselves rather than blindly follow instructions. I’ll explain the end goal and suggest a path, but I’ll always ask, “Does this make sense to you? Can you think of a better way?”

This encourages critical thinking and makes them feel like a true part of the team, not just an executor of small tasks. It gives them a better understanding of the broader picture and motivates them because they know their work is a means to a greater end.

What is one question all finance leaders should be asking themselves today?

“What is the real value-add that I’m bringing to the organisation?”

A finance leader needs to understand how they complement the rest of the leadership team. Are you just a ‘yes-man’ executing the CEO’s wishes, or do you have the right attitude to challenge decisions? It’s your job to use your unique access to financial data to bring a different perspective to the conversation. You must have the courage to challenge the prevailing path, even if it’s just to open up a conversation about better options. That is how the best-informed decisions are made.

For someone attending an event like this for the first time, what advice would you give them?

First, come with an open mind. Second, prepare a little bit beforehand. Know what you’re looking to get out of the session and the kind of people you want to meet. This will help guide your interactions and the questions you ask.

Finally, be social. Come with a positive attitude of learning and meeting interesting people, not an attitude of trying to show off your expertise. You’re there to grow your network and see other perspectives.