The talent shortage and the future of finance
CFOs know transformation depends on people, yet many finance teams lack the necessary skills. Vickie Wall and Katie Burns highlight the scale of the challenge
Competition for talent emerged as the number one priority for driving growth in the year ahead in this year’s EY Ireland CFO Survey, with organisations prioritising both enhancing existing skills and targeted hiring.
As the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) accelerates, these increases reflect rising demand for AI-literate, analytical and strategically-minded candidates in finance.
Talent is impacting transformation
CFOs continue to prioritise the development of future leaders and talent retention, driven by ongoing shortages in finance, data and technology skills.
Demand for AI‑literate, data‑driven and strategically-aligned professionals is rising as finance teams reshape for the future. Sustained investment in upskilling is now essential to embed the required mindsets, approaches and capabilities.
This is particularly critical for CFOs and their teams, given the transformation AI will drive across finance functions and the organisations they support.
The approach to skills and talent among finance leaders reflects both pragmatism and a recognition of market realities.
Most organisations are trying to build digital and analytical capabilities internally through upskilling, knowledge sharing, cross‑functional collaboration, secondments and rotations.
Skills shortages continue to impact transformation, however, with 12 percent of CFOs citing a lack of digital and analytical talent as the biggest barrier to scaling AI and automation.
In response, organisations are deploying a mix of strategies:
- Investing in upskilling and reskilling (59%);
- Using secondments and rotation to build capability (22%);
- Recruiting specialist talent (19); and
- Outsourcing specialised skills to ensure operational stability (33%).
This blended response shows that organisations see internal development, not external hiring, as the most reliable path to building digital capability.
Remaining unprepared
Despite the need for talent to support transformation, the availability of AI and analytical talent remains extremely tight. The focus on reskilling and upskilling was most pronounced among larger organisations, likely reflecting the greater resources available to these companies.
Despite rising demand for AI-literate, analytical and strategic finance talent, many organisations remain unprepared:
- 36 percent have no formal strategy;
- 22 percent of finance leaders say their teams need significant upskilling; and
- 27 percent say they struggle to find time to do this.
Talent and the tax function
Talent pressures are also affecting the operational readiness of tax functions.
Forty-two percent of respondents are either not prepared at all, or require significant improvements for digital tax reporting, suggesting an urgent need for finance leaders to seek external support to help them in their roles.
This highlights a pressing capability gap and reinforces the pressures CFOs and finance leaders face as regulatory complexity increases.
These organisations are at risk of penalties for non-compliance and should take immediate action to address this.
Recommendations for CFOs
CFOs need a clear plan for developing internal talent and making strategic external hires.
Internal capability can be developed through reverse mentoring, cross‑functional work and focused learning. Targeted hiring will still be needed to fill specialist gaps, alongside a robust talent acquisition approach.
Ultimately, the organisations that succeed will be those that treat talent development as a core part of transformation rather than a supporting activity.
Those CFOs who consistently invest in people and their reskilling will be best placed to position their finance functions as strategic partners to the wider business.
Vickie Wall is Partner & Head of Financial Accounting Advisory Services Ireland at Ey Ireland
Katie Burns is Consulting Partner at EY Ireland