2024 Finance and Accounting Technology Expo: What's on CFOs' Radar?

Finance and Accounting Technology Expo: The 5 Big Topics That Caught CFOs' Attention

Last week, the Finance and Accounting Technology Expo — hosted by the CFO Leadership Council and StrategicCFO360 — wrapped up a successful run at New York's Javits Center. This inaugural event drew a lineup of high-profile speakers, including Daymond John of "Shark Tank," Nick Araco Jr. of the CFO Alliance, Anthony Rose of Kapitus, and Dr. Tim Naddy of the Savannah Bananas, who came together to dig into the latest trends in corporate finance and technology innovation.

In this article, we walk through the five big topics CFOs zeroed in on at the Expo:

1. The CFO's Ability to Evaluate Tech Products and Negotiate Costs

With so many companies rolling out AI-powered tools or rebranding existing solutions, CFOs and finance leaders are scrutinizing the concrete benefits and feasibility of these products. The Expo put particular emphasis on a key question: how, in practice, does adopting technology contribute to financial structure and cost savings?

2. Assessing ROI on Technology Investments

Maximizing ROI on new finance technology is a top priority for CFOs right now. At the Expo, CFOs discussed a range of benefits that go beyond simple cost cutting — better collaboration, less manual data entry, and improved forecast quality. These insights laid out various methodologies for evaluating the value of a technology investment, both quantitatively and qualitatively, and drove home why ROI matters.

3. AI's Role in ERP Transitions

An ERP migration is one of the heaviest lifts a CFO faces, and many keep putting it off because of the complexity and the risk involved. At this Expo, speakers shared concrete examples and strategies for how AI can make ERP transitions smoother. The idea that AI can efficiently knit together disparate tech stacks and reduce migration risk drew a lot of interest.

4. The New Definition of FP&A and AI's Impact

As AI's influence spreads across FP&A (financial planning and analysis), more CFOs are finding ways to free up their finance teams' time and redirect it toward higher-value analytical work. Some experts argued that adopting new technology like AI should push us to redefine FP&A — from straightforward financial analysis toward something that prizes business partnership, creative thinking, and the human element.

5. Sizing Up the AI Bubble

Amid growing skepticism about AI and the infrastructure behind it, the Expo featured lively debate over whether AI can establish itself as a durable, long-term solution. With sprawling datasets now available for building large language models (LLMs), participants traded a range of views on whether custom LLM tools can create lasting value — and on where the tech market is headed.