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CFO Horizons
Why “business partnering” is no longer enough for CFOs
Flavio Caruso, CFO Europe at pharmaceutical company Sandoz, explains how his role now depends on judgment, curiosity, the discipline to challenge data, prioritize ruthlessly, and say no to ideas that do not create value.
As patents expire on a wave of blockbuster drugs, the pharmaceuticals sector is entering what Flavio Caruso, CFO Europe at Sandoz, characterizes as a new era for generics and biosimilars. “Over the next decade, we expect around $600bn of drugs to lose exclusivity, making it a golden decade for organizations like ours,” he says.
What constitutes a threat to originator pharmaceutical companies is a structural tailwind for Sandoz, which has capabilities across both generics and biosimilars. But favorable conditions do not remove constraints. Arguably, they intensify them. The central question is no longer whether to invest, but what to leave out. “The resources you have will always be finite,” Caruso says. “Our role is to decide where they create the most value for patients, our stakeholders and the company.”
Finance, in this context, is not in defensive mode. Its mandate is more nuanced: to allocate finite resources in a period of structural opportunity and make hard choices about which opportunities to turn down.
Finance moved from accounting to business partnering, and now it needs to act as a strategic enabler.
Beyond business partnering
The shift in the finance function has been gradual but decisive. The traditional perception of finance as a reporting function evolved into the “business partnering model” before shifting once more to become a central decision-making function.
“Finance moved from accounting to business partnering, and now it needs to act as a strategic enabler,” says Caruso. That shift is practical as well as conceptual. Increasingly, leaders expect their finance teams not only to evaluate investments, but to shape them. This means analyzing large volumes of both financial and operational data to inform strategic choices.
Caruso describes this as “intelligent finance.” The emphasis is not on the quantity of analysis, but on better decisions. This places new demands on the finance function. Technical expertise remains essential, but it is no longer sufficient. There is also a need for the capability to interpret numbers in context, understand what drives performance and plan strategically.
In a data-rich environment, the risk is failing to interrogate that information sufficiently. Without the instinct to probe, challenge and stress-test, analysis can become passive. By adopting a more intelligent approach, rather than just being a provider of information, finance can become central to the strategic core of the business.
Technology – with discipline
Technology is a critical enabler of this shift. Digital tools and AI expand the scope of finance teams. But greater capability brings with it the risk of losing focus. “There are fantastic tools available today,” Caruso says. “But the objective is not to use all of them. It’s about focusing on those that support better decisions.”
The technologies underlying this shift are not necessarily new. More than a decade ago, Sandoz was already experimenting with AI. But now, there is much greater accessibility to these tools across the business, and the possibility of embedding them in day-to-day workflows. AI can automate routine processes, scale analysis, and improve productivity. But the discipline lies in focusing on ends, rather than means.
The search for this discipline presents a dual challenge for finance leaders. They should offer teams the freedom to experiment but also set clear criteria for what constitutes value. Teams should abandon tools that do not deliver measurable improvements in efficiency or decision-making, even if their novelty excites finance people. “The goal is not to use more technology, but to improve the way we work,” Caruso says. “If these tools make work easier and reduce workload, we should use them. If not, we should stop.”
In a world of abundant data and increasingly powerful tools, advantage no longer lies in access to information but in how companies use that information.
The CFO as storyteller
“In finance, soft skills become increasingly important over time,” Caruso says. “Early in your career, the balance is more [toward the] technical. But later on, that certainly shifts.” As finance becomes more strategically central, the profile of the CFO must evolve as well. Technical expertise remains the “table stakes” but CFOs are expected not just to report performance, but to explain it in an accessible, compelling way to a range of stakeholders, from investors to staff. “I’m a strong believer in storytelling,” Caruso says. “The difference is how you explain the numbers.”
“Explaining the ‘why’ is critical,” Caruso says. “We are constantly communicating.” Alongside this, emotional intelligence – the ability to engage teams, build relationships and influence outcomes – has become a core quality to succeeding as a finance leader. This applies in both internal and external contexts. Finance leaders are more visible than before, working closely with operational teams and helping functions to achieve organizational consensus on key decisions.
Taken together, these developments reflect a broader change in the definition of effective finance leadership. In a world of abundant data and increasingly powerful tools, advantage no longer lies in access to information but in how companies use that information to guide decision making. For Caruso, this is now the CFO’s principal task: to help the business act with clarity in an increasingly complex environment.
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