Financial Executive Perspectives on Disruption and Ways to Empower Businesses for Survival and Growth
In a recent Global Board Governance Survey, disruptive leaders have been highlighted for their strategic approaches to navigating market disruption. The study reveals that these leaders prioritize CEO succession planning, foster high-trust boards, and engage HR leaders in disciplined and future-oriented succession planning as key strategies for enhancing organizational agility and long-term performance.
The survey underscores the importance of prioritizing CEO succession as a strategic, ongoing process, recognizing that having the right leadership at the helm is the most powerful lever for long-term performance and navigating complexity and change. CEO succession is no longer reactive but a *strategic imperative* requiring ongoing, dynamic evaluation over possibly two years, ensuring alignment with future goals and continuity amid disruption.
In addition to leadership continuity, the survey underscores the importance of building high-trust boards, where soft values like trust, inclusion, and open communication are considered critical enablers of high performance. About 67% of board chairs emphasize these as non-negotiable for effective governance in disruptive environments.
Trusted CHROs play a vital role in facilitating a disciplined and future-focused succession process that minimizes missteps and builds confidence in incoming leaders.
Moreover, the survey findings suggest that more than seven in 10 disruptive leaders see artificial intelligence (AI) as enhancing their ability to disrupt. In contrast, nearly five times as many disruption laggards view "the lack of an innovative culture or talent to think creatively" as a significant barrier to becoming more disruptive.
The accelerating pace of technological advancement is perceived as the greatest concern among external factors that can disrupt a company's strategy and business model. In response, CFOs should prioritize generative AI for improving third-party spend oversight, sourcing management, IT rationalization, and cost optimization.
Finance leaders should identify modernization initiatives offering the highest ROI potential with the lowest project execution risk. Disruptive leaders are more focused on prioritizing technology modernization initiatives, deploying AI and other advanced technologies, reducing the impact of accumulated technical debt in legacy technology infrastructure, and reimagining new business models as they sustain the relevance of their market offerings.
The survey also reveals that 15% of the surveyed board members and C-suite executives identify their own organizations as disruptive leaders. However, 40% of disruption laggards view AI adoption by other companies as subjecting them to greater risk of being disrupted. A majority of CFOs (54%) lack a high level of confidence their organizations would recognize in time that their business models were being disrupted.
Whether an organization leverages digital technology as a disruption opportunity or scrambles to mitigate its negative impacts depends on the sophistication and agility of its technology infrastructure and team. Therefore, it is crucial for finance leaders to seek out opportunities to rev up agentic AI deployments for enhancing core finance processes, financial planning and analysis, and governance, risk, and compliance activities.
In conclusion, the Global Board Governance Survey emphasizes the importance of strategic CEO succession planning, building high-trust boards, and engaging HR leaders in succession planning for disruptive leaders. Additionally, the survey highlights the role of AI and technology modernization in driving disruption and the need for finance leaders to prioritize initiatives offering the highest potential return on investment with the lowest project execution risk.
- Finance leaders should prioritize technology modernization initiatives, as disruptive leaders are more focused on deploying AI and other advanced technologies, recognizing that the accelerating pace of technological advancement is a significant concern and presents an opportunity to disrupt, rather than a risk to be mitigated.
- CEO succession has become a strategic imperative, requiring ongoing, dynamic evaluation for two years, as disruptive leaders prioritize this process for ensuring alignment with future goals and continuity amid disruption, understanding that having the right leadership at the helm is crucial for long-term performance and navigating complexity and change.
