With more than 70 percent of CFOs saying operational workload limits their ability to focus on strategic priorities (Deloitte), finance teams are under constant pressure to move faster without letting standards slip. Most CFOs agree the operating model needs to change, but far fewer feel it actually works cleanly in practice. This panel gets into the real, sometimes messy decisions behind modern finance operating models, what CFOs choose to centralise, what they deliberately push closer to the business, and where automation genuinely helps versus where it quietly creates more work. Expect an honest conversation about trade-offs, false efficiencies, and the changes that actually create space without introducing new risk. Rather than theory, the discussion focuses on what has worked, what hasn’t, and what CFOs would do differently if they were redesigning their finance function today. Key takeaways: - Which operating model choices genuinely remove bottlenecks, and which ones tend to resurface elsewhere as rework or escalation. - How CFOs set guardrails that reduce dependency on finance leadership while protecting accuracy, compliance, and audit readiness. - Where automation reliably gives time back, and where human judgment still needs to stay firmly in the loop. - Practical levers CFOs use to create capacity for planning, partnering, and growth leadership without making the function more fragile.

Finance teams are producing more sophisticated analysis than ever—yet many organizations still struggle to convert insight into timely, high-quality executive decisions. The bottleneck is rarely the data. More often, it’s the decision design: misaligned incentives, unclear decision rights, and leadership forums optimized for discussion rather than commitment. In this keynote, Caroline shares a practical diagnostic for where decision cycles stall—and the operating moves high-performing CFO organizations use to restore speed without sacrificing rigor. The session connects core CFO priorities (capital allocation, productivity and cost, risk and controls, and performance management) to a decision system that drives clearer choices, faster follow-through, and stronger accountability. You’ll leave with practical mechanisms you can apply immediately—crisper decision framing, single-threaded ownership, and executive forums that reliably convert analysis into commitments, resource moves, and measurable business outcomes. Key takeaways: - The three structural reasons executive decisions stall—and how they show up in forecasting, cost actions, and capital allocation - How to spot (and fix) misalignment across incentives, metrics, and decision rights—before it turns into decision debt - How to increase decision velocity while preserving governance, controls, and analytical credibility - How Finance embeds decisions into execution through targets, budgets, and resource reallocation