The Evolution of the Manufacturing CFO and the Role of AI
The manufacturing CFO has undergone one of the most significant role transformations in the industrial sector. In manufacturing environments where automation, analytics, and AI are reshaping how work gets done, CFOs are increasingly expected not just to endorse transformation, but to actively lead it—modeling new behaviors, sponsoring technology adoption, and driving cultural alignment across the enterprise. Their influence now spans plant performance, technology adoption, workforce strategy, and competitive positioning.
"That is the really important role for the CFO – to be the change champion to drive and connect different functions because he or she has a unique purview of the whole organization that others don't, and he or she can tie that to the bottom line or top line,” shared Chris Zheng, Principal for CFO Advisory, RSM US LLP.
In parallel with skills shifts in the finance workforce, CFOs themselves are placing markedly greater emphasis on long-term value creation and advanced capabilities. McKinsey reports that 55% of finance leaders now say “long-term planning and resource allocation” is a top priority—up from just 30% a year earlier. Meanwhile, 60% now list “strategic planning” as a top priority, versus 38% in 2023.
Finance teams are investing in efficiency and automation, training staff to move from maintaining processes to fundamentally reinventing them. The McKinsey report also highlighted how technology is redefining the finance skill set: 85% of respondents expect generative AI and related tools to reduce manual work and unlock higher-order insights, while among the few early adopters, 71% report improved productivity from gen AI.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 45.8% of firms adopting AI and 49.8% of those implementing specialized software say their main motivation is improving the quality and reliability of processes. And a Manufacturers Alliance survey of 52 companies reported that 88% of finance departments identified improving productivity and efficiency as their top training goal, followed closely by 71% prioritizing preparation for AI and automation adoption. Together, these priorities underscore a broader shift: finance is no longer viewed as a cost center but as a strategic driver of organizational efficiency and transformation.
As RSM’s Zheng explained, “Digital technology, AI and automation have become the DNA of transformation,” replacing the old model where process, organizational, or technology changes could stand alone. “In the last 5-10 years, the ingredients of technology have evolved, but there's always a technology component,” Zheng said.
Top Goals of Manufacturing Finance Department Training Efforts
Note: Some responses fall into multiple categories, so total exceeds 100%.
Source: Manufacturers Alliance Finance Workforce Survey, 2025
Many finance teams note that a significant share of today’s training efforts are not focused on building advanced new capabilities, but rather on helping employees meet the new baseline requirements of a digital finance environment. McKinsey's research on how finance teams are putting AI to work shows that, although adoption has accelerated sharply—with the share of CFOs using generative AI in five or more use cases jumping from 7% to 44% within a year—only about 5% of pilots deliver measurable P&L impact, largely because teams lack the foundational skills needed to operationalize these tools. Egon Zehnder’s global CFO survey reinforces this gap: 72% of CFOs say AI is strategically important, yet fewer than 10% have scaled AI across the finance function, citing workforce readiness as a primary barrier. Together, these findings show that much of today’s “upskilling” is actually baseline alignment: ensuring teams can function in a modern, automated workflow before organizations can fully unlock higher-order analytics, forecasting, or strategic value creation.
The New Language of Finance
Modern finance teams speak the language of code. Lightcast data confirm rapid projected growth in Python (+24.5%), R (+20.3%), Amazon Web Services (+24.0%), and Microsoft Azure (+28.9%) proficiency — once niche IT capabilities, now essential to financial modeling and automation. In manufacturing, SAP applications (+21.6%) and project management skills (+19.8%) dominate job postings, revealing the need to connect ERP data directly to forecasting and cost-control tools. Accordingly, more than half of Manufacturers Alliance members (54%) identified ERP and financial systems as a core focus of their finance training efforts.
Recruiter demand has surged market-wide: finance job descriptions referencing Python have nearly tripled in two years, prompting major institutions like Citigroup to offer internal coding classes (Netguru).
Kelly Barthel, Principal, Interim Practice at Korn Ferry, a global recruiting and consulting firm, explained, “Clients are increasingly prioritizing proficiency in PowerBI and rapidly evolving generative AI tools when evaluating finance and accounting talent. Even highly qualified candidates may be passed over if they lack hands-on experience with data visualization, automation, or AI-enabled analytics."
Finance Software & Systems Skills Projected Growth
Source: Lightcast
Technical skills alone are not enough. Certain advanced skill sets—particularly those coming from pure programming or machine-learning backgrounds—often go underutilized in manufacturing finance roles because they lack the operational and cost-accounting context required to make financial data meaningful. As Dave McLaughlin, Managing Director of Financial Consulting at RSM US LLP noted, “It’s harder to teach finance and accounting to somebody who’s always been on the programming side. It’s harder to integrate that person than it is to have somebody with very strong core accounting and finance skills to learn programming tools.”
According to the Lightcast analysis, visualization also defines financial communication. Skills such as dashboards (+25.3%), Power BI (+20.4%), and Tableau (+20.8%) are growing at double-digit rates, and 60% of finance departments participating in the Manufacturers Alliance survey identified data-visualization training as their top priority.
Skills Areas Currently Targeted for Finance Training
Source: Manufacturers Alliance survey, October 2025
As reported by 42% of Manufacturers Alliance respondents, AI and prompt engineering represent the single most significant capability gap for manufacturing finance departments. Business intelligence tools follow at 26%, underscoring the sector’s accelerating shift toward predictive analytics, automated reporting, and scenario-driven decision support.
Finance automation is fundamentally changing how teams allocate their time and effort. According to a benchmarking survey, FP&A professionals have historically spent roughly 75% of their time gathering and preparing data—leaving only a quarter for value-added analysis. Automation and analytics tools are now shifting that balance, enabling finance teams to focus on forecasting, scenario modeling, and strategic decision support rather than manual data compilation.
The Capacity Crisis
Despite digital ambitions, many departments face acute resource limits. 41% cite limited training resources as their greatest obstacle, with time away from production next in line.
Hiring data confirms scarcity: manufacturing averages 4,905 monthly postings for Financial Risk Specialists but only 1,866 hires, showing that supply lags sharply behind demand.
“Financial risk specialist roles are challenging to fill right now,” according to Robert Half’s Britton. “The demand has surged as companies navigate macroeconomic uncertainty, supply chain disruptions and evolving trade policies. Professionals need to understand not just the numbers, but the broader business implications."
This shortage of finance talent is fueling the data analytics outsourcing market, which is growing 25% annually. Additionally, companies are turning to the rapidly growing Finance and Accounting Outsourcing (FAO) market to assist as they restructure finance functions to focus on core business outcomes.
“Manufacturing clients consistently struggle to find finance talent with the right blend of cost accounting, plant operations experience, and technical systems skills,” noted Korn Ferry’s Barthel. “Roles that require deep knowledge of standard costing, variance analysis, inventory accounting, and plant controllership are particularly challenging, especially when paired with tools like PowerBI, ERP expertise, and automation technologies.
Moving Forward in Today’s Finance Roles
Britton’s advice for finance executives: “Start small but start now. Digital transformation doesn’t have to mean a full system overhaul overnight. Begin by identifying one process, maybe forecasting or reporting, that could benefit from automation or better visualization. Consider hiring a contract professional to pilot the change and train your team. The key is to build momentum and show results. Once your team sees the impact, adoption becomes much easier. And remember, transformation is as much about having an adaptable mindset as it is about tools. Encourage curiosity, experimentation, and continuous learning.”
The evidence is unequivocal: manufacturing finance has crossed the threshold from transactional to technical. The modern finance professional is a predictive analyst, a technologist, and a strategic advisor. The profession’s future value will be defined not by how precisely it records the past, but by how accurately it forecasts and shapes what comes next.
Members Only
For a deeper dive into the skills driving finance transformation—including detailed data by department (Finance, Internal Audit, Tax, and Treasury), training effectiveness ratings, and cross-industry benchmarks—Manufacturers Alliance members can review the full survey results. These findings offer a comprehensive look at how manufacturers are prioritizing skill development, allocating training resources, and preparing their finance functions for an AI-enabled future.
