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Salesforce merges CFO, COO roles as leaders embrace AI strategically
That is why, four months ago, when Robin Washington was appointed CFO, she was also given the title of chief operating officer (COO).
Asked if this was the first time Salesforce had merged the two positions, she said: 'I joined Salesforce only four months back as a COFO. This is the first time we have looked at the chief operating officer and the financial officer role as one. I think this allows us to break down silos. This also makes the COFO organisation a much more effective business partner.'
Salesforce's latest research shows that CFOs are taking bigger, more strategic bets with artificial intelligence (AI). Over the past five years, CFOs have shifted from a largely conservative stance on AI to fully embracing its potential, driven by expected opportunities for revenue growth.
In 2020, 63 per cent of CFOs in Asia-Pacific (APAC) reported having a conservative AI strategy. By 2023, that number had dropped to 33 per cent, and today it stands at just 3 per cent. The transformation highlights a growing recognition among financial leaders that AI is no longer an emerging technology but a crucial tool for enhancing efficiency, optimising operations, and driving long-term growth.
'CFOs today have to truly be strategic business partners. They are not only looking at resource allocation reporting but also at how you define and allocate resources. It is so much more than financial expertise. That is why we are seeing more roles like ours where we are combining finance and operations to unlock insights and efficiencies that directly impact execution on the business,' said Washington, president and chief operational and financial officer at Salesforce, during a virtual media briefing on the changing role of CFOs in the AI era.
According to the study, 50 per cent of CFOs in APAC say AI agents are changing how they evaluate return on investment (ROI), moving beyond traditional metrics to encompass broader business outcomes. Last year, 65 per cent of CFOs faced pressure to accelerate tech investment ROI. Today, they recognise that AI's value is not just in short-term cost-cutting but also in long-term outcomes such as revenue generation, productivity gains, and improved decision-making.
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