In SSON Research & Analytics’ 2025 State of the Industry Survey, 49% of respondents listed upskilling employees as their number one objective in 2025, far above business partnering (35%) and leveraging automation solutions (35%). This is particularly important in finance as digitalization and organizational transformation, means that far from just dealing in numbers, finance leaders are expected to be strategic, analytical and client facing. In this session we invited NIQ Capabilities Leader, Ranjit Peter to share their fantastic upskilling program. 

• Aligning skills development with organizational goals 
• Onboarding: How the right start equals the right skills 
• To mandate or not? How do we ensure employees are utilizing training resources?
• Ongoing assessment, feedback, and leadership support
• Measuring the effectiveness of your upskilling initiatives in finance

Ranjit Peter

Global Capability Leader
NIQ

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Having a great service experience in your finance function has multiple benefits. Not only will your customers keep returning, but the trust built means they are more likely to give finance higher-value services and pay more. Repeat customers are also easier to work with as they know your processes and expectations. So how do you build a partnership where service excellence is the focus, in this session we’ll examine the necessary factors:

·      Transforming from meeting SLAs to great customer experience

·      Optimizing your finance processes with the customer in mind

·      Building a service-oriented culture

·      How technology and self-service play a roll

·      Getting buy-in and measuring the impact of your initiatives

The quality of your master data affects everything you do, from the speed of your finance transformations to the effectiveness of automation and even the ability to deliver good customer experience. However, getting MDM right isn’t easy and can often be a long and painful process. In this session, Global MDM Lead, Antonia Imbernon, gives her perspective on how to get it right.

·      The challenges of master-data in GBS

·      Keeping MDM cost-effective

·      Demonstrating the true value of master-data to secure buy-in

·      Best practice for data controls and governance

Antonia Estrella Imbernon

Global Enterprise Data Management Head, GBS
British American Tobacco

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Finance departments must be prepared for a realm of disruptions, whether that’s political, economic, or social. With interest rates and inflation on the rise, strengthening working capital is crucial as well as automating tasks where possible. This session discusses the best ways to create a resilient finance department:

·      Examining ways to free up cash and boost working capital

·      Identifying new revenue streams to mitigate risk

·      Applying automation to ensure your finance processes are agile

·      Reviewing customer and supplier payment systems for vulnerabilities