A new survey from Grant Thornton, one of America’s largest brands of professionals providing end-to-end audit, assurance, tax and advisory services, revealed key insights into the evolving priorities of chief financial officers (CFOs) in the tech industry.
The survey showed that organizational culture has surged as the top human capital priority, with 58% of tech finance leaders now placing it at the forefront — up from 45% in last year’s survey.
“In the tech industry, the mentality of growth at all costs has subsided,” said Andrea Schulz, national managing principal of Technology at Grant Thornton Advisors LLC and an Audit Services partner at Grant Thornton LLP. “Companies can’t rely on money alone to retain their best talent. That’s not what investors are expecting. That’s why culture is becoming a key focus — it represents a much-needed refresh.”
To find the right balance, tech organizations should consider how culture can thread through the business issues such as workforce operations, artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity.
Outline growth opportunities for tech talent
In an industry built on ideas, the success of technology companies often comes down to whether they can recruit, retain, motivate and empower the best workers, and build a culture that supports their business goals.
“It comes back to the question: ‘What are the identity, shared values and common language that we can tie to our culture? Then, how can we activate that through things like our DE&I programs and the benefits we offer?’” said Don Sheehan, director of Cyber Risk Advisory Services at Grant Thornton Advisors LLC. “While a company’s core culture is a starting point, the next step is the path to advancement.”
The best tech candidates want to keep moving up. Offering a path to advancement is a strategic way to ensure that talent wants to join and grow within an organization.
As Jesse Leder, senior manager of Growth Advisory at Grant Thornton Advisors LLC, explains: “Business should offer candidates a clear growth path so they can visualize themselves being there for more than just the short term.”
Another approach is to look at how employees can provide valuable expertise in other areas. According to Alon Avdi, senior manager of Growth Advisory Services at Grant Thornton Advisors LLC: “We’ve seen rotational programs provide a good mechanism for development opportunities where employees get exposure to other skills or competencies, but also leadership opportunities.”
Stay ahead of AI
According to the survey, tech CFOs plan to expand AI capabilities, with 58% of respondents listing them as the top technology investment for 2025. As AI capabilities improve, they can reliably perform a growing amount of the work that has filled traditional roles — even roles that had job security in the past.
“AI is even affecting people with important skills in the tech industry, such as software engineers,” Avdi said. “Their jobs were almost never at risk before, but with the advances in GenAI, roles such as developers can become at-risk positions.”
Survey respondents also indicated that AI and automation implementations are part of their plans to mitigate labor costs. Looking further ahead, 46% said that economic conditions could lead to layoffs in the next six months — up from the 31% that anticipated layoffs in last year’s survey.
Implementing AI that fits a company’s unique business processes, needs and staff structures can be challenging. Companies must help employees and recruits understand how AI will fit into their work, and how their roles will evolve.
“It’s a matter of how workers adapt to GenAI and how companies deal with potential obsolescence or reduced demand for certain skills that were always evergreen in tech — whether they are shifting people to keep them relevant and valuable,” Avdi said.
As companies explore the real potential of GenAI and its advanced use cases, they start to consider the investments, returns and partners who can help them succeed.
“I talk with a number of CFOs who ask, ‘What is the best ROI for AI and which companies should I be using?’” Schulz said.
The question of selecting AI partners can be difficult to answer, partly due to the turbulence among AI service providers.
Invest in cybersecurity training and awareness
GenAI technology is the latest weapon in the arms race between cybersecurity attackers and defenders. Yet, one factor remains the same — humans are the greatest cybersecurity weakness.
In fact, at 33%, investment in training and awareness is the top cybersecurity measure that survey respondents prioritized. However, it is a decrease from 37% in last year’s survey. Meanwhile, partnering with external security firms moved from 9% last year to 21% this year, surpassing security audits.
As the demand for cybersecurity expertise continues to grow, external partnerships can help companies scale or access specialized knowledge that complements their in-house capabilities.
“As some skills within cybersecurity become more hyper-focused, some companies are realizing that they don’t have the depth of talent to keep up with the rapid changes we’re seeing,” Schulz said.
Cybersecurity technology must stay ahead of the rapid changes in AI and other technologies across business functions. In fact, 26% of survey respondents indicated that the cybersecurity and risk management functions are their top priority for enhancements.
Effective cybersecurity requires updated technology — but ultimately depends on culture as well.
“It’s about really making sure that you’re staying ahead of AI and evolving your workforce’s mindset,” Schulz said. “They need to be critically thinking about the threats and how they’re protecting the company. Your biggest risk is still your people, and they need to have the right professional skepticism.”
To see additional findings from Grant Thornton’s survey of tech CFOs, visit: https://www.grantthornton.com/insights/survey-reports/cfo-survey/2024/cfo-survey-finds-culture-at-the-core.
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Tags: Accounting
