The Strategic CFO: Balancing Risk and Opportunity in Uncertain Times
David Boosey · Posted on: September 3rd 2025 · read
In today’s fast-changing and unpredictable business world, how can CFOs do more than just keep up — how can they actually get ahead? The role of the CFO has come a long way from just managing costs and compliance. Today’s CFO is a key player in shaping strategy, driving innovation, and pushing growth — all while keeping the company financially sound. This balance — protecting what’s there and pushing for what’s next — is what being a Strategic CFO is really about.
Risk and Opportunity: Two Sides of the Same Coin
Uncertainty is the new normal. Whether it’s geopolitical tension, new regulations, tech disruption, or market swings, CFOs face a complex web of risks that affect cash flow, investments, and day-to-day operations. But within that uncertainty are chances to innovate and grow. Volatility often sparks new ideas, shifts markets, and changes customer behaviour. Strategic CFOs are those who can see through the noise - identifying where calculated risks can unlock growth and where financial discipline must tighten.
Monitoring the Market: Beyond the Balance Sheet
To do this, CFOs must look beyond traditional reporting. Financial statements tell us what happened—but today’s environment demands forward-looking insight. Strategic finance leaders are using real-time data, predictive analytics, and market intelligence to anticipate change and act agilely.
Some Key Tools
Scenario planning to explore different economic, regulatory, and competitive futures.
Tracking trends like interest rates, supply chains, and technology adoption.
Agile budgeting that replaces rigid yearly plans with flexible forecasts that update as conditions change.
Take BrightTech, a UK SaaS firm, for example. They used scenario planning during Brexit uncertainty to shift their investments quickly, avoiding cash flow problems and grabbing new market opportunities faster than their competitors.
Embedding Risk into Strategic Decisions
Risk can’t be boxed off in some separate register anymore. It has to be part of every major decision — from big investments and digital projects to mergers and pricing strategies.
This means working closely with the rest of the C-suite. CFOs team up with CIOs to weigh digital investment risks, with CHROs to build resilient workforces, and with CMOs to look at market-entry risks — all through a financial lens. In this new landscape, risk isn’t just a warning sign; it’s a guide that helps make smarter, faster, and more resilient decisions.
Take François-Xavier Roger, former CFO of Nestlé, as an example.
Roger embedded risk management at the core of Nestlé’s financial strategy when trying to navigate a challenging period marked by inflation, supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical tensions,
His team used AI-powered scenario planning and real-time commodity price forecasting to adjust sourcing and pricing strategies swiftly. This approach allowed Nestlé to maintain steady growth while accelerating investments in sustainable product innovation and supply chain resilience.
Roger partnered closely with other executives to align capital allocation with Nestlé’s ESG goals, ensuring that sustainability and regulatory compliance were integral to financial planning i.e. not afterthoughts. By embedding risk into strategic decisions, Nestlé’s finance function helped the company thrive amid uncertainty without sacrificing growth or innovation.
Strategic Risk: Regulation and Cybersecurity
Two big risks now sit firmly on the CFO’s desk: regulatory changes and cybersecurity. Both are fast-moving and complex, with real financial stakes. CFOs need to stay ahead, not just reacting, but anticipating and turning these risks into actionable strategies.
From the UK’s Digital Markets regime to the EU’s AI Act and evolving ESG requirements, regulations are getting more complex. Strategic CFOs translate these into financial terms — modelling impacts, adjusting forecasts, and guiding risk-informed decisions. Staying compliant is about more than avoiding fines; it’s key to staying competitive.
Cybersecurity breaches can cost UK firms millions, so cyber risk is now a CFO concern. Today’s finance leaders quantify exposure, budget for zero-trust security systems and insurance, and add cyber KPIs to their dashboards. Cybersecurity is no longer just an IT issue; it’s a critical part of financial strength.
Leading with Resilience
"When uncertainty hits, everyone looks to the CFO for steady leadership. That means managing today’s risks and preparing for whatever comes next. It’s about building financial models that hold up under pressure, supply chains that don’t break, and cost structures that can flex — all while keeping the business moving forward."
Being resilient doesn’t mean playing it safe all the time. The best CFOs balance ambition with control, set clear rules for where to put capital, track the return on innovation, and use data to drive smart growth — without losing sight of the financial safeguards that keep the organisation healthy long term.
Final Thoughts
The CFO’s role at the strategy table isn’t optional — it’s essential. In a world where risk and opportunity are deeply connected, the strategic CFO is both the anchor that keeps the company steady and the engine that drives growth.
At MHA Baker Tilly, we partner with CFOs to provide the insights, tools, and confidence they need to lead with certainty — no matter what the future holds.
Get in touch today to future-proof your finance function and lead with confidence through uncertainty.
