Article

CFOs: is your CIO fit for the future?

Heather Barnes 18 Sep 2025

For decades, CIOs in industrial companies were seen largely as custodians of infrastructure, tasked with “keeping the lights on.” Their focus was on ERP stability, plant-floor reliability, and cost discipline through outsourcing. Today, that job description is almost unrecognisable.

Industrial firms are now on the frontline of digital transformation. The convergence of operational technology and IT, the rise of cloud-native platforms, and the explosion of data and AI are pulling technology into the heart of enterprise strategy. For CFOs, this evolution is not happening at arm’s length. In many industrial companies the CIO reports directly to the CFO, making finance leaders the ones who must both evaluate technology choices and ensure they translate into shareholder value.

From cost centre to value creator

Historically, technology was managed as a line item to be contained. Now, technology investment is judged by its ability to deliver enterprise value. Forward-looking CFOs are already partnering with CIOs to capture outcomes such as:

Productivity gains from automation, predictive maintenance, and digital twins
Margin expansion through data-driven pricing, supply chain visibility, and advanced forecasting
New revenue streams through smart products, servitisation models, and data monetisation

This shift elevates the CFO’s role. The ability to connect technology decisions to P&L impact is what distinguishes best-in-class finance leadership.

This is where the real test of CIO leadership lies. Too many IT leaders can manage vendors and run projects, but far fewer can sit across from a CFO and convincingly articulate the value story in financial language. Those are the ones worth paying a premium for.

Where transformation should sit

A recurring challenge in industrial firms is where ownership of transformation should sit. Should it be embedded within IT, run as a parallel function, or report directly to the CEO?

From my perspective in executive search, I believe transformation is most effective when CIOs are directly accountable to CFOs or COOs, with clear joint ownership of business outcomes. When transformation is separated into a siloed programme office it often loses traction, becomes project-driven, and fails to embed into the P&L.

The most successful models are those where:

The CIO partners with the CFO on capital allocation and ROI tracking
Transformation is measured by operational and financial impact, not just milestones delivered
Accountability for outcomes sits with line management, with IT as enabler rather than project manager

In short, transformation succeeds when it is owned by business leadership and underpinned by financial discipline, rather than being treated as an isolated change initiative.

Cybersecurity and resilience as financial imperatives

In asset-intensive industries, downtime is counted in millions per day. Threats have moved from nuisance IT issues to systemic risks that can halt operations. Modern CIOs must embed resilience across both plant and cloud. For CFOs, this makes cyber and resilience investments less an “IT cost” and more a form of enterprise-level insurance. It protects cash flow, reputation, and licence to operate.

From my experience in executive search, I believe many boards still underestimate just how commercial a modern CIO must be in this space. Cyber is not about technology alone. It is about risk appetite, cost of capital, and the company’s ability to absorb shocks. The best CIOs talk about cyber in the same way the CFO talks about hedging or insurance.

Data and AI as the next competitive frontier

Industrial firms generate vast pools of production and customer data. Historically under-leveraged, this data is now becoming a source of competitive advantage. CIOs are deploying AI for predictive analytics, energy optimisation, and workforce efficiency.

The CFO’s oversight is crucial: ensuring these investments are disciplined, tied to tangible business cases, and capable of generating measurable ROI rather than dissipating into diffuse innovation projects.

I believe this is where the new generation of CIOs will separate themselves. The ones who survive will not be those who experiment with AI, but those who can tie AI to measurable business outcomes in language a CFO can defend to the board.

The new leadership profile

The CIO of today is not just a technologist. They are a peer to the CFO, COO, and CEO. The most effective leaders:

Translate technology choices into financial and operational outcomes
Partner with CFOs on capital planning, investment prioritisation, and enterprise risk management
Navigate ecosystems of suppliers, regulators, and partners with commercial fluency

The strongest CIOs can walk the plant floor to understand cost-per-unit, then step into the boardroom to shape enterprise strategy. For those CIOs reporting into finance, the CFO has a unique vantage point: they can see whether technology leadership is truly aligned with business outcomes.

This dual fluency – the ability to be credible both on the plant floor and in the boardroom – is now non-negotiable. It is also where many otherwise capable CIOs fall short.

As one FTSE 50 CIO said, “The days when the CIO was judged on system uptime and vendor contracts are long gone. In an industrial business like ours, my conversations with the CFO are about unit cost, margin expansion, and resilience. If I cannot translate technology into financial outcomes the board cares about, then I am not doing my job.”

What this means for CFOs

For finance leaders, four imperatives stand out:

Engage deeply. Technology is no longer discretionary; it is a determinant of competitiveness
Demand financial clarity. Hold technology leaders accountable for ROI, measured in financial as well as technical terms
Champion collaboration. The most successful transformations happen when CFOs, CIOs, and COOs align around productivity, margin, and resilience
Reframe risk. Treat cyber and resilience spend as an enterprise insurance policy, not as IT overhead

The critical question: Do you have the right CIO?

For CFOs, the question is no longer whether technology matters. It is whether the organisation has the leader capable of delivering on its promise. The successful industrial CIO has shifted dramatically: from custodian of systems to creator of enterprise value, from cost controller to P&L influencer, from technical specialist to commercial strategist.

Because CIOs often report directly to finance, CFOs are uniquely placed to make this judgement. You understand both the hard metrics of financial return and the softer leadership qualities that determine whether a CIO can truly partner with the business.

The challenge is not simply whether you have a competent CIO. The challenge is whether you have the right CIO for the decade of transformation ahead. If you do not, you are already behind.

Heather Barnes

Heather is a Partner in Leathwaite’s global Technology, Data & AI Practice, advising boards and executive teams on the leadership needed to drive digital transformation and enterprise innovation. She appoints CIOs, CTOs, Chief Data, AI Officers, CISOs, and other senior…

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