Latest / The Diary of a CFO / Why Every CFO Feels Stretched and What to Do About It, with Tom Hood

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Why Every CFO Feels Stretched and What to Do About It, with Tom Hood · The Diary of a CFO

• 0:00
  Tom Hood: This year seeing the biggest change in the role and CFO moving into
• 0:06
  a much more strategic role, and actually the whole finance and accounting teams
• 0:10
  moving up in terms of value creation.
• 0:12
  Wassia Kamon: What are the new things that are under the umbrella of the CFO?
• 0:16
  The CFO
• 0:17
  Tom Hood: always had a seat at that executive table, not always looked at as the copa.
• 0:21
  In fact, a lot of times it used to be the marketing people that.
• 0:26
  Intro: Tom Hood, EVP of Business Engagement and Growth at A-I-C-P-A is a globally
• 0:31
  recognized leader in the accounting profession.
• 0:33
  Tom has dedicated his career to helping finance professionals adapt to change, embrace
• 0:37
  technology, and develop future ready skills.
• 0:39
  His visionary approach continues to inspire professionals worldwide to lead
• 0:43
  with purpose, innovation, and agility in an ever evolving business landscape.
• 0:48
  Tom Hood: So the over hype trend is AI will replace.
• 0:51
  Finance and account.
• 0:52
  I'm around long enough that I was around when Excel came out and VisiCalc and
• 0:57
  Lotus, and when that came out, there was an article in the Wall Street Journal
• 1:01
  of all places that said spreadsheets are gonna replace the accounting profession.
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  The CFO has a good command of all the data and the critical relationships
• 1:10
  in their stakeholder system.
• 1:11
  And so now they're playing that big role.
• 1:13
  And in fact, the number one pathway to CEO right now is through the CFO.
• 1:18
  Wassia Kamon: How do you bring all these pieces to a stretch?
• 1:20
  Strategic level, especially when you think about AI and how it's gonna automate these things.
• 1:26
  Well,
• 1:26
  Tom Hood: that's what's creating the urgency.
• 1:28
  So right now, the number one issue in our leadership group, as you know, is.
• 1:32
  Upskilling and reskilling.
• 1:34
  It's the need for new skills, and that's across the whole org.
• 1:37
  So what we're finding is
• 1:40
  Wassia Kamon: welcome back to the Diary of a CFO podcast.
• 1:43
  The finance leaders share the lessons, challenges, and wins that shaped their
• 1:46
  careers as well as their organizations.
• 1:49
  I'm your host, Wassia Kamon, and today I'm super delighted to have with me Tom Hood.
• 1:53
  Welcome to the show, Tom.
• 1:55
  Tom Hood: Well see.
• 1:55
  As, as always, it's an honor to be with you and, uh, this is gonna be a lot of fun, I can tell.
• 2:00
  And by the way, how many of our listeners.
• 2:02
  Have no idea that we had an accounting hall of fame.
• 2:05
  I should have a green jacket on, I guess.
• 2:06
  But yes,
• 2:08
  Wassia Kamon: have it in the back, but we do.
• 2:11
  Absolutely.
• 2:12
  And I just really wanted to start with your career journey, right?
• 2:15
  Because you've been in the profession, you were A CFO decades ago, so I'm really
• 2:19
  curious to hear what drew you to accounting and finance in the first place, and how
• 2:24
  did you find yourself now where you are?
• 2:27
  Tom Hood: The thing that drew me to accounting was uh, three letters, the FBI.
• 2:31
  Oh, wow.
• 2:33
  I'm the son of a Baltimore City policeman, and my mom was a key punch operator, so I'm the first
• 2:40
  generation in our entire family to go to college.
• 2:44
  I put myself through college at night school.
• 2:47
  That was because, you know, all I knew at that time was my dad was a police officer.
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  I didn't want to be a police officer, but I thought I'd like to be in law enforcement
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  some way in helping our community and FBI seemed like the right way to go.
• 3:01
  Now, once I started getting involved, looking at what was evolved, they
• 3:05
  required 2020 vision uncorrected.
• 3:08
  I needed glasses or contacts, so.
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  Unfortunately that didn't pan out.
• 3:13
  So now I'm in night school starting at Johns Hopkins University.
• 3:17
  Taking accounting and I'm realizing that I'm gonna have to get a job as an accountant.
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  'cause that's the major I took and I liked it.
• 3:23
  So I, here we go.
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  So that led to, uh, to getting various jobs in corporate.
• 3:30
  So I never did any public accounting.
• 3:32
  I like to say I was a victim of audits, but I never did an audit.
• 3:38
  I'm gonna use that.
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  But I was encouraged and guided to become a CPA the minute I graduated from.
• 3:46
  Ultimately Loyola University is where I went to graduate with my accounting degree.
• 3:50
  Wassia Kamon: Wow.
• 3:51
  I would've never imagined you being FBI agent, so I'm glad you came to the accounting side.
• 3:57
  Me too.
• 3:58
  Yes.
• 4:00
  And I'm curious to hear, because you, you were CFO for decades and what would you say
• 4:06
  helped you break into the role back then?
• 4:08
  Because the CFO role has evolved so much.
• 4:11
  Tom Hood: Yeah.
• 4:12
  Yeah.
• 4:12
  So I would say I was very fortunate my early career days, I was in
• 4:17
  several major corporate roles.
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  I started out as like a junior accountant in, in banking and finance.
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  Then quickly moved into, uh, architecture.
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  So I was in a, a major global architecture company.
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  At that point, I was a accounting senior, so to speak.
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  That's where I started to learn really about the role of the controller and the CFO.
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  I had really good mentors there and they encouraged me to get my CPA.
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  And then as soon as I got that CPA, they said, you're gonna write your dues check
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  to the Maryland CPAs and the AI CPA.
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  And he literally sat in my office and made me write my own personal check,
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  uh, to get to join those associations.
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  And he said, now go out and get involved.
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  And that set my trajectory.
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  Well see, it's three things that I think were my secret to success and I would suggest
• 5:09
  that they might still be that relevant.
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  And that's, it's about getting involved in your profession.
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  In my case, it was the professional associations, A-I-C-P-A and uh, M-A-C-P-A.
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  And the second part was building your network.
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  And you're well aware of that.
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  But if you look at what we're doing with future finance, that's what we're doing.
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  It's about the collaboration that comes from your network and the people that you meet who you might
• 5:35
  not know when they could be helpful or whatever.
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  But you provide value and you get value.
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  And that's like, that's one of the biggest keys, and I think we've lost a lot of that.
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  Over time in the profession as we've gotten, you know, COVID and all these
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  other pieces that have happened.
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  But creating networks, which is what we're doing with future finance, has
• 5:54
  been a, been a big, big evolution there.
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  And then the third thing was an insatiable desire to keep learning and.
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  Obviously, I've got my quote that says, we have to keep our L greater than C squared.
• 6:07
  Our rate of learning has to be greater than the rate of change and greater than our competition.
• 6:13
  Wow.
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  Which could be a seatmate.
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  Or it could be another company.
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  But I think those three things, right?
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  Getting involved, raising your hand, doing things in a, in your network through your
• 6:23
  associations, building your network, and then collaboration through, uh, constant learning.
• 6:29
  Wassia Kamon: Wow.
• 6:29
  And this big, this resonates so much with me because maybe I didn't tell you, I didn't get
• 6:34
  a chance to tell you 'cause you're always busy at the conferences, but you changed my life.
• 6:39
  By those three things.
• 6:40
  And let me tell you how, so I'll tell the audience too.
• 6:43
  So a couple years ago when I started posting on LinkedIn, I did a post about,
• 6:47
  um, the top certification in accounting.
• 6:50
  And I missed one of them.
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  That was very important.
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  And so one of the other thought leaders on LinkedIn reposted it and it just
• 6:58
  happened to be connected with Tom Hood.
• 7:01
  And so I was like.
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  Oops.
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  But then you were so gracious to send me a message and say, Hey Sia,
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  I just wanted to tell you about this.
• 7:10
  We gotta talk.
• 7:11
  And you invited me to the future of finance.
• 7:14
  At that future of finance, I met someone who eventually introduced me to someone
• 7:19
  else, to someone else, and that's how I got my first ZP role and not my CFO role.
• 7:24
  Tom Hood: That's incredible.
• 7:25
  Right.
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  I did not know that full story, but I do remember that that post and that conversation very well.
• 7:30
  Yes.
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  And you were very gracious on the other side to say, I'm open to listen to what you have
• 7:36
  to say, and then you helped me get it right.
• 7:38
  Right.
• 7:39
  Yes, it was, that was fantastic.
• 7:40
  Wassia Kamon: Yes.
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  But it goes back.
• 7:41
  I know, right?
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  Because you, it goes back to what you said, getting involved.
• 7:44
  So for me it was initially through content creation, right.
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  Trying to also.
• 7:49
  Get the word out that accountant can be in finance and FP and A and B. That being a CPA didn't mean
• 7:55
  being restricted to public accounting, right?
• 7:58
  Yes.
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  But also the networking.
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  Being willing to go to that conference and also meet people and keep learning
• 8:06
  all the conferences and the spaces, the challenging topics that I brought up.
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  And so, yes, you changed my life.
• 8:15
  Tom Hood: That's so cool.
• 8:15
  Well, and you changed ours because that, that one meeting was when you um, and a bunch
• 8:21
  of the other ladies created the sisterhood as it's now known by really uniting the
• 8:26
  ladies in finance, which was incredible.
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  And that continues to this day.
• 8:30
  Oh
• 8:30
  Wassia Kamon: yeah.
• 8:30
  We are solid going in our third year.
• 8:35
  So thank you so much for creating those spaces.
• 8:38
  And I wanna go back to, before we derail too much, 'cause I'm too excited to have you on.
• 8:43
  I wanted to know, now that you are really in contact with so many Fortune 1000 CFOs, how
• 8:50
  would you say the role of the CFO really evolved?
• 8:54
  Because sometimes I feel like, is it overhyped?
• 8:57
  Did it really evolve, and how did it really change?
• 9:00
  Tom Hood: I think what's interesting is actually, I would say this year
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  we've seen the biggest change.
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  And, and I think it's because it's been building for, we've been talking about this
• 9:14
  probably for a decade or more about the CFO moving into a much more strategic role, and
• 9:19
  actually the whole finance and accounting teams moving up in terms of value creation.
• 9:25
  I think we're now finally seeing it.
• 9:27
  Let me give you a couple quick examples.
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  Right now we're starting to see the publication of this new role called the COFO.
• 9:34
  Cofa, yes.
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  Workday's using one.
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  It's the combination of the COO and the CFO.
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  What we're seeing is that CFO now is the copilot with the CEO of the whole organization's strategy.
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  So we've been talking a long time about the movement from the rear view mirror
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  view, closing the books and providing the financial statements to the organization,
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  to the windshield view where we're actually advising the organization of what to do.
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  Now you start throwing in all the things that are going on now, ever since COVID,
• 10:09
  inflation, geopolitics, tariffs, you name it.
• 10:12
  Right?
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  But these are all forward looking things.
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  Mm-hmm.
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  And the CFO now has to step into that role and be comfortable being
• 10:20
  that high level strategic advisor.
• 10:23
  Wow.
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  Now I was lucky 'cause when I was way back in those days, I got into
• 10:27
  a highway construction company and I was CFO at the age of probably about.
• 10:34
  I think I was under 30, and this is about a $500 million construction company.
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  And we were in a major systems transformation and we went through a very disruptive time and
• 10:45
  the CEO relied on me to help them navigate the future, constantly doing projections, going
• 10:52
  to the bank, meeting with the Bondi company.
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  That is what kind of crafted me, but that that was a role that is the future.
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  And I was occupying that way back then.
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  Because I had to, it was right.
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  It was about necessity.
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  But that is the role that we now see more and more frequently from the biggest corporations
• 11:13
  all the way down to the middle market.
• 11:14
  And I feel like we're at the arrival phase.
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  The inflection point has happened, and we're now going into that role.
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  And in fact, we're pulling the whole finance organization up with
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  us by upskilling and reskilling.
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  AI is giving us a turbocharge.
• 11:31
  That's how I see that happening.
• 11:33
  Wassia Kamon: Okay.
• 11:33
  So how would you define then the role?
• 11:35
  Because typically when we think CFO, we think finance, uh, we think FPNA, accounting,
• 11:40
  treasury, like what are the new things that are under the umbrella of the CFO?
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  Tom Hood: So I think the biggest new thing is strategy.
• 11:49
  Okay.
• 11:50
  And long-term planning, and really being the co-pilot with the CEO.
• 11:55
  The CFO always had a seat at that executive table.
• 11:59
  Not always looked at as the co-pilot.
• 12:01
  In fact, a lot of times it used to be the marketing people.
• 12:04
  Wassia Kamon: Yeah.
• 12:05
  Tom Hood: That were looking at the market.
• 12:06
  Right.
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  And while that's still important, without the understanding of the foundation of the numbers,
• 12:12
  you can't really advise those businesses.
• 12:14
  And so you're looking at times where businesses are having to cut costs, right.
• 12:18
  Pull that lever, but accelerate revenue.
• 12:22
  And that accelerating revenue requires that strategic holistic view of the whole organization.
• 12:27
  The CFO has a good command of all the data and the critical relationships
• 12:32
  in their stakeholder system.
• 12:34
  And so now they're playing that big role.
• 12:36
  And in fact, the number one pathway to CEO right now is through the CFO.
• 12:42
  Wow.
• 12:43
  That's kind of cool, right?
• 12:44
  I mean, and when I look at the whole transition, well see, I feel like we're doing this.
• 12:49
  We're going from a past tense profession to a future tense profession.
• 12:54
  That's kind of exciting, right?
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  As we used to always be about the past, close the books.
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  Tell us what happened.
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  Now we're out, we're looking at close the books, get it right, but then tell us what's
• 13:05
  going to happen and what happens after that.
• 13:08
  And that's the new role that I think we're all starting to take into.
• 13:11
  Wassia Kamon: No, that's very exciting.
• 13:12
  And, and I'm also curious as a CFO now, how do you bring your whole function with you?
• 13:17
  Like when you think about, you know, going into the, the.
• 13:20
  The granular level, how do you bring AP ar?
• 13:24
  How do you bring treasury?
• 13:25
  Like how do you bring all these pieces to a strategic level, especially when you think about
• 13:30
  AI and how it's gonna automate these things?
• 13:33
  Tom Hood: Well, that's what's creating the urgency.
• 13:35
  So right, right now, the number one issue in our leadership group, as you
• 13:39
  know, is upskilling and reskilling.
• 13:42
  It's the need for new skills, and that's across the whole org.
• 13:46
  So what we're finding is.
• 13:48
  They suddenly need, we like to call it the T-shaped professional, right?
• 13:51
  Those boundary crossing skills that are built on top of the strong
• 13:56
  Accounting and finance Foundation.
• 13:58
  So that's like collaboration, strategic thinking, storytelling, right?
• 14:04
  And, and integration of all that kind of understanding future trends.
• 14:08
  So those skills are where we're starting to see finance teams start to acquire.
• 14:13
  But even the control, if you look at some of the.
• 14:16
  I think EY did a DNA of the controller report, uh, which I love, and it's showing
• 14:20
  that the controller is basically stepping into the role that the CFO used to do.
• 14:25
  Wow.
• 14:26
  Which is taking more of a finance projection, uh, element to it, which is then
• 14:31
  elevating AP and AR that they've gotta be.
• 14:35
  So think about applying AI for anomaly detection and risk and fraud detection.
• 14:40
  So now they're using new tools, which is allowing them to grow, which is kind of exciting.
• 14:46
  Um, fp and A has always been a big part of that, but they're getting an expanded
• 14:50
  role in this age of uncertainty, which is getting crazier and crazier, right?
• 14:55
  Yes.
• 14:56
  So that's where that demand is, that the world is getting more uncertain mm-hmm.
• 15:01
  And complex.
• 15:02
  Which is requiring finance to be able to deal with that from a projection perspective.
• 15:06
  Mm-hmm.
• 15:07
  Which means you have to elevate the whole team to support that CFO moving into the co-pilot role.
• 15:13
  Wassia Kamon: Wow.
• 15:13
  And how do you see the timeline of it happening?
• 15:16
  Right, because the changes right now, the modeling that we are doing is not just
• 15:21
  best, worst case scenario is bad, worst.
• 15:23
  Ugly scenario, I feel like.
• 15:25
  Um, so how do you bring up, like what is a timeline?
• 15:28
  What could be a roadmap for A CFO to get their team at that level?
• 15:33
  Tom Hood: So I think it's gonna be up to each CFO, but we have a model called the finance
• 15:37
  Assessment Model for Effectiveness, which basically shows a progression of the CFO from, uh,
• 15:43
  you know, basically cost control all the way up.
• 15:46
  Futurist and value creators.
• 15:49
  And so it's up to them to find out where they are on that path.
• 15:51
  But our future finance group created that three years ago and this past meeting,
• 15:57
  we're gonna update it with an impact of ai.
• 16:00
  So I'm gonna send you a link to add that to the show notes so you can give them
• 16:04
  this fame model to start looking at the different, so what we're saying, SIA, is
• 16:10
  each individual CFO or company has to chart their own path, and some of them might be.
• 16:16
  Further behind or further ahead on the journey.
• 16:20
  So this model gives them a place to say, where am I and what do I want to move to next?
• 16:26
  As opposed to everyone trying to move to the far upper right, because I think it's
• 16:31
  gonna all happen at individual paces, even though I would say the economy and the
• 16:36
  environment is pushing that to happen faster.
• 16:41
  So I would say if you're a smart CFO, you should be looking at how can I elevate?
• 16:46
  The role of me and the team to keep up with all this crazy stuff going on in the market.
• 16:51
  Obviously AI being the next big catalyst.
• 16:54
  So the other part we'll give you is we just released, uh, business Resilience Toolkit.
• 17:00
  So it gives you all kinds of resources to think about strategy scenarios, risk
• 17:05
  as you navigate all this uncertainty.
• 17:07
  So between the FAME model and the Business Resilience Toolkit, you've got two resources you
• 17:13
  can give the audience that will give them some.
• 17:15
  Good ways of thinking about and mapping their journeys again.
• 17:19
  Our hope is that everyone gets on the journey and we all start to
• 17:22
  elevate the whole profession together.
• 17:24
  Wassia Kamon: Wow.
• 17:24
  Thank you so much for sharing.
• 17:26
  I take it for granted being within the group, but I, I, I know this will be super helpful
• 17:31
  to so many leaders out there, especially when you think about how finance was viewed
• 17:36
  and how we quickly have to pick up things.
• 17:38
  So thank you for sharing that.
• 17:40
  Definitely looking for that link.
• 17:41
  And then my next question is, at some point, you know, in the accounting profession.
• 17:47
  Within the CFO role, there was a time when being a CPA was a gold standard for finance leaders today.
• 17:53
  Some people say that it could actually hold them back.
• 17:56
  Where do you stand on this?
• 17:58
  Tom Hood: So I think it can only hold you back if you let it.
• 18:01
  I, I would say that yes, there's no question that we've seen a migration.
• 18:05
  There's been more like MBAs and other.
• 18:09
  Quote, credentials or, or, um, or degrees that have been more sought after?
• 18:14
  I actually think it's the CPA.
• 18:16
  In fact, it's the reason we merge with cma, 'cause the merger of cma, chartered
• 18:22
  Institute of Management Accountants.
• 18:24
  And the CGMA qualification brought the discipline of management accounting
• 18:28
  into the CPA, which is missing.
• 18:31
  So when you start to look at the CGMA curriculum, at the top strategy level where CPAs would
• 18:36
  enter to get that credential, it's all the stuff that they need to be that evolving.
• 18:42
  CFO.
• 18:43
  It won't, it will add to the CPA.
• 18:45
  So I think what the CPA gives that no one other credential gives them is the ethics and
• 18:51
  and trust that comes with that designation.
• 18:55
  That's essential for that controllership function to this day in public companies.
• 19:00
  And for A CFO, it gives you instant credibility with your investors and your
• 19:04
  board that you've got ethics and integrity.
• 19:07
  Now you just need to layer on the, the heavy strategy side of being a finance leader.
• 19:12
  And then that will give you the skills that you and the credential that you need.
• 19:15
  So I say the gold standard still CPA, but the.
• 19:19
  Platinum standard is C-P-A-C-G-M-A.
• 19:21
  Wassia Kamon: Oh, okay.
• 19:22
  So tell us more about the CGMA because again, back to the original Post I, by the time I
• 19:29
  learned about the CGMA, I was like, snap.
• 19:31
  I already had the CPA and the CMA and I was like, I would've just gotten the CGMA just by itself.
• 19:38
  So please tell the audience about what is A-C-G-M-A, what are the
• 19:42
  parts and how can someone go for it?
• 19:44
  Tom Hood: Okay, so the CGMA stands for the Chartered Global Management Accountant.
• 19:49
  It's actually in, I think we have it in about 120 countries.
• 19:55
  That's the reason the A-I-C-P-A sought to merge with them.
• 19:58
  'cause we lacked the focus on management accounting inside the A-I-C-P-A.
• 20:04
  And so sema, that's all they did.
• 20:06
  So then it, it also opened up a global market.
• 20:09
  Now we've got this big global market of CPAs and CMAs, and I'll give an example.
• 20:14
  I was in India like two weeks ago meeting with our major CPA firms that have offices
• 20:21
  in India, which there are a ton of them.
• 20:23
  And they were all saying, wow, this CGMA opens up another whole doorway for us.
• 20:28
  But what it is effectively, it, it basically has three levels.
• 20:32
  So you could go into it starting right outta college.
• 20:35
  In fact, we have a pathway, the apprenticeship that allows you to go in,
• 20:39
  even from almost the high school level.
• 20:41
  Wow.
• 20:42
  Uh, and begin to earn credits while you are.
• 20:45
  Earn money while you're earning credits, if you will then apply to your college credits.
• 20:50
  But then you take three levels, right?
• 20:52
  One of them is the operational level, the next level is the management level,
• 20:57
  and the top level is the strategic level.
• 21:00
  Okay.
• 21:01
  It's that top level that CPAs need if they want to move into that evolving CFO role faster.
• 21:09
  Wassia Kamon: Okay.
• 21:09
  Tom Hood: But it prepares you, even without the CPA, it would prepare you for a CFO role globally.
• 21:15
  We think the CPA adds that Ethics and trust foundation, which makes it platinum.
• 21:21
  Wassia Kamon: Thank you.
• 21:22
  Now, can you tell us a bit more what is in that curriculum of the strategic level?
• 21:26
  Like what are some of the topics covered?
• 21:28
  Tom Hood: So things like digital strategy.
• 21:30
  Wow.
• 21:31
  Um, risk management, uh, all kinds of strategic, uh, planning notions and, uh,
• 21:38
  and basically understanding the holistic business enterprise view and how to lead that.
• 21:45
  So that's where, and, and what's interesting about the CGMA 'cause,
• 21:48
  the CMA is a great credential also.
• 21:51
  CGMA is all case study work.
• 21:54
  So you're actually in scenarios while you're building to the exam.
• 21:59
  So you're, and these scenarios are like real world updated scenarios that you
• 22:04
  will encounter in, in the real, real world lives of CFOs and controllers.
• 22:09
  So I think that's what makes it a bit unique.
• 22:11
  It's also very hard and intense, but when people get through it, for instance,
• 22:17
  one of our members happens to be.
• 22:19
  When we first, he was on our future finance group.
• 22:21
  He was the CFO of a little retailer in Bentonville, Arkansas.
• 22:25
  Called Walmart.
• 22:26
  Yeah.
• 22:27
  And he's a SEMA member from England that came over CFO of Walmart.
• 22:31
  Next thing you know, after three months, he ended up becoming the COO of Sam's Club, and then a
• 22:37
  couple months later, he's the CEO of Sam's Club.
• 22:41
  So, just to give you an example of where that credential could take you.
• 22:45
  He's a living example, running, you know, one of the largest corporations in the world, as
• 22:50
  with that designation and that background.
• 22:52
  And he would say that was an essential part of him being able to get to that position.
• 22:57
  It's, it would be the equivalent of an MBA.
• 23:00
  But with all the financial acumen built into it, and that's the differentiator.
• 23:05
  Wassia Kamon: No, and I totally get it.
• 23:07
  Why you would say it's a platinum level?
• 23:09
  Because you know, in my role now I realize like risk management is huge.
• 23:15
  When you think about the uncertainty and what's going on, like you
• 23:19
  really need to have that toolkit.
• 23:21
  I like the idea of the case studies, not just multiple choices.
• 23:24
  Like you really have to think, you know where to go because nothing is
• 23:28
  straightforward when you come outta school.
• 23:31
  For sure.
• 23:31
  Correct.
• 23:32
  So I'm curious, in your recent conversations without Fortune, uh, 1000 CFOs and now CEOs,
• 23:38
  what are they losing sleep over right now?
• 23:40
  Tom Hood: You know the top issues.
• 23:41
  We obviously track these top five issues constantly with our group by pulling them.
• 23:46
  So need for new skills is really challenging them.
• 23:49
  But let me put it in context that rose to number one in the last six or
• 23:54
  seven months, gen AI was number two.
• 23:59
  Number three is accelerated digital transformation, and number
• 24:02
  four was innovation and growth.
• 24:05
  So let's put up all that in context, right?
• 24:08
  What the CFOs are dealing with is they've gotta transform their finance function so they can
• 24:14
  support innovation and growth in the business, which is then requiring the need for new skills.
• 24:21
  Right.
• 24:21
  And then AI is just a big turbocharge.
• 24:24
  Yeah.
• 24:24
  On all those trends.
• 24:26
  So what's keeping them up at night is how do I deal with this whole
• 24:31
  playbook of things that I have to do?
• 24:34
  And then we saw that come out in the Gartner CFO conference.
• 24:38
  Where they talked about what are the top five things CFOs are spending their time
• 24:42
  on, and they tie right to those trends.
• 24:46
  Interestingly enough, um, it's funny we just covered this in the town hall,
• 24:51
  but here's what they're talking about.
• 24:52
  Metrics, analytics and reporting.
• 24:55
  Think fp and a future oriented stuff, right?
• 24:59
  Planning, budgeting, and forecasting, future oriented stuff.
• 25:04
  Data strategy and management.
• 25:06
  If they're gonna use AI in the enterprise, they gotta get a good handle on their
• 25:09
  data and their financial data, especially.
• 25:13
  Then AI adoption in finance was number four, and finally the fifth
• 25:18
  one was enterprise growth strategy.
• 25:21
  So you could see this was as of May at the Gartner CFO conference supporting
• 25:26
  exactly what our group came up with.
• 25:28
  Which is why I love our group.
• 25:30
  The wisdom of the crowd comes through every time, spot on, but that's
• 25:34
  what's keeping them up at night.
• 25:35
  It's not one thing.
• 25:37
  It's the bucket of five things.
• 25:39
  How do I transform fast enough to support innovation and growth in my business?
• 25:44
  Again, none of that's about financial reporting history.
• 25:47
  It's all about looking out the windshield.
• 25:49
  Wassia Kamon: Yeah, and I noticed a common thing throughout is technology, like a lot of what you
• 25:54
  were saying, uh, whether it was from the Gartner group or what we do at the future of finance.
• 25:59
  All around technology.
• 26:01
  Upskilling, reskilling.
• 26:03
  So I'm curious, how do you find the people to help you upskill?
• 26:07
  Your people, right?
• 26:08
  Because we all learning AI together.
• 26:10
  Like how do you Yes, because the world doesn't stop because we are learning a new thing.
• 26:14
  Right?
• 26:14
  You still have to do reporting.
• 26:16
  You better send your, if you have, if you SEC, the SEC is waiting for you, IRS is waiting for you.
• 26:22
  So things still have to happen while we trying.
• 26:26
  To think about the future.
• 26:28
  So curious to hear what you're hearing from them about that balance.
• 26:32
  Tom Hood: So it's interesting, there was a, a phrase or a statement that
• 26:35
  came out of Microsoft a while back.
• 26:39
  'cause they were going on a transformation journey for their modern finance.
• 26:42
  Right.
• 26:42
  And they said, I don't know exactly who specifically said it, but the, but the concept
• 26:47
  is we have to perform while we transform.
• 26:52
  Because every one of these issues about transformation, everyone would love.
• 26:55
  I mean, we're doing transformation right now.
• 26:57
  It would be great if we could shut everything down.
• 27:00
  Yes, transform, get everything right in about six months or a year, and then open back up again.
• 27:05
  Yeah.
• 27:05
  Right.
• 27:06
  That doesn't work that way.
• 27:08
  So as we know, so we have to figure out how we perform and transform,
• 27:12
  but then go along with this, right?
• 27:14
  The upskilling piece, we've been doing all the research on what those skills are at the
• 27:19
  A-I-C-P-A and sema, and we have a whole portfolio of the T-shaped professional in addition to
• 27:25
  technical training that we've done forever.
• 27:27
  But those success skills, we call 'em power skills.
• 27:30
  Basically the supercharge, the finance team, we're doing those curriculums for
• 27:35
  many of these major companies and beyond.
• 27:37
  We're offering it through some state societies and other ways.
• 27:40
  So if anyone wants some ideas on that.
• 27:42
  Just have them hit me up and we'll put 'em in touch with our sales team, or
• 27:46
  we could give you a link so they could see where some of those resources are.
• 27:49
  Wassia Kamon: Oh, thank you so much for sharing.
• 27:51
  'cause I, I, I can understand why we are all losing sleep over it because in finance
• 27:55
  and accounting, like the, the reporting timelines and milestones don't change.
• 27:59
  Like that's something that has been.
• 28:01
  Standard forever.
• 28:03
  Tom Hood: Right.
• 28:03
  You got it.
• 28:03
  And that's, that's table stakes.
• 28:05
  We gotta get that right?
• 28:06
  Yes,
• 28:06
  Wassia Kamon: yes.
• 28:07
  And then we have to think about other things.
• 28:09
  So for you all, would you say is one trend in finance leadership that's
• 28:13
  overhyped or one that's underrated?
• 28:17
  Tom Hood: Okay.
• 28:18
  I love that question by the way.
• 28:19
  You really made me think.
• 28:21
  So this is where I'm, this is what I keep hearing in the market and it, it annoys me a bit.
• 28:26
  Okay.
• 28:26
  So the over hype trend is AI will replace finance and accounting.
• 28:32
  Right now I'm around long enough that I was around when Excel came out and VisiCalc.
• 28:39
  And Lotus.
• 28:40
  And when that came out, there was an article in the Wall Street Journal of all places.
• 28:44
  Oh, that's that said spreadsheets are gonna replace the accounting profession.
• 28:48
  Wow.
• 28:49
  Now I was like, are you kidding me?
• 28:51
  'cause it, it was making everybody more productive.
• 28:54
  We were now doing more scenarios than we ever could before.
• 28:57
  So next thing you know, after about three years, they did an analysis of the Bureau of
• 29:01
  Labor Statistics and the actual finance and accounting jobs increased after the spreadsheets.
• 29:07
  The only job that decreased was bookkeeping that went down.
• 29:12
  I think AI is gonna be the same idea because the automation will not replace
• 29:19
  the strategic decision making roles.
• 29:22
  And yes, we want to, we want to automate all the not mind numbing, soul sucking work that we have
• 29:28
  to do with those transactions and get to what we really know how to do, which is understand
• 29:32
  the language of business, which is accounting.
• 29:35
  Then use that for the good of the organization.
• 29:37
  So that's my take on that Overhype thing.
• 29:40
  It won't replace us.
• 29:41
  It will augment us.
• 29:43
  So then the underrated trend is the need for human centric leadership and talent development.
• 29:50
  So the more we see automation and ai, the more we need human in the loop, right?
• 29:57
  And that's the whole point of that idea.
• 29:59
  So I think no matter what gets.
• 30:01
  Automated.
• 30:02
  People always wanna look a human in the eye when you're talking about
• 30:06
  what's the fate of this company, right?
• 30:08
  You're not gonna want your AI saying you're gonna go outta business in six months.
• 30:12
  You're gonna want your CFO saying, if we don't do this, we might go outta
• 30:16
  business, so here's what we're gonna do.
• 30:18
  That's a point that human judgment and interpretation.
• 30:22
  And the empathy that goes along with that, and that includes the talent development
• 30:26
  and all those other pieces as we move into that chief value officer role.
• 30:31
  Wassia Kamon: Okay.
• 30:32
  Now, I love what you just said about we'll still need that human touch, but when I'm
• 30:37
  thinking about the traditional accounting and finance person, we don't necessarily.
• 30:42
  Develop those skills in our curriculum.
• 30:44
  Right.
• 30:44
  So I gave a talk earlier this year about being promoted.
• 30:48
  Now what, so you promoted for those technical skills at the very beginning of
• 30:53
  your career, and then at some point you're supposed to just boop, shift into leadership,
• 30:59
  into EQ and empathy and all these things.
• 31:03
  I'm curious to hear what was your personal experience?
• 31:06
  When you had to make that shit 'cause you had to at some point, and what
• 31:10
  do you typically recommend someone?
• 31:13
  Tom Hood: So again, what I say, and this is where early on two things, my network was essential.
• 31:19
  I could call people and say, how are you dealing with this?
• 31:22
  Or what are you doing?
• 31:23
  A lot of the programs that were being offered at the MACP and A-I-C-P-A
• 31:28
  had leadership components to them.
• 31:30
  So I was, became an avid reader of leadership and strategy.
• 31:35
  Tom Peters, Peter Drucker, some of those folks, and so pretty soon
• 31:41
  I learned, wow, through networks.
• 31:44
  Like for me it was Twitter in the early days and LinkedIn now, but Twitter
• 31:49
  and LinkedIn gave me a bigger network.
• 31:51
  I could connect them more people.
• 31:53
  Watch what they're saying and learn from them.
• 31:55
  And so by paying attention to all that, you know, you get a nice learning lesson by like
• 32:01
  looking at your podcast and listen to people that are in the market doing different things
• 32:05
  and all you things you're doing with interviewing these thought leaders is giving everyone a great
• 32:09
  education that if they pay attention they can use it and they can actually leverage that.
• 32:15
  And then I supplemented that with formal school.
• 32:17
  So early on I saw technology as a big thing.
• 32:20
  So I went back to University of Baltimore for a IT degree and uh, I didn't get the
• 32:26
  whole degree, but I got the technology side of it so I could understand the systems
• 32:30
  that I was dealing with at the time.
• 32:32
  And then later on I went to Johns Hopkins to get a master's in finance with a real estate
• 32:37
  specialty because in highway construction we were dealing with real estate developers.
• 32:42
  It was a big downturn and I had to understand the economics and the way
• 32:46
  to leverage our way through that.
• 32:48
  So it's about.
• 32:49
  Thinking about what's going on in your world and where can you start
• 32:52
  to learn ahead of all that, right?
• 32:54
  So you've gotta start thinking about anticipating where the industry's going and
• 32:59
  where you might need to go, and then start to learn about that, whether it's informal
• 33:04
  or formal, or classes and curriculum.
• 33:07
  But whatever it is, get going on that.
• 33:09
  Wassia Kamon: And I, I love that it goes back to the formula you said earlier.
• 33:14
  About learning help
• 33:15
  Tom Hood: greater than C Square.
• 33:16
  Wassia Kamon: Yes.
• 33:17
  Yes.
• 33:18
  Thank you so much for sharing that.
• 33:20
  Um, now I'm curious, you spend your career helping others grow.
• 33:23
  What's the piece of advice that you find yourself giving over and
• 33:27
  over again that's still holds true?
• 33:30
  Tom Hood: I think it's the basic theme we've been talking about with
• 33:33
  see through this whole piece, right?
• 33:35
  It's, it's active in your profession.
• 33:38
  In our case, I would say the associations A-I-C-P-A or uh, your local state, CPA society
• 33:44
  and build your network in the profession and outside the profession via LinkedIn
• 33:49
  or Twitter or other communities, right?
• 33:52
  Find your home.
• 33:53
  With a group, you know, find your tribe, if you will.
• 33:56
  That's our future of finance leadership group that you're part of.
• 33:59
  And then really leverage that because that's where a lot of great stuff from.
• 34:02
  But you've gotta be good at collaboration and you gotta be good at continuing
• 34:06
  to build your learning and knowledge.
• 34:07
  So I think the network collaboration and building your continuously, building
• 34:13
  your knowledge base are the key things.
• 34:15
  Wassia Kamon: I understand and I see how learning and adapting is so important
• 34:21
  when you think about growing your career.
• 34:22
  Now, when you talk about networking, networking can feel awkward.
• 34:26
  'cause a lot of people on my finance team are introverts.
• 34:29
  So they always ask me, how do you build those network without feel, you know, getting
• 34:34
  to these events without feeling awkward?
• 34:36
  Like, do you have a go-to move?
• 34:38
  Like, how do you get around and really get to build relationships?
• 34:44
  Um.
• 34:45
  Are really effective both ways.
• 34:48
  Tom Hood: So I'm a big introvert myself, so I can identify with that.
• 34:52
  Yeah, I'm a huge introvert.
• 34:53
  Nobody believes me.
• 34:53
  I've had to, I've had to overcome it when I have to get on stage.
• 34:57
  But I would say that's the beauty actually of social media.
• 35:03
  So way early on, I learned, actually this came from Tom Peters of all people who said start
• 35:08
  blogging, which like, that's how I met you, right?
• 35:11
  You started, you were blogging and I'm like.
• 35:14
  Paying attention.
• 35:14
  All of a sudden you go, when someone says something, cool.
• 35:17
  Go there and put your point of view, add a comment, but not just a like and a, oh great cia.
• 35:22
  Like, here's what I like about what you said, or Here's what I would add.
• 35:26
  Start putting your point of view out there and connect to those people.
• 35:31
  And believe it or not, pretty soon you'll have that network building.
• 35:35
  And the other part I like to say is I call it.
• 35:37
  Power friending.
• 35:38
  Remember the old friending thing on Facebook?
• 35:41
  So anytime you're in a social network, when I connect to wia, I'm gonna look at
• 35:45
  your network and say, who else do I know in CIA's network that I might also know?
• 35:50
  Or who do I want to know in Y's network that I should go and say, click?
• 35:55
  Would you connect to me?
• 35:57
  Hey, we, I see we both are connected to sia.
• 35:59
  She's a good person.
• 36:01
  I'd love to get you in my network too.
• 36:03
  And when they connect to you, what's interesting about that is.
• 36:07
  People can't differentiate a relationship on social media when they connect to you from
• 36:13
  a real human relationship in the real world.
• 36:17
  Let me say that again.
• 36:18
  They can't differentiate the difference between a social network
• 36:21
  relationship and a real relationship.
• 36:24
  Here's how, how that works.
• 36:25
  Every time I show up in a meeting and someone there is in my network, they
• 36:29
  come up to me and say, I know you.
• 36:32
  They feel like they know me 'cause they've been following my stuff and we've been connected
• 36:36
  Uhhuh and suddenly there's this familiarity.
• 36:39
  Sure.
• 36:39
  That jumpstarts that relationship.
• 36:41
  So what I do, anytime I'm gonna go to a conference, connect to all the
• 36:45
  speakers through LinkedIn if I can and you know, see if I can connect.
• 36:49
  I also look at anyone I know that's there.
• 36:51
  The leaders of the conference, any of the people on the committee.
• 36:55
  Connect to them so that when I get there, I can actually feel like I know people
• 36:59
  and they will feel like they know me.
• 37:01
  That eases the way for us introverts to get into the conversations,
• 37:05
  Wassia Kamon: oh, I love this strategy.
• 37:07
  Definitely going to steal that.
• 37:09
  But then I'm curious once you get into the conference, okay,
• 37:12
  because some conferences are huge.
• 37:16
  And my husband is an introvert and he is like, I don't even want to go to the
• 37:19
  conference because it drains me out.
• 37:21
  Like, how do you manage your energy?
• 37:23
  And like, do you have like goals?
• 37:25
  I'm only gonna talk to five people or replenish at this time.
• 37:27
  What's your go-to strategy?
• 37:29
  Tom Hood: I was never that disciplined.
• 37:31
  I probably should have been, but for me it was really about being curious.
• 37:37
  I'm curious about what other people are bringing and what the conference
• 37:40
  people are bringing, and I wanna learn.
• 37:43
  So if it's in that spirit and you connect to someone and say, well, see, I wanna know
• 37:47
  about your journey and what you're up to, everyone will talk about that and suddenly
• 37:52
  you'll find those common threads that you can then pull and, and create a bigger
• 37:57
  relationship and a bigger learning as you go on.
• 37:59
  So for me, it's always, what can I be learning from these other people?
• 38:04
  And when you're in a conference.
• 38:07
  You start to hear questions and everything, that's where you start to see the magic happening, right?
• 38:11
  And you connect to some of those people that are provocative with questions
• 38:15
  and curious, and the speakers as well.
• 38:18
  And so that kind of thing I think is where I would go.
• 38:21
  Wassia Kamon: Okay.
• 38:21
  Thank you so much for sharing.
• 38:22
  My last question before I let you go, what is your favorite thing to do outside of work?
• 38:28
  Tom Hood: I was born and raised in Baltimore City, as was my wife, but she's a a
• 38:33
  kindergarten teacher that evolved into running a school farm actually at my old school
• 38:39
  and my kid's school at where she teaches.
• 38:41
  So the school farm produces, it's on 10 acres.
• 38:44
  It produces thousands of pounds of food that goes to the school kitchen for their lunches.
• 38:50
  Oh, nice.
• 38:51
  And it goes to the Maryland Food Bank to sustain people who can't afford good, fresh food that.
• 38:57
  This has become a passion project.
• 38:59
  So on the weekends you'll find me out there guarding the chickens when they're out in the
• 39:03
  pasture and helping harvest, and, uh, in fact, I'll be doing that this weekend with her.
• 39:08
  So, yeah, it's really that it feels good to be out in nature.
• 39:11
  It gra grounds you, right?
• 39:13
  When I'm out there chasing a chicken or a Turkey and then helping to
• 39:16
  harvest and see the, from the seed.
• 39:19
  To the final production of the food.
• 39:22
  It's just, it's pretty wild.
• 39:23
  So that's my, um, kind of favorite thing outside of work.
• 39:26
  Wassia Kamon: Oh, that is so good.
• 39:27
  And I love the mission too.
• 39:29
  Fresh food.
• 39:29
  Wow.
• 39:30
  There is somebody at my workplace that have chickens, and every now and then she'll bring a
• 39:35
  dozen of, you know, she'll, she'll give people.
• 39:37
  And last time she gave me like free, when I opened the carton, the kids were like.
• 39:41
  These eggs don't all look the same
• 39:46
  and Yeah, it's
• 39:46
  Tom Hood: very true.
• 39:47
  Wassia Kamon: Yeah.
• 39:47
  And it's hard for me to go back to regular chicken eggs.
• 39:50
  I'm like, you spoiled me now.
• 39:51
  I'll be chasing you for this farm eggs.
• 39:55
  Tom Hood: Yeah.
• 39:55
  And they taste a lot better on top of it, but it's the same thing with the fruits and vegetables.
• 39:59
  Right?
• 39:59
  They're not all polished and perfect.
• 40:01
  Yes.
• 40:02
  That you did in the supermarket.
• 40:03
  Right.
• 40:03
  They're, but they're.
• 40:05
  Taste is tons better and yeah, it's pretty cool.
• 40:08
  Wassia Kamon: Good for you.
• 40:08
  Good for you.
• 40:09
  Well, thank you so much for being on the show, Dom.
• 40:12
  Thank you so much for the work you do at the A-I-C-P-A and supporting CFOs
• 40:16
  and finance team throughout the world.
• 40:18
  Thank you.
• 40:19
  Tom Hood: Well, thank you for the work you're doing with this podcast and you're a thought
• 40:23
  leader in our profession and we appreciate that and we love having you involved with our
• 40:27
  Future Finance Leadership group, so keep it up and thank you for having me on the show.
• 40:33
  Of course.
• 40:33
  Thank you.
• 40:35
  Wassia Kamon: And that's it for today's episode of The Diary of A CFO.
• 40:39
  Thank you so much for tuning in.
• 40:40
  If you enjoy the show, don't forget to like, review, subscribe, and share with others.
• 40:46
  Our website is the diary of a cfo.com.
• 40:49
  That's where you can find all the episodes, access all the guest profile, see their
• 40:54
  bios and their social media links.
• 40:57
  It is also the place where you can apply to be a guest on the podcast and have
• 41:01
  information about how you can sponsor the show.
• 41:04
  As always, if there is any topic you would like me to cover in the future, just
• 41:09
  email me at ask at the diary of a cfo.com.
• 41:13
  See you soon.
• 41:14
  Wondering if you're ready for the CFO role?
• 41:17
  Find out with a free CFO readiness scorecard@cfo.scoreapp.com.