A Powerful Partnership: Elevating The CFO And CTO Relationship

This blog was written by Trintech CFO Omar Choucair and originally appeared on Forbes.com. It is republished with permission.

The role of the chief financial officer is evolving rapidly beyond what it was even five years ago. In addition to serving as financial stewards, today’s CFOs are responsible for driving strategic growth, ensuring compliance and making the right technology investments. The traditional finance function has become increasingly reliant on automation, artificial intelligence and data-driven decision-making.

To keep pace, finance leaders must remove silos and collaborate across departments, especially with technology leaders. That’s why I make sure I talk to my organization’s chief technology officer as frequently as possible.

This key partnership is essential to our success. Our CTO plays a central and strategic role in managing everything from software development and cloud operations to artificial intelligence strategy. By working closely with our CTO, we can ensure that our AI initiatives align with our strategic road map and financial priorities, support compliance requirements and create real value for our customers and employees.

The CFO’s Role In AI Implementation

Over the past year, the majority of my conversations with our CTO have revolved around AI strategy and policy. This is no coincidence, as AI is fundamentally reshaping the future of operational and financial operations. Our customers, many of whom are large global enterprises, view AI as both an opportunity and a risk. They expect AI-powered automation to improve efficiency and accuracy, but they also demand compliance and security. As CFO, it’s up to me to strike the right balance.

AI adoption is not just an IT initiative; it requires companywide participation and should be embedded in every key strategic decision. At Trintech, we’ve taken a structured approach led by our CEO and driven by department leaders focused on their key AI use cases, which supports our investment in the right areas while avoiding unnecessary spending. While AI implementation is CTO-led, it’s up to the CFO to manage the outcomes across departments.

As the financial steward and operational architect of the organization, the CFO must be aware of how AI will change roles at each level. They should be familiar with the updated responsibilities of every seasoned accountant on their team and every new hire in marketing. When AI becomes embedded in business operations, it’s the CFO who ensures the investment delivers measurable, sustainable impact. Success depends not just on adoption, but on accountability, alignment and a clear understanding of what’s changing and why.

From a financial standpoint, this process helps manage costs and prevent inefficiencies. AI solutions can be expensive, and it’s easy to invest in tools that employees don’t fully utilize. That’s why we focus on enterprise AI licenses, which provide necessary compliance features, such as service organization controls (SOC) reports and single sign-on (SSO), while ensuring our teams are using AI effectively.

Beyond cost considerations, finance teams are also responsible for evaluating AI’s impact on workforce efficiency. When a department requests additional AI licenses, we assess whether that investment could offset the need for new hires. While we’re in the early stages of this shift, it’s clear that AI will play a major role in optimizing workforce planning.

Measuring Internal ROI: The Key To AI Success

One of the most important questions CFOs must ask about AI investments is: Are we seeing a measurable return? While AI has the potential to drive efficiencies, its real value comes from how well it integrates into existing workflows and improves performance over time.

A McKinsey report found that most companies are now seeing cost savings in supply chain and inventory management, service operations, and strategy and corporate finance. However, simply implementing generative AI and AI agents is not enough—businesses need clear but flexible metrics for measuring the success of an AI investment.

AI’s capabilities are changing every day, and a company’s AI ROI needs to change with it. As experts in technology and company finances, the CTO and CFO are the right pair to define those standards as they evolve, ensuring alignment between technological innovation and strategic financial outcomes and turning AI potential into tangible business value.

At Trintech, we evaluate AI’s ROI by analyzing:

• Product Road Maps: Are our AI enhancements improving customer experience, revenues and all related customer retention metrics?
• Time Saved On Manual Processes: Has AI-driven automation reduced the hours spent on reconciliation and reporting?
• Productivity Gains: Are employees using AI tools to work more efficiently, or are they underutilized?
• Data Governance: Are our AI models heavily dependent on accurate and reliable data models and governance?
• KPI Metrics: Are we seeing measurable improvements that justify the cost of AI investments across all functional departments?
• Compliance Alignment: Are AI implementations meeting internal and external regulatory standards, ensuring that information security policies and data security, financial controls and reporting requirements are upheld?

By focusing on these factors, we ensure that our AI investment and adoption lead to successful financial outcomes, rather than being just another technology expense.

The Future Of Finance And Technology Collaboration

The relationship between CFOs and CTOs is more important than ever. As AI, automation and digital transformation continue to reshape the business landscape, finance leaders must become active participants in technology decisions.

For CFOs looking to build stronger partnerships with their technology counterparts, I recommend the following steps:

1. Engage in regular conversations. GenAI, AI agents and automation are complex topics that require ongoing collaboration. Make it a priority to have detailed conversations with your CTO frequently.

2. Move as quickly as possible. Companies with first-mover strategies will likely gain critical market share with AI-first road maps.

3. Take a structured approach to AI adoption. Develop clear use cases and evaluate AI investments based on ROI, compliance and workforce impact.

4. Ensure that AI aligns with business objectives. AI should enhance decision-making, improve efficiency and support compliance—not create unnecessary risk.

At Trintech, our daily conversations between finance and technology are driving smarter, more strategic decision-making. For CFOs, my advice is simple: Engage with your CTO frequently and thoughtfully—your company’s success depends on it.