Reshaping Finance

In this episode of Reshaping Finance, we explore how sustainability, governance, and culture are reshaping the accounting profession from the inside out.
Rebecca McCaffrey, Associate Technical Director Research and Development at AICPA & CIMA, is joined by Collins Ntim, President of the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA), Professor at University of Southampton, qualified chartered accountant (CPA) and Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences (FAcSS), and Joan Ballantine, BAFA Vice President, Professor at Ulster University Business School, to unpack how finance is evolving beyond reporting into a driver of strategic value and accountability.
They discuss the widening scope of accounting - from financial performance to ESG and climate considerations - and the critical role of governance structures, incentives, and audit in turning sustainability ambitions into real organisational outcomes. The conversation also highlights the growing influence of technology and AI in shifting finance professionals towards higher‑value, decision‑focused work.
The episode explores how education, workplace culture, and leadership behaviours must adapt to equip future accountants with the skills, judgement, and critical thinking needed to navigate ethical dilemmas, sustainability challenges, and increasing stakeholder expectations.
Whether you're shaping strategy, embedding ESG into decision‑making, or developing the next generation of finance talent, this episode offers practical insights into what it takes to make sustainability meaningful in practice, and why culture and governance are central to the profession's future.
 
CONNECT
Rebecca on LinkedIn
Joan on Linkedin
Collins on LinkedIn
 
OTHER RESOURCES
• Transformative Skills Pack: Creative mindset – Report
• Partnering with AI: A Strategic Blueprint for Finance and Accounting Excellence – Report
• Debut podcast episode: AI's impact on private equity – Blog
• Big data and AI: Challenges and opportunities in finance – The Reshaping Finance podcast – Blog 
• AI for private equity and financial services industry – Podcast  
• Big data and AI technologies: Fundamentals and Applications – Podcast 
• Leveraging Non-Financial Data for Long-Term Value – Podcast 
• Non-financial data drives long-term value: The Reshaping Finance podcast – Blog
• Agile Finance: Mastering adaptive budgeting and planning – Podcast 
• Future-ready with adaptive budgeting: The Reshaping Finance podcast – Blog 
• Future-proof Finance: Partnering in a Shifting World – Podcast 
• Co-creating solutions through business partnering – Blog
• Future of Finance 2.0: Re-defining finance for a sustainable world – Report 
• 4 shifts redefining how finance creates sustainable value –  Article   
• Our contemporary issues in Management Accounting –  Page
• Riding the Waves of Transformation –  Article   
 
Thanks for listening. It takes just a couple of minutes to share your feedback. You can also contact us directly at [email protected] 
Find out more about the Future of Finance.
This is a podcast from AICPA & CIMA, together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. To enjoy more conversations from our global community of accounting and finance professionals, explore our network of free shows here.

In this episode of Reshaping Finance, we dive into the expanding role of today's CFO - a role being reshaped by AI, organisational complexity, and the growing expectation to create value far beyond the balance sheet.
Kelly Lorenz, Associate Director of Business Growth & Engagement at AICPA & CIMA, sits down with Madeline Ling, CFO of The Granite Group, to explore what it really takes to lead through "the squeeze" facing modern finance leaders.
Madeline shares why the mounting pressure from boards, CEOs, and teams can actually be a catalyst for greater influence, and how CFOs can turn disruption into opportunity. They discuss the mindset shift required to move from number‑reporting to value‑shaping, the rising importance of self‑investment, and why carving out time for your own development is now a strategic necessity.
The conversation also highlights the power of peer‑to‑peer learning through the Future of Finance Summit, where finance leaders collaborate on practical approaches to AI adoption, capability building, and redefining value creation across the enterprise.
Whether you're navigating AI, leading transformation, or simply trying to stay ahead of what's next, this episode offers a candid look at how CFOs can own the squeeze, and lead their organisations with confidence in a rapidly changing world.
CONNECT
Madeline on LinkedIn
Kelly on LinkedIn
OTHER RESOURCES
• Transformative Skills Pack: Creative mindset – Report
• Partnering with AI: A Strategic Blueprint for Finance and Accounting Excellence – Report
• Debut podcast episode: AI's impact on private equity – Blog
• Big data and AI: Challenges and opportunities in finance – The Reshaping Finance podcast – Blog 
• AI for private equity and financial services industry – Podcast  
• Big data and AI technologies: Fundamentals and Applications – Podcast 
• Leveraging Non-Financial Data for Long-Term Value – Podcast 
• Non-financial data drives long-term value: The Reshaping Finance podcast – Blog
• Agile Finance: Mastering adaptive budgeting and planning – Podcast 
• Future-ready with adaptive budgeting: The Reshaping Finance podcast – Blog 
• Future-proof Finance: Partnering in a Shifting World – Podcast 
• Co-creating solutions through business partnering – Blog
• Future of Finance 2.0: Re-defining finance for a sustainable world – Report 
• 4 shifts redefining how finance creates sustainable value –  Article   
• Our contemporary issues in Management Accounting –  Page
• Riding the Waves of Transformation –  Article   
 
Find out more about the Future of Finance.
Thanks for listening. It takes just a couple of minutes to share your feedback. You can also contact us directly at [email protected]
This is a podcast from AICPA & CIMA, together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. To enjoy more conversations from our global community of accounting and finance professionals, explore our network of free shows here.

In this episode, we explore the rapidly evolving landscape of cybersecurity and what it means for finance leaders navigating cloud native systems, AI driven disruption, and increasingly complex risk environments. Chair Ken Witt, Associate Technical Director of Research & Development at AICPA & CIMA, is joined by Keven Knight, CEO of Talion; Fabio Colombo, Global Financial Services Cybersecurity Leader at Accenture; and James Dempsey, Managing Director at the IAPP Cybersecurity Law Centre and Senior Policy Advisor at Stanford.
The panel examines why cybersecurity can no longer be viewed as a purely technical issue and how finance leaders are becoming central to risk acceptance, investment decisions, and organisational resilience. They discuss the rising cost and complexity of cyber incidents, the shift from Capex to Opex in security spending, and the growing pressure for real time monitoring across increasingly blurred organisational perimeters.
The conversation also delves into the dual role of AI – both as a powerful accelerator for attackers and a transformative tool for defenders. The guests unpack the risks of shadow AI, the governance challenges of agentic systems capable of financial transactions, and the looming implications of quantum computing for encryption and long term data security. Together, they outline what it will take for organisations to strengthen controls, build resilience, and stay ahead of emerging threats without slowing productivity or innovation.
 
CONNECT
Keven on LinkedIn
Fabio on LinkedIn
James on LinkedIn
Ken on LinkedIn
 
OTHER RESOURCES
• Essential AI resources for practical use | AICPA&CIMA – Resources Page  
• CGMA® Cybersecurity Tool: Risk, Response & Remediation Strategies | CIMA – Cybersecurity Tool
• Cyber Risk, Accountability, and Financial Oversight: Reframing Governance in 2026: A Leadership Brief for CFOs and Boards – Briefing
• World Economic Forum and Accenture Global Cybersecurity Outlook – Report
• Transformative Skills Pack: Creative mindset – Report
• Partnering with AI: A Strategic Blueprint for Finance and Accounting Excellence – Report
• Debut podcast episode: AI's impact on private equity – Blog
• Big data and AI: Challenges and opportunities in finance – The Reshaping Finance podcast – Blog 
• AI for private equity and financial services industry – Podcast  
• Big data and AI technologies: Fundamentals and Applications – Podcast 
• Leveraging Non-Financial Data for Long-Term Value – Podcast 
• Non-financial data drives long-term value: The Reshaping Finance podcast – Blog
• Agile Finance: Mastering adaptive budgeting and planning – Podcast 
• Future-ready with adaptive budgeting: The Reshaping Finance podcast – Blog 
• Future-proof Finance: Partnering in a Shifting World – Podcast 
• Co-creating solutions through business partnering – Blog
• Future of Finance 2.0: Re-defining finance for a sustainable world – Report 
• 4 shifts redefining how finance creates sustainable value –  Article   
• Our contemporary issues in Management Accounting –  Page
• Riding the Waves of Transformation –  Article   
 
Thanks for listening. It takes just a couple of minutes to share your feedback. You can also contact us directly at [email protected]

In this episode, we uncover the hidden financial, environmental, and social costs of food waste — a global issue that often goes unmeasured and unreported across retail and supply chains. Dr. Leanne Keddie, Associate Professor of Accounting at the Sprott School of Business, joins chair Dr. Martin Farrar to explore why food waste remains largely invisible in traditional accounting systems and what it will take for finance professionals to drive meaningful change.
Keddie explains how the catch‑all category of "shrink" masks the true scale of waste, why emotional and organisational barriers prevent accurate reporting, and how misaligned systems lead to misaligned decisions. She makes the case for clearer standards, better measurement, and reporting frameworks that bring accountability into the heart of accounting.
The conversation also looks ahead to the transformative potential of AI, blockchain, and circular economy models — from transparent tracking across the food lifecycle to cross‑sector networks that turn waste into new value. Keddie outlines a bold vision for zero food waste, where finance plays a central role in aligning production, demand, and redistribution to build a more sustainable future.
CONNECT 
Leanne on LinkedIn
Martin on LinkedIn
OTHER RESOURCES
• Why Financial Services Firms Must Operationalize Responsible AI - Before It's Too Late –  Article 
• The Next Frontier of Finance: Taking AI from Theory to Implementation – Report
• Essential AI resources for practical use | AICPA&CIMA – Resources Page  
• Transformative Skills Pack: Creative mindset – Report
• Partnering with AI: A Strategic Blueprint for Finance and Accounting Excellence – Report
• Debut podcast episode: AI's impact on private equity – Blog
• Big data and AI: Challenges and opportunities in finance – The Reshaping Finance podcast – Blog 
• AI for private equity and financial services industry – Podcast  
• Big data and AI technologies: Fundamentals and Applications – Podcast 
• Leveraging Non-Financial Data for Long-Term Value – Podcast 
• Non-financial data drives long-term value: The Reshaping Finance podcast – Blog
• Agile Finance: Mastering adaptive budgeting and planning – Podcast 
• Future-ready with adaptive budgeting: The Reshaping Finance podcast – Blog 
• Future-proof Finance: Partnering in a Shifting World – Podcast 
• Co-creating solutions through business partnering – Blog
• Future of Finance 2.0: Re-defining finance for a sustainable world – Report 
• 4 shifts redefining how finance creates sustainable value –  Article   
• Our contemporary issues in Management Accounting –  Page
• Riding the Waves of Transformation –  Article   
 
Thanks for listening. It takes just a couple of minutes to share your feedback. You can also contact us directly at [email protected]
Find out more about the Future of Finance.
This is a podcast from AICPA & CIMA, together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. To enjoy more conversations from our global community of accounting and finance professionals, explore our network of free shows here.

In this episode, we welcome back Didem Un Ates, Founder and CEO of Lotus AI, former Head of Applied Strategy, Data & AI at Microsoft, and former Vice President AI Strategy & Innovation at Schneider Electric. After her hugely popular debut in Episode 1, Didem returns to explore one of the most in‑demand topics requested by our listeners: AI‑driven forecasting and its transformative impact on enterprise finance.
Drawing on her extensive experience advising Fortune 500 companies, private equity firms, and financial institutions, Didem breaks down what it really takes to build smarter, faster, and more resilient forecasting capabilities in today's AI‑powered landscape.
In this episode, Didem shares insights on:
• What separates successful AI‑forecasting organisations from those that struggle — including the critical role of talent transformation, culture, and executive sponsorship
• How to prioritise AI use cases in the finance function, from maturity assessments to opportunity scans and ROI‑driven roadmaps
• Why culture - not data - is the biggest barrier to AI adoption, and how organisations can overcome fear, resistance, and legacy mindsets
• How valuation, modelling, and forecasting have evolved, from spreadsheets and legacy ERPs to intelligent CRMs and continuous, real‑time forecasting
• Key differences between traditional forecasting and AI‑powered approaches, including the ability to process hundreds of variables, integrate unstructured signals, and dramatically improve accuracy
• Common misconceptions finance leaders still hold about AI, from "we need perfect data" to "AI is either magic or useless"
• The future of forecasting in enterprise finance, and why delaying AI adoption is no longer an option
CONNECT
Didem on LinkedIn
Raluca on LinkedIn
OTHER RESOURCES
• Why Financial Services Firms Must Operationalize Responsible AI - Before It's Too Late –  Article 
• The Next Frontier of Finance: Taking AI from Theory to Implementation – Report
• Essential AI resources for practical use | AICPA&CIMA – Resources Page  
• Transformative Skills Pack: Creative mindset – Report
• Partnering with AI: A Strategic Blueprint for Finance and Accounting Excellence – Report
• Debut podcast episode: AI's impact on private equity – Blog
• Big data and AI: Challenges and opportunities in finance – The Reshaping Finance podcast – Blog 
• AI for private equity and financial services industry – Podcast  
• Big data and AI technologies: Fundamentals and Applications – Podcast 
• Leveraging Non-Financial Data for Long-Term Value – Podcast 
• Non-financial data drives long-term value: The Reshaping Finance podcast – Blog
• Agile Finance: Mastering adaptive budgeting and planning – Podcast 
• Future-ready with adaptive budgeting: The Reshaping Finance podcast – Blog 
• Future-proof Finance: Partnering in a Shifting World – Podcast 
• Co-creating solutions through business partnering – Blog
• Future of Finance 2.0: Re-defining finance for a sustainable world – Report 
• 4 shifts redefining how finance creates sustainable value –  Article   
• Our contemporary issues in Management Accounting –  Page
• Riding the Waves of Transformation –  Article   
 
Thanks for listening. It takes just a couple of minutes to share your feedback. 
 
Find out more about the Future of Finance.
Your feedback and comments welcomed at [email protected]
This is a podcast from AICPA & CIMA, together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. To enjoy more conversations from our global community of accounting and finance professionals, explore our network of free shows here.