No augmented CFO without mastered data: Key takeaways from the L’Agefi conference

I had the pleasure of speaking on September 25 at the Tech & Financial Directions conference organised by L’Agefi, on a theme that strongly echoes the challenges our clients face today: “No augmented CFO without mastered data: how to build a solid foundation for the Finance of the future.”

We tackled the key questions financial departments are grappling with:

• Quality, accessibility and accountability: what type of data governance should be put in place?
• How can centralized reference data be created within a decentralized organization?
• Which levers – de-siloing, data lakes, data products – can enable innovation in Finance and beyond?

Data: an essential foundation for augmented Finance

Finance departments know that their ability to innovate, steer performance and meet regulatory requirements depends first and foremost on reliable, coherent and well-governed data.

The panel discussion highlighted three pillars for building this foundation:

1. Data quality and consistency
   Data must be reliable not only within financial modules, but also in its interactions with other departments (HR, production, procurement, sales). The rise of ESG and non-financial data clearly shows that value is created at the intersection of silos.
2. Clear, cross-functional governance
   Having high-performing systems is not enough. Clear roles – data owners, data stewards – must be defined, and each data domain needs an identified owner. This is essential to ensure traceability and trust.
3. Agility and openness
   In often decentralized groups, balancing harmonization with autonomy is delicate. Some organizations opt for a single “core” model, others for hybrid architectures. In all cases, data must remain interoperable and shareable at the group level.

Artificial intelligence: an accelerator, not a substitute

The relationship between AI and data quality sparked strong interest. AI is already used to detect recurring anomalies, identify inconsistencies or enrich data (for example, ahead of the upcoming implementation of e-invoicing).

But a shared conviction emerged: without high-quality upstream data, AI cannot deliver on its promises. In other words, AI is a powerful accelerator for improving data quality, but it cannot replace the fundamentals of solid governance.

See also: Secure and Scalable Agentic AI: A Guide for Enterprise Leaders

The CFO’s role in this transformation

Should the CFO directly lead these data-driven transformations? The answer was unanimous: yes, but in close partnership with IT.

The CFO must act as sponsor and guardian of business value, while IT serves as the technological enabler. This co-sponsorship model makes it possible to:

• Align data initiatives with business needs
• Rationalize tools and architectures
• Encourage adoption across teams

More and more, Finance departments want to regain ownership of processes and data flows. Low-code/no-code solutions are opening the door to increased autonomy for Finance teams in leveraging their data.

Axway Financial Accounting Hub’s perspective

At Axway, we fully share the insights raised during the roundtable. Our view is that transforming Finance relies on:

• An accounting and financial hub capable of integrating heterogeneous systems, automating controls and ensuring full traceability.
• Business-friendly interfaces enabling Finance, audit, and compliance teams to access data through more intuitive means than Excel exports.
• Agile solutions that evolve rapidly in step with organizational and regulatory changes.

With AFAH, support our clients in setting up shared and governed reference frameworks, combining centralized rules with local entity autonomy. This hybrid model delivers both efficiency and flexibility, while laying the groundwork for truly augmented Finance.

Awareness around data governance is accelerating. Long considered a technical issue, it has now become a strategic and operational one. Regulatory developments, from sustainability reporting to e-invoicing, only reinforce this urgency.

The Finance of the future will not be built without mastered data. With a solid foundation in place, CFOs will be able to truly harness AI, steer performance with agility and meet growing business expectations.