“All signs point to a tsunami of digital opportunities washing over big companies this year and beyond. It’s already forcing a profligacy of spending on artificial intelligence, Internet of Things embedded wireless sensors, and other technologies emanating from digital R&D labs everywhere.
In fact, between 2018 and 2021, companies worldwide will have collectively spent nearly $6 trillion on digital transformation initiatives, predicts technology industry watcher IDC.
That’s a staggering sum. For chief financial officers it will mean that numerous sizable internal funding requests will fall on their desks. The two most important questions for them are likely to be these: Which funding requests deserve priority? And how much financial investment should they get, both in the short and long term?
This points to a key, and I believe largely unsung, role of CFOs in digital transformation: to be astute investors in internal digital initiatives. You could also call the role “value-minded evaluator” or “mindful proponent.” “Rigorous catalyst” or “scrutinizing supporter.” Or even “discerning champion.”
Such terms reflect the difficult yet important role CFOs must play in digital transformation. They and their C-suite colleagues know their companies must become digital…”
Read the entire article at CFO.com here.
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