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Earlier this month, Finance Monthly had the privilege of interviewing the CFO of IBM UK & Ireland (UKI) – Vineet Khurana. Here he discusses his role within the organisation, Brexit implications and offers piece of advice to fledging CFOs.

  

You have been the CFO of IBM UKI for nearly a year now - what is your favourite thing about your role?

My favourite thing about the role has to be the breadth, reach and influence it offers.

I get to work extremely closely with our Chief Executive and the rest of the leadership team (Sales, Operations, HR, IT, RESO, etc.) not only on all financial matters, but also across a spectrum of other business matters that impact our business - both in the short and long term. As an example, I recently led a piece of work, in partnership with the Corporate Strategy team based at the Headquarters in New York, to re-define our Client coverage strategy in the UK.

As a CFO, I am also presented with opportunities to engage externally with Clients and share with them IBM’s point of view and value proposition, as it relates to Enterprise IT. I personally find this aspect of my role very enjoyable.

 

What would you say have been IBM UK & Ireland's major achievements in the past twelve months? What has been your involvement, in relation to them?

Our key focus over the last year has been to align ourselves here in the UK & Ireland with IBM’s transformation as a Cloud Platform and a Cognitive Solutions company.

This is absolutely key for us in order to fully leverage and benefit from the breadth of the Cloud-based cognitive offerings that are available. Associated with this, my role as the Finance Leader for UK & Ireland has been to ensure that our resources and investments are (a) prioritized and (b) deployed appropriately in support of this initiative. Of course, we’ve also had to make sure that we have a revised set of operational/performance metrics and reporting capabilities in place.

Finally, as mentioned above, the work we led as a Finance team in regards to re-defining and making our Client Coverage strategy more effective is something I am particularly proud of.

 

What is the best advice you could share with Fledging CFOs and Finance Directors?

With the role of finance constantly expanding and finance increasingly needing to play a central part in all business decisions, I really don’t think there has been a more exciting time to be a finance professional.

Technological advances are disrupting the status-quo. Companies are utilising technology to transform their business and the way they interact with their clients and employees. This is being done while industry convergence is producing new agile rivals at breakneck speed. With all this change afoot, the role of the CFO needs to change as well.

CFOs need to embrace business strategy in addition to the financial strategy, understand the changing market/client needs in addition to regulatory changes, and deliver business insight in conjunction with data reporting and analysis.

Therefore, my advice is to embrace this change, as it is key to ensure your increased effectiveness in the role and your ability to deliver enhanced value at the leadership table.

 

In light of the recent triggering of Article 50 - what is your outlook for the future of IBM UK Ireland in next twelve months and beyond?

IBM has been operating in the UK for over 100 years and as such it is an important market in the context of our global business. We have always done and continue to make significant investments here in support of our business and economy. As an example, we recently announced the establishment of four new UK cloud data centres, tripling our UK cloud data centre capability.

In summary, we are making sure that we are well-placed to help our clients as they transform their businesses by improving their competitiveness, as they prepare to exploit new opportunities.

 

What are the implications and challenges of global Brexit uncertainties faced by CFOs?

I think we all recognise that we are facing an extended period of uncertainty during the exit negotiations. So at this early stage of Brexit, the approach of the CFO should be to understand the potential exposures their organisations could face.

I believe two significant uncertainties centre around import/export of goods and data and the free movement of resources across the continent. The magnitude of these uncertainties will obviously vary by sector and individual organisation. CFOs should look at mapping the relative exposure of their organisations to these elements by carrying out the data analytics work now. This analysis will then allow for quicker action and informed business decisions to be taken, once the negotiations are concluded and changes in regulations are clear.

Helene Bouteleau began her career in 1997 and has since then held a number of Management positions. In August 2000, she joined the PSA Group and its three world-renowned brands - Peugeot, Citroën and DS. Her first role was in the finance department in Portugal but she then moved to Paris to become a Key Account Manager and expand her business experience and knowledge. In the following years, Helene held a number of Senior Management positions with the PSA Group around Europe, including Director of Finance for Peugeot Croatia and then Peugeot Portugal, Head of B2B coordination and Used Vehicle Sales for Peugeot and Citroën in Iberia and finally, Peugeot Brand Director in Portugal.

Since February 2016, she’s been Director of Finance for the PSA Group in the UK’s Headquarters in Coventry. Here Helene spoke to Finance Monthly about her career, the impact she’s had on PSA Group’s performance and tells us how CFOs can create value through their Finance strategy.

 

Could you tell us a bit about your career path prior to becoming the CFO of PSA Group? What brought you to your current position?

Before becoming CFO of PSA Group in the UK, I had held several finance positions and I had already had CFO experience within the group (in Croatia and Portugal). Having this previous experience gave me the capacity to adapt and deal with difficult situations. To reinforce and develop further my experience, I had also held positions within other areas of sales, such as Key Account Manager for a B2B in Paris, which allowed me to have direct contact with customers, Operations Director in Portugal, which allowed me to experience all the other back office areas like Network Development, Programming and Logistics, Aftersales and Quality, B2B and Used Cars Activity. Before joining the UK office, as a Brand Director of the Peugeot Brand, I had a wider vision of the business. The fact that it was in a smaller market provided me with an excellent overview of the business and how as an organization, we constantly have to adapt to changes and be flexible. Evolving and growing the business further come with constant challenges for all of us in PSA Group.

 

PSA Group’s sales and revenue in 2016 reached €54 billion. How would you say has your role impacted the company’s performance last year?

All of my roles as a CFO have always been paired with working in difficult and challenging situations and the latest one is no exception – we were faced with Brexit a few months after my arrival. With the UK’s decision to leave the EU, the company faced some issues and dealt with a new context of uncertainty, as well as the foreign exchange impact. All the business decisions had to involve the Finance department, as the goal was to find the right balance for volume and profitability. The Partnership with the Business Areas had to be continuous last year and still carries on in 2017. The closer we are to the Business and the Field areas, the better we can react.

 

What motivates you about your role? Has being a CFO of a multinational company always been your ultimate goal?

What motivates me about my role is the fact that I am an added value for the company and the business. The whole organization must be focused in creating value. With my previous experiences, I managed to have an overview of the business – something that is very important in the decision-making process and gives me a different approach towards the Businesses areas. I really enjoy working within this business and being a CFO represents a key position and above all in a market with the maturity that exists in UK. I take this challenge as an important step in my career but not ultimate.

 

What lies ahead of you and PSA Group? What are your aspirations for the future?

 Although I’ve been with the PSA Group for 17 years, the organization has allowed me to experience a lot – I’ve worked in 5 countries in 9 different roles. This flexibility and constant change mean that we are constantly evolving and moving forward. I hope my time with the PSA Group continues to be that exciting in the future.

 

You spoke at the CFO Agenda conference in London on 1st of June. Could you give us a brief synopsis of your talk?

This session explored the key strategic drivers for strategic thinking and planning within an organization, as well as ways of creating value through your Finance strategy. In fact, this is fully in line with my business vision and how I manage my team. Naturally, the Finance Department has a cost controlling function, but what I find to be more important is to be part of the team, in order to drive the business and increase the volume and profitability. Thus, I believe that all Finance Departments must work as a partner with the rest of the teams. The Finance function must understand that it is our job to satisfy our customers – internal customers - and we must work in a proactive way. Once we manage to achieve this, the credibility and the confidence allow us to develop a global team focus on the business and the important growth factors. Of course, in the meantime, the Finance Department must remain objective and act in the best interests of the company.

 

How could CFOs create value through their Finance strategy?

 It is my belief that the CFO is in the best position within an organization to foresee the potential issues that can arise in the future. Therefore, the CFO is the one who must drive the strategy changes, along with the business areas and the rest of the Management Board. Once the business areas have the right understanding, they will be able to design actions, adapt the business strategy to the context and then tackle the possible difficulties. This will then result in an innovative and proactive company – a leader instead of a follower.

 

What is the best advice you would share with fledging CFOs and Finance Directors?

The best advice that I can give to a CFO is to be genuinely interested and passionate about the business, while sharing this passion with the whole team. A CFO must really understand the story behind the figures and this is fully achievable only when you’re close to the field teams. This background knowledge will then enable you to add real value for the company.

The CFO Agenda will return to London on 1st June. Ahead of this year’s event the team reached out to 150+ CFO’s and FD’s from across Europe to understand the key opportunities for their businesses across the next year.

The CFO team have polled leading CFOs and finance leaders from across the UK and Europe on their priorities, concerns and plans for the future. The responses gathered reveal insights on the changing nature of the finance profession and the CFO role, immediate and long-term risks facing the business, the level of financial uncertainty affecting the business and the biggest opportunities over the coming years.

It is clear from the survey that CFOs are heavily impacted by the macro-environment and face an uncertain future trading in a volatile environment. Digitalisation is becoming increasingly more integrated within the finance function and is slowly being accepted as an opportunity for smart, evidence-based decision-making, but we still have a way to go to convince finance of the ROI on expensive new technologies. The changing nature of the CFO role is an opportunity for driven finance professionals to lead change and transformation within their organisation and prepare robust strategy and finance models for the future. The skills shortage across roles and industries is widening the talent gap and finance has a responsibility to create innovative strategy to prepare for the future of work and a new generation of workers. Change affects us all and with change comes exciting new opportunities for the future. It is not all doom and gloom; growth and internationalisation is still high on the agenda for CFOs and we hope to see a steady rise in the economy as we learn to accept our situation and grow in new markets and geographies.

Opportunities for business in 2017

 

 

Launching into New Geographies

With all the uncertainty and doubt surrounding the UK economy, launching in overseas markets can add valuable extra sales (and profits) which in turn can help generate economies of scale on the existing cost base. This appears easier than it is, but customers are always on the lookout for something different and so a clear and unique proposition that is well marketed can help you stand out from the competition.

Staff Engagement

It’s no surprise that successful companies tend to have highly engaged teams that seem to be able to achieve things other businesses can only dream of. Furthermore, the most engaged teams tend to be aligned with one another making it far easier to continually achieve business goals and objectives which can be an enormous contributor to productivity throughout a business. In this time of competing priorities and deadlines, it’s never as easy as it seems to get everyone engaged so it’s a case of regularly trying new ideas and methods.

Technology and Innovation

Nowadays IT is a fundamental part of almost every business and most businesses have a long list of improvements they would like to make to their IT infrastructure, each of which could improve some part of the business. The challenge for CFOs is to work out which of these improvements is really going to deliver sizeable benefits and give them a competitive edge. Once identified, it’s then a matter of getting it in on time and on budget.

(Paul O’Leary, CFO, Boden)

 

Technology and Innovation will be a core focus at this year’s CFO Agenda 2017, as we welcome Steve Dixon, VP Future Finance, Unilever to discuss how finance can embrace the digital world and unlock value across the business.

Steve’s session will explore the importance of setting a clearly defined and unified digital strategy and will identify best practice on how technology can strengthen the role of finance and the impact the CFO can have on the organisation.

 

For more information on the programme, please visit www.TheCFOAgenda.com/programme-2017.

To find out more about the event, please visit www.TheCFOAgenda.com.

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