Interview with: Dori Abendschein, SVP, Chief Financial Officer, Essilor of America. Abendschein is the Chairperson at the marcus evans CFO Summit XXXIII Fall 2017, in Irving, Texas, October 8-10.

1. competition yet most industries have
significant disruptive quality, whether
through data experts like Google or
Amazon or through new competitive
entrants.
The CFO’s job is to look beyond the here
and now, and create long-term value.
Every time there is a change in admini-
stration, in any country, the tax strat-
egy and economic conditions may
change.
The CFO must be on the cutting-edge of
global political and competitive trends,
as they all fit into the long-term finan-
cial health and welfare of the company.
The CFO is
in a unique
position to
help the
business
balance
profitability,
customers
and
employees
The Unique Perspective CFOs
Bring in Today’s Digital World
Interview with: Dori Abendschein,
SVP, Chief Financial Officer, Essilor
of America
“The CFO can give the CEO quite a
different perspective on the current
disruptive landscape of technology and
how it will impact shareholders and the
company’s investments. As CFOs, it is
our obligation to drive that clarity and
be that voice of reason,” says Dori
Abendschein, SVP, Chief Financial
Officer, Essilor of America. “CFOs can
only be effective at that if they are up to
speed with digital technologies, the
market and competitors. It is imperative
that CFOs have a strong seat at the
table to give CEOs their insights on how
digital is affecting the business,” she
suggests.
Abendschein is the Chairperson at the
marcus evans CFO Summit XXXIII
Fall 2017, in Irving, Texas, October
8-10.
What value can a CFO add to the
CTO and CIO perspective?
A CIO is good at technology and
innovation, a CTO at understanding the
latest and greatest trends on the
market, and a CMO is focused on data
capability. But, the CFO is in a unique
position to make sure those ideas and
innovation can be monetized over time
and that they fit in with the long-term
strategy of the company. With so many
new technologies and software available
today, it is easy for a company to over-
invest or invest in solutions that do not
bring value back to shareholders and
employees. The CFO must be that
Litmus test. CFOs will not just look at
cost, but also return. If you look at
innovation as a customer enabler, you
can drive value. Customer and em-
ployee experiences are important. The
CFO has the unique ability to balance
profitability, customers and employees.
The CFO and CIO must also work
together on the governance and security
around the data strategy.
Do all CFOs understand and em-
brace opportunities that new
technologies bring on board?
In certain industries, CFOs are lagging
behind in terms of building that digital
team. CFOs have to play that role.
There are discussions on how data
science comes into the financial world
and how it can be used for competency
and capabilities. There is an extraordi-
nary shift in many CFOs’ mindsets on
what skills need to be incorporated
moving forward, but many CFOs are
lagging behind and have not recognized
the need to influence that at the CEO
level. It is critical the finance community
understands now is the right time to
build capability around data science and
look at skill sets differently than in the
past. Even if we separate out the
science, the tools available for systems
analytics are different and easier for
people to use. A different set of skills
will be needed moving forward and
CFOs must be on the cutting-edge of
the talent the organization needs, the
talent it needs to keep and how people
will be developed.
What are some of the myths or
misconceptions CFOs have?
If CFOs spend too much time looking in
the rear-view, analyzing history and
basing decisions on historical algo-
rithms, they will miss the boat. The
accounting practice is not enough to
predict the future.
The second miss is that CFOs tend to
look very internally at traditional

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