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Transforming CFOs into CVOs: Data & AI are key for Canada's energy leaders to unlock value & future-proof their companies.
In Brief
- Shape and strengthen the quality of data and tech strategies as they pertain to operational performance, consolidating data sources to synthesize strategic insights.
- Optimize synergies between data, technology and capabilities to improve transparency, drive improvements, streamline forecasting and financial reporting, and comply with regulatory requirements.
- Enable a business’s strategic vision while integrating appropriate security measures into the data lifecycle to protect against breaches and cyber threats.
From Chief Financial Officer to Chief Value Officer: are data and AI transforming the CFO role in the energy sector?
Canada’s energy companies are leaning on finance leaders to act as Chief Value Officers, using data and AI to unlock opportunities and bolster their competitiveness for the future.
As the energy sector transforms to meet the future, the role of CFO has become more complex than ever. No longer responsible for simply ensuring financial integrity and compliance, today’s energy officers are being asked to anticipate and prepare their companies to thrive in an uncertain future.
Unlike the weather, for example, with its many variables and unknowns, CFOs looking to optimize operational effectiveness and develop the actionable insights to guide decision-making need not be without the tools to guide them — namely data and AI.
Catalysts for transformation
Given the explosion of data we’ve seen over the past few years, there’s no shortage of information across the energy sector. And it’s no secret that — as a strategic asset — data can be expected to empower business decisions and drive future economic development, both in Canada and around the world.
But CFOs with the robust analytic capabilities needed to weed out critical insights from data and market dynamics can be the step change businesses need to take strategic planning from defensive to offensive, delivering innovative products and services and realizing new revenue streams that can contribute to sustainable growth.
The latest EY Canada report, Data and AI-driven transformation in the energy sector: directing the future of finance to drive enhanced value, highlights the strategic value CFOs and their teams can bring using data, AI and machine learning to:
- Shape and strengthen the quality of data and tech strategies as they pertain to operational performance, consolidating data sources to synthesize strategic insights.
- Optimize synergies between data, technology and capabilities to improve transparency, drive improvements, streamline forecasting and financial reporting, and comply with regulatory requirements.
- Enable a business’s strategic vision while integrating appropriate security measures into the data lifecycle to protect against breaches and cyber threats.
The journey towards becoming a Chief Value Officer is an emblematic shift, with CFOs using data to drive not just financial performance but also environmental and social value.
Learn more about this transition in latest EY report - Data and AI-driven transformation in the energy sector: directing the future of finance to drive enhanced value
Summary
Governed appropriately, data is an asset that can fuel innovation and mitigate risk, safeguard one’s brand and build critical trust among stakeholders. Using data and AI to effectively anticipate trends, CFOs can help establish a culture that values and protects data integrity. Only by doing so will tomorrow’s leaders be prepared to pivot with resilience and guide investment and resourcing decisions to deliver sustainably — and a step ahead of the competition.