We’re all used to it now. “Once in a generation” events happen frequently, and LinkedIn posts about the ‘new normal’ are the new normal.
In the past few decades, businesses have dealt with plenty of disruptions—including the Dot-Com crash and the Global Financial Crisis. However, the COVID-19 pandemic marked the beginning of a new era of volatility, with everything from supply chain disruptions to rising inflation to global conflicts. And now we are all experiencing the impact of constantly changing tariff policies.
But I’ve been around long enough to remember the old normal, and I’ve found myself reflecting on it as businesses lurched forward and backward in response to the latest headlines.
Back then, the world moved slower. Businesses didn’t need to pivot quickly because they rarely had to. And when they did, there was time to plan, assess and act deliberately.
Now, the pace is relentless. And one plan is no longer enough.
We’re operating in the most complex economy in history - global supply chains, evolving business models, rapid technology changes and unpredictable geopolitical shifts. Today it’s tariffs, tomorrow it’s something else entirely. And each disruption sends ripples that can throw everything off balance.
What that means is that you have an almost infinite number of paths to choose as a business. Your organization will have options open to it that do not exist for your competitors, and it’s your job to find them.
In my experience, these are the three tenets CFOs in 2025 should live by:
- Build an accurate digital reflection of your business
To decide where you’re going, you need to know where you are. It’s essential to maintain a clear, real-time picture of the reality of your business - a digital twin, not just a rough approximation.
Doing this is no small feat - it requires bringing disparate data sources together, lots of cross-functional collaboration, intricate financial modelling, and more. But doing so will give your business a solid foundation from which to make smarter decisions. - Become more malleable
The businesses with large turning circles are the ones that suffer most from disruption. The ones that thrive have mastered scenario planning as a core discipline, so they can pivot on a dime.
Leaders across functions need to be thinking about the internal and external drivers that could impact performance, weighing the relative likelihood of each, and preparing for a sensible range of outcomes accordingly. Scenario planning is how you insulate your business against shock. - Find efficiencies everywhere
There’s no way around it - volatility means preparing for more scenarios and that means more work for already-stretched finance teams. This is where your digital transformation strategy will be completely pivotal.
Over the next few years, we’re going to see companies that can embrace new technology (AI in particular) separate themselves from the pack.
That’s exactly what brought me to Pigment.
At my previous companies, I experienced firsthand how we needed a platform that could keep pace with the speed of change. So when I came across what Eléonore and Romain had built here, I knew they were onto something special.
With Pigment, I feel more prepared than ever to lead through uncertainty. And when I see what the product team is building - especially with our AI Agents - it only strengthens my conviction.
If you’re curious about Pigment or want to learn more, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn or connect with the team here. We’d love to chat.
