Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in the insurance industry have for years looked to reposition their finance functions as value-creating, strategic partners for the business. In leading ambitious transformation programmes, CFOs go beyond financial process automation for efficiency, seeking to drive profitable growth through continuous innovation, despite considerable market uncertainty.
In a paper titled “Creating Breakthrough Value from Finance Transformation”, which features inputs from the EY 2025 Global Insurance CFO Survey, the international professional services firm says that finance transformation is challenging for many reasons, including the complexity of most insurance businesses, the rigid legacy systems in place across industry carriers, and intense regulatory burdens. Finance leaders face distinct barriers, which can be viewed in terms of six paradoxes. These are:
- Outset: Do more for less
Supporting business growth while reducing operating costs at the same time
CFOs and their peers are being asked to deliver more value and higher performance at lower cost and with fewer resources. It’s not just day-to-day operations that are subject to time, resource and cost constraints; so too is the process of transformation itself.
- Offset: Innovate plus protect
Competing more effectively, without undercutting trust or compliance
Balancing innovation and growth with trust and compliance is vital because they are all necessary for long-term success. To find that balance, CFOs can design and adopt innovation-friendly governance frameworks, with clear risk limits and decision rights embedded directly into business-as-usual (BAU) operations. By innovating its own services (e.g., delivering more timely and actionable market insights and faster forecasting), Finance can help facilitate innovation, as well as operational agility, across the business.
- Toolset: Upgrade and sustain
Harnessing new tech whilst preserving mission-critical systems
A two-track approach has emerged as a leading practice for finance transformation because it protects mission-critical systems and harnesses the power of new technology. New tools can add capabilities to existing systems and platforms via interfaces users are familiar with. Similarly, legacy technology can be “wrappered” with new features, functionality and AI-based user experiences where replacement is unrealistic.
- Dataset: Insight to foresight
Moving from historic data to forward-looking intelligence
Providing historical data will always be part of Finance’s job. After all, that data provides the basis for future projections and, when paired with external data sets, predictive insights about market trends. But thriving in an uncertain future will require more adaptable financial planning and analytic capabilities.
- Mindset: Change is constant
Providing stability while making continuous improvements
The challenge for CFOs is to encourage people to work adaptively, experiment creatively and think differently. People may need convincing that continuous improvement is a requirement for long-term success and worth the effort. A compelling future vision can outline the benefits of change for individuals (e.g., more satisfying work, clearer career paths) while new incentives and metrics can reward behavioural change.
- Skillset: Upskill or stagnate
Sustaining core expertise and instilling new capabilities
The first steps for CFOs are to understand the skills they will need in the future and then create a plan to attain them, while still retaining expert talent in core areas. CFOs may need to address the widespread fears regarding AI’s potential to replace jobs.
Operating model for Finance
The paper says that CFOs should address the six paradoxes directly and holistically. It suggests a multi-dimensional target operating model for Finance in the insurance industry that provides a roadmap for navigating these challenges. The operating model reflects the interconnected nature of insurance operations. Better service delivery needs better processes, which require powerful systems and rich data, with talented people and well-designed controls ensuring effective, efficient and compliant performance. (See Chart 1)
The EY 2025 Global Insurance CFO Survey included in-depth conversations with 21 CFOs across global markets. M