How to succeed as an enterprise co-pilot: Three priorities for the modern CFO
Schindler CFO Carla De Geyseleer explains how today’s CFO acts as a strategic co-pilot, uses sustainability to drive growth, and develops future finance leaders....
CFO Horizons
Sustainability has stopped being a differentiator: Here’s how CFOs can stay ahead
CFO Raphael Savalle explores how finance leaders can embed sustainability as a core discipline, connect strategy across organizations, and lead effectively in an AI-driven world.
The CFO’s context is shifting. Sustainability is now an expectation, not a differentiator. AI is accelerating decisions. Transformation, once a finite project, has become a constant state. Together, these forces pose a single challenge: how to lead with credibility and humanity in a world that won’t slow down.
Savalle, whose resumé includes global consumer brands such as Unilever, Coty, and Weleda, argues that the modern CFO must professionalize both sustainability and digital transformation. Operating as a strategic integrator, they should lead enterprise transformation as technology accelerates, but in a way that does not marginalize the human workforce.
“The CFO is becoming both architect and translator: designing systems that support agility, while helping teams make sense of complexity and stay engaged,” he says. “Our challenge is to combine data discipline with emotional intelligence, turning information into insight and insight into action.”
Sustainability must be integrated systematically into the business model in a way that makes economic sense for every stakeholder.
The CFO’s new sustainability mandate
For Savalle, sustainability has changed from a badge of distinction to a required mark of competence. “It used to be a differentiator for a select number of companies,” he says. “Now, it’s a baseline for many.” Across Europe, regulation, from the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) to evolving supply chain due-diligence rules, means that most companies are now obliged to develop a sustainability agenda. The question, Savalle argues, is how credible, consistent, and professionally managed their approach to sustainability is.
This shift in context puts finance at the center of the sustainability drive. Passion and belief are not enough. Sustainability must be integrated systematically into the business model in a way that makes economic sense for every stakeholder. The CFO’s task is to lead data-driven decisions, linking sustainability with financial performance, cost management, and brand resilience. “It’s the role of finance to bring credibility, focus, and comparability to what has been a loose framework,” Savalle says. “You need KPIs that are audited, relevant, and tied to incentives.”
Packaging is a case in point. Fully recycled materials often cost more and can appear less premium than standard options. The CFO must help decide whether there is more overall value in adopting them to support a “fully recycled” message or choosing recyclable but non-recycled materials that align with circular economy goals while protecting brand image. Such decisions, Savalle argues, should hinge as much on strategic intent as on cost.
That strategic lens is essential to how finance should approach sustainability more broadly. “Sustainability isn’t just about compliance; it’s about stewardship,” he says. “It’s how we use financial and human capital to create lasting value for society.”
For CFOs, this means embedding sustainability into the mechanics of performance. “When sustainability metrics are tied to P&L impact, investment discipline, and incentives, they stop being nice-to-have indicators and become levers of competitive advantage,” he explains. “Environmental, human, and financial capital must be managed together.”
The expanding scope of the modern CFO
Savalle’s career reflects the evolution of the CFO role. After training as an electrical engineer, he moved through operations, consulting, and restructuring before entering finance. “In restructuring projects, I saw that many of the big decisions were financially and strategically driven,” he recalls. “That’s when I realized that finance had a real seat at the table.”
While the technical foundations of financial knowledge and understanding remain essential, they no longer define the limits or value of the CFO role. “Much of the traditional remit, from procurement to payables, is handled through technology and automation,” Savalle says. “The CFO’s impact now comes from connecting business functions, understanding risk, and deciding which risks are worth taking.”
He describes this mindset as entrepreneurial, rather than conservative. The CFO should take “enough risk” to drive growth without overreaching, he suggests, pairing financial literacy with commercial empathy. This makes it essential to understand how supply chain, marketing, and product decisions interact in real time. “Finance should be the connective tissue of the company,” he says. “It’s where strategic intent becomes measurable reality.”
As executive teams shrink and decision cycles speed up, a multi-dimensional CFO will gain even greater prominence within the structure of the C-suite. “The CEO can’t manage everything,” Savalle says. “That makes the CFO–CEO partnership tighter and the CFO’s remit broader.”
“The strongest CEO–CFO partnerships are built on complementarity: one articulates vision; the other translates it into economic reality. It’s a constant dialogue between imagination and discipline.”
For Savalle, finance is no longer just about stewardship, but synthesis – the ability to translate numbers into judgment, and strategy into action. “It’s about seeing the full picture and helping the business focus on what truly matters. The future CFO will stand out not by knowing every detail, but by connecting the right ones; making sure that progress serves a clear, long-term purpose.”
Taking technology and people forward in a blended workforce
As technology advances, Savalle believes the challenge for CFOs is not just digital fluency but human leadership. “AI and automation will handle much of the technical work,” he says. “What remains is how you lead at scale – mobilizing an organization when your time and attention are limited.”
In his view, leadership is a delicate balancing act: driving transformation without burning people out. “It’s like a coach managing the training load of an athlete. If you’re too complacent, you risk stagnation. If you push too hard, you create fatigue,” he says. “The art lies in sensing where that line is.”
“I’ve learned that transformation isn’t about changing systems first. Instead, it’s about helping people believe again that they can shape the future.”
Organizational rhythm and communication are now central to the CFO’s role. No longer focused solely on compliance, today’s finance leaders are expected to create momentum, align risk appetite, and sustain performance under pressure. Part of that is the ability to orchestrate both human and digital workforces: “AI doesn’t eliminate people; it changes where human value sits. The CFO’s role is to make that shift productive, fair, and inspiring,” he says.
The rise of generative AI only sharpens that human imperative. “Knowledge is becoming commoditized,” Savalle says. “You can find expertise instantly, but judgment, empathy, and trust can’t be automated. It’s our ability to build trust, engage others, and connect the dots between people as well as numbers that will make the difference. AI will make us faster, but only judgment will make us wiser.”
Savalle’s message is clear: the future of finance will belong to leaders who combine precision with empathy, and who can act not just intelligently, but humanely. “Ultimately, finance is the language of trust. And once trust is earned, it becomes the most valuable capital an organization can hold.”
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