What It Takes for a CFO to Lead Operations and Tech

CFOs are increasingly adding operational and technology leadership to their duties — assuming a CFO/COO hybrid role and also overseeing digital transformation — at businesses of all sizes. This often happens at the behest of boards of directors and is part of a trend in which C-suites are consolidating, with the CFO position emerging as second only to the CEO.

According to a 2025 survey by L.E.K. Consulting, nearly two-thirds of about 100 CFOs said they are performing COO responsibilities. Also last year, a Gartner survey of about 250 CFOs found that an increasing number include artificial intelligence (43%) and IT (41%) in their top five job priorities.

Providing exceptional financial leadership while also excelling at risk management and digital and business transformation requires a level of boldness many find uncomfortable, and even experienced leaders will have moments of doubt.

It didn’t occur to me that there were growth opportunities beyond the CFO title until 2024, when I started hearing a few of my CFO peers share that IT had been moved under them. It was the first time I had ever thought of this as an option. These peers also shared their struggles with fully understanding the initiatives now in their remit. In early 2025, I found myself in their position after a restructuring. I did not hesitate when technology was added to my leadership responsibilities, as I had seen CFO peers navigate this transition, but I did think, “Am I CTO material?”

It takes an incredible amount of courage to lead in an area that is not in your traditional wheelhouse or within your experience. As a CPA, I was trained to tie everything out. I have my bearings when validating information regarding the financials. Stepping into leading IT, I had to trust the skill sets of others and receive advice from a greater number of sources to make sure the company was on the correct path.

Considering the average tenure of a CFO is about 3.5 years in the United States, many may wonder whether stepping outside their comfort zone is worth it when leadership priorities can shift so quickly.

In my case, considering the ongoing need for digital and operational transformation — and the increasing pressure for business models to change as customer preferences, demographics, and geopolitical economic metrics shift — I decided that staying siloed within the traditional CFO role was riskier than adding new responsibilities.

When the board asks, “Where was the CFO during this time?,” I want to make sure I’m proactively contributing to the best solution or outlook for the company in some fashion.

LEARNING TO TRUST YOUR GUT

It is easy to look at the expanded mandate and immediately start plotting for the fastest impacts. But transformation is not fast, and juggling all the responsibilities can quickly feel daunting.

My proactive outlook on leadership does not stem from the traditional pathway to accounting. My first training ground for risk management and proactive leadership was assisting my parents in running our family restaurant. All the necessary life lessons regarding how to troubleshoot in real time can be learned in food service.

After studying Japanese and international relations in college, I went to work in international trade and then refugee resettlement in Asia, Africa, and throughout the United States. I spent a year building schools in a war-torn region of East Africa where finding food and shelter was a constant struggle, and every day required the most ingenious problem-solving. Resources were often limited, and being resourceful was a way of life. I had to learn how to hone my gut, take in the information that I had at that moment, possibly ask for opinions, and make the best decision I could based on the information I had.

I explicitly remember one time when we had dignitaries waiting at a school site that we couldn’t drive to because heavy rains had closed the roads. I looked at my team and I said, “Let’s walk.” We arrived several hours later. To this day, we still talk about the adventure we undertook to get the job done.

A few years after my time in Africa, while working in the Maryland Office for Refugees and Asylees, I took my first accounting class at a community college. After that, I wanted to become a CFO, so I completed the required accounting classes and studied for the CPA Exam while working full time. I received my CPA license in 2019 and worked in controller and director of finance roles before becoming a CFO in 2022.

MISTAKES HAPPEN WHEN YOU ADD LEADERSHIP DUTIES

Operating on limited or nonexhaustive data can be quite uncomfortable for those of us who have deep expertise in accounting and finance. Unfortunately, going with your gut doesn’t always make things turn out “right” or “perfect.” A significant part of honing new skills is knowing that mistakes or mishaps will happen. While the wins are amazing, failure leaves a truly lasting impression.

I have led four different digital transitions of different scopes at various companies. We all want to prepare for the downswings as best we can. And we all think that we’ve done everything we can to make the best decision, but sometimes things don’t work out.

The hardest part of expanding beyond the CFO role and leading in IT, operations, human resources, strategy, risk, etc. is that while you mitigate the risk as best you can, it takes time to hone new skills. I remind others and myself that like the balance sheet, decisions are made at a point-of-time snapshot, and the snapshots are ever-changing.

Even though iterative decision-making is the future, there will be times when you may fail with particular technical objectives but cannot throw out the whole project. Be ready to constantly adjust the plan, but be aware that “fail fast, fail often” — with its sense of experimentation — is a luxury many of us do not have, as many projects are too complex and multifaceted to be that iterative. For example, when I oversaw implementation of a new accounts payable, expense reimbursement, and credit card coding system for a business with multiple entities, we discovered early on that the new system allowed executive assistants to submit expense reports but not to code credit card transactions. This produced disruption and distress, but it simply wasn’t feasible to throw out the whole system. We worked around the problem while pushing the system vendor to enable the functionality we needed.

OPERATIONAL LEADERSHIP CAN BE DAUNTING

After adding technology leadership to my CFO responsibilities, I gained the COO title in November 2025. I chose a hybrid CFO and COO title because I was not ready to leave my CFO roots behind. I believe that the foundation we bring as CPAs and financial leaders provides the added value needed for transformational business success.

Mandates to take on expanded operational duties are often clear but daunting. The CFO as operational leader is told: “Cut costs across the company by 10% without compromising performance” or “Implement AI in order to drive down costs by 10% in one year.”

These missions require a million miles to be walked, jogged, or sprinted. Staff, consultants, and fellow internal stakeholders want to know a clear path to reach the finish line. Next, they want to understand how they are going to add the additional work on top of their already existing load.

There are just too many factors to provide “exactness” on such a long journey amid such stark deliverables. Expanding financial leadership to include COO duties is more like a chess game. You make a move and see what happens, learn from it, and then make another move — all the while constantly applying a balance of creativity and critical thinking in deciding what your next move will be.

Being a true leader is focusing on the north star and reminding everyone that you will take the necessary steps to get there. That means reassuring everyone that they will have weigh-in and a voice through each part of the journey, delicately balanced with having to push people to produce deliverables on time.

This process requires a significant amount of bandwidth for mental processing, networking for additional insight, and the ability to lean into new skill sets and processes. I share some of my tactics in the section “Handling 360 Degrees of Pressure.”

A SEGUE TO BECOMING CEO

With the increasing emphasis on overall P&L management within COO roles, the likelihood of CFO/COO-to-CEO succession grows. According to the 2025 Russell Reynolds Global CFO Turnover Index, of the CFOs who moved on to other positions in 2024, 34% moved to a president or CEO role, with another 15% moving to a division CEO role, 6% to a separate COO role, and 15% to another C-suite job overseeing areas including risk and corporate strategy.

Increasingly, boards of directors and CEOs need CFOs to lead enterprise-level strategy initiatives because they want CFOs to create value by driving business decision-making versus reporting on what has previously happened. These types of projects also improve the chances of CFOs being considered higher-quality candidates for CEO succession.

HANDLING 360 DEGREES OF PRESSURE

Leading amid uncertainty has been discussed a lot over the years, but it remains difficult to do when you are being squeezed from the top and the sides — and from your teams — while you are vulnerably leading in a new area of the business.

I have learned through many tough lessons that it’s important to have a strong leadership vision and protect your place as the leader, but it’s also essential to acknowledge that you don’t know everything and that you are relying on others to help.

As you expand your operational reach and begin working with pivotal players outside of your department, understand that it takes time to build those relationships. You need those key stakeholders to buy in to your leadership and the mandate to get those pivotal pieces of information you need to be successful. Often your success depends on their willingness, and that takes careful cultivation.

Constant communication at the top and with those aligned in the process takes a significant amount of effort and crafting but will prove fundamental to your success. There is no manual on what that delicate balance must look like for your leadership style, the dynamics of the situation, and your ultimate goal, but this is another constant gut check that must be adjusted as the project moves along.

I have learned the key in leaning into these expanded roles is holding onto crucial boundaries that allow me the time to process and give myself time to have additional insight. I try to hold on to a steady exercise routine, whether that is a jog or a walk or doing some daily meditation. I find that having this additional mental space helps me be more creative or have additional insight into the problem I’m contemplating at the moment.

However, when taking on new responsibilities, we often get busier, and the time for this additional mental and emotional space quickly erodes. For years, I exercised one hour four days a week. Last year, as my role grew, I let my exercise time erode from my schedule. After several months, I began to become ill. It was a firm reminder that I must maintain that one hour regardless of when it takes place during the day — morning, afternoon, or evening.

I’m writing this not from a place of “I did it, so you can, too,” but from “I’m also navigating the choppy waters and many moments of self-doubt.” I choose to keep leaning into the transformational power of having finance, operations, and IT move in lock step for the most impactful business transformation.

If you do end up taking on a CFO role with COO or CTO responsibilities, make sure to acknowledge and tap in to your team members for their insights. This builds trust down and across your remit and helps you provide the most value possible to the organization.

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About the author

Janice Stucke, CPA, is CFO and COO at CREW Network, a global member organization based in Lawrence, Kan., dedicated to advancing women in commercial real estate. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Jeff Drew at Jeff.Drew@aicpa-cima.com.

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“CFOs Signal Crucial Role That Technology Will Play in 2026,” JofA, Jan. 13, 2026

“Corporate Governance: Roles and Responsibilities,” AICPA and CIMA, April 1, 2025