5th BW CFO Awards Honour 16 Exceptional Financial Wizards

The BW CFO Awards salute men and women in sectors like finance, fintech, healthcare and technology, who worked tirelessly to keep their corporations in the black and strategised to cope with the dynamics of a pandemic stricken marketplace

- Janani Janarthanan

IN THE WORST CASE scenario a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is no more than a glorified bookkeeper. In the best-case scenario, he is the wizard who strategizes to not only keep his company in the black but move forward. The CFO played a crucial role in every corporation, be it a private enterprise or a public sector undertaking (PSU) through a financial turmoil that came in the wake of a raging pandemic. The role of the CFO began to moult and evolve too as the dynamics of the conventional way of doing business changed, perhaps forever.

Since Covid-19 rose its ugly head early in 2020, CFOs have revisited familiar axioms like ‘Cash is King’, ‘Every crisis is an opportunity in disguise ’, ‘Change is the only constant’ and the hopeful, ‘This too shall pass’. But beyond axioms, CFOs have channelled their energies into achieving a steady level of liquidity, braved the onslaught of stricter compliances, stayed on their toes and cemented their role as a partner to the CEO.

“CFOs today are Chief Future Officers, looking onward at growth. Many have even assumed the role of Chief Transformation Officer and Chief Performance Officer too… I believe more and more CFOs will lead businesses and become CEOs,” says Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief,