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.