Careers

From CFO to CEO: a shift in perspective to lead a company beyond the figures

The transition from finance director to chief executive requires broadening one’s perspective to take in the external environment, future strategy and interpersonal dynamics

by Luca Brambilla* and Paolo Fanti**

9 October 2026

Aggiungi Il Sole 24 Ore
ai preferiti su Google

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

In a recent article we explored the career path an HR professional should follow to aspire to the role of CEO. We now return to this discussion, turning the spotlight on another key figure in top management: the Chief Financial Officer.

The proportion of CEOs with experience as CFOs is significant: research conducted by Heidrick & Struggles on an international sample of over 600 CEOs reveals that one in five (21 per cent) has a background as a CFO. Compared with other C-level executives, the chief financial officer has a crucial advantage: they possess a deep understanding of the company’s figures. Particularly in this era of rapid growth in Artificial Intelligence, those with a data-driven mindset enjoy a privileged perspective. Using AI without knowing how to interpret the vast amount of data it is capable of generating is, in fact, akin to running a powerful engine at idle.

Overseeing budgets and having a firm grasp of the profit and loss accounts provide the CFO with a set of technical skills that make the climb to the top of the organisation easier. Easier, yes, but not immediate. So what are the practical and mental steps that a CFO aspiring to become CEO must take?

Training in the dual approach to information: ‘inside out’ and ‘outside in’

The CFO focuses their attention inwards, extrapolating data designed to present the company to the outside world. To adopt a CEO’s mindset, they must metaphorically ‘step out of the numbers office’ to understand where and how those figures are generated. This involves making the shift from ‘inside out’ to ‘outside in’ – from being a spokesperson for the company’s performance to interpreting the stimuli, signals and changes within the ecosystem that may impact the business. The CEO is a keen expert in business logic and the corporate context. They know how to read financial statements not merely as dry figures, but as drivers that stem from an understanding of the product, the market and the end customer.

This is perhaps the most difficult mindset to change, as it requires an approach that is no longer merely careful and meticulous, but curious and inquisitive.

From a look back at the past to a look ahead to the future

Whilst the CFO produces and analyses an income statement based on performance in previous months, the CEO, by contrast, plans the strategy for the future. Here lies the second major shift in perspective: this time, from the past to the future. To use another metaphor, the finance director must shift their gaze from the car’s rear-view mirror to the windscreen. This is because the CEO does not merely measure the company’s value: they help to drive its future growth.

From economic capital to relational capital

By stepping out of the imaginary ‘number room’, the CFO can come to realise that those seemingly impersonal figures actually stem from interpersonal dynamics. That incoming cash flows are the result of strategic partnerships, successful negotiations and alliances forged over the years.

The CEO monitors not only financial indicators but also those relating to human, intellectual and organisational capital. He knows that talent is both a financial metric and an investment benchmark.

Apple’s Chief Financial Officer, Luca Maestri, stated in an interview with *Corriere della Sera* that working at Apple requires ‘perfectionism and emotional intelligence’. This shows that a brilliant CFO such as Maestri, despite his area of specialisation being finance, cites interpersonal skills as one of the requirements for joining the Cupertino-based giant.

In conclusion, to move from CFO to CEO, it is not enough simply to add a horizontal line to turn the ‘F’ into an ‘E’. The real leap is not lexical but cultural: you need to look up from your desk piled high with financial statements and turn your gaze outwards, to where market trends and signs of change are taking shape; to the future, to identify prospects and opportunities; but above all to people, in the knowledge that it is they who determine the evolution of those figures with which you are so familiar.

* Director of the Academy of Strategic Communication

** Chief Executive of ANDAF (National Association of Administrative and Financial Directors)