There's No Place Like GENCFO

As we wrap up 2025, I’ve been doing what a lot of us do at this time of year – looking back at the madness we’ve just been through, and looking forward at what’s coming next.

And if there’s one thing that’s clearer than ever to me, it’s this:

The future of finance isn’t about tech for tech’s sake. It’s about people. It’s about you.

Yes, we’ve got automation, analytics, AI and all the acronyms flying around. But the real shift I’m seeing is happening in you – the modern finance leader who’s saying:

“I want to add value, not just add up.”
“I want to shape the business, not just report on it.”
“I want finance to lead, not follow.”

That’s why GENCFO exists. Not as another brand shouting about “transformation”, but as a community where you can actually talk about what’s changing, what’s working, what’s hard – and what’s next.

Membership: where the real conversation is happening

If I had to pick one thing that’s defined 2025 for me, it’s how our GENCFO Membership has grown, not just in numbers, but in honesty.

You’ve kept people at the centre of everything:

Real talk about pressure, burnout and expectation

Big ambitions to modernise finance without losing the humans in the process

Curiosity about AI and digital, mixed with very real “where do I start?” questions

That mix of ambition and honesty is gold.

Membership isn’t a “nice-to-have bolt-on” for GENCFO – it is the beating heart. It’s where the role revolution is genuinely taking shape, one conversation, one experiment, one shared story at a time.

If you’ve shown up to a session, asked a question, shared a win or a failure this year – thank you. You’re doing more for the future of finance than you probably realise.

GENCFO Awards: proof that change is happening

The GENCFO Awards this year were another big reminder that the change-makers are no longer on the sidelines.

We celebrated people and teams who are:

• Shaking off the “cost centre” label
• Building truly digital finance functions
• Using automation and analytics for insight and impact, not just efficiency
• Putting people, collaboration and culture at the centre of change

It wasn’t about perfection. It was about progress and recognition.

And here’s the important bit: even if you didn’t feel “award material” this year, if you are trying to do things differently, you’re part of this. The Awards are a spotlight, but the movement is much bigger than who’s on stage.

Nominations for the 2026 Awards open on January 6th. Find out more here!

What’s coming in 2026

Now, let’s talk about where we’re heading together. I’m genuinely excited for what we have lined up, bbecause it all comes back to that same idea: finance led by humans, powered by digital.

1. 2026 Trends Research Report

We’re going beyond the usual prediction piece. Our 2026 Trends Research Report is shaped by you and your lived reality.

We’ll be digging into:

• What the Digital Finance Function really looks like today – structure, skills, ways of working
• How the Triple A model: Agility, Automation, Analytics – is actually playing out
• The tension between control and innovation, and how finance is navigating that
• How talent, AI and new operating models are changing what “good” looks like in our teams

This is designed to give you language, evidence and stories you can use in your boardroom and with your teams – to back up what you already know needs to change.

2. GENCFO Summit & Impact virtual events

If the report is the “what”, the GENCFO Summit and our Impact virtual events are the “how”.

You can expect:

• Practical, no-nonsense sessions from people doing the work, not just talking about it
• Honest discussions about influence, leadership and getting finance a proper seat at the table
• Ideas you can steal and use straight away – no fluff, no theatre

Whether you join us online or in person, the goal is simple: help you move one step further along your own modern finance journey.

3. GENCFO Live: a new conference experience

And then there’s GENCFO Live, our new ‘un-conference’ experience, and I’m particularly buzzing about this.

This is not: sit in a dark room, stare at a stage, collect a lanyard, go home slightly inspired but mostly unchanged.

This is:

• Community-first, not ego-first
• Designed around conversations, collisions and collaboration
• Built so you walk away with actions, not just notes

Think of it as taking the best bits of what happens in our community every week; the honesty, the openness, the “how did you actually do that?”, and putting it all in one room.

Find out more about the event here!

GENCFO in the US: taking the community global

One thing I’m especially excited about for 2026 is our expansion into the US.

For a long time, we’ve seen and heard from US-based finance leaders dropping into our content, staying up late for events, and asking, “When are you bringing GENCFO over here properly?”

The answer is: now.

Our US expansion means:

• More community, content and conversations in US-friendly time zones
• More chances for US-based finance leaders to plug into Membership and shape the agenda
• A bigger, richer, more diverse global perspective on what modern finance leadership looks like

GENCFO has always been about community first, geography second – but I’m really looking forward to building stronger, localised experiences for our US community while keeping everyone connected as one global movement.

Your role in the future of finance

Here’s the bit I really don’t want you to miss.

There is no “future of finance” without you.

Not a CFO. Not the finance function. You.

You, showing up to a session and asking the slightly awkward but important question

You, sharing the messy middle of your transformation, not just the crisp end-state slide

You, pushing for better tools, better data, better ways of working

You, backing your team to grow into new roles, not cling to old ones

We can build platforms, events, reports, frameworks and fancy diagrams at GENCFO – and we will. But you are the ones turning those ideas into reality inside your organisations.

Signing off 2025, stepping into 2026

So as we sign off 2025 and step into 2026, here’s what I want you to take with you:

Stay curious.
Stay connected.
Stay in the conversation.

If you stay close to this community – through Membership, by getting involved in the GENCFO Awards, by leaning into the 2026 Trends Research Report, by joining us at Summit, Impact, GENCFO Live, and, for our American friends, through our growing US community, you won’t just be watching the future of finance unfold.

You’ll be helping write it.

Thank you for your energy, your honesty and your trust this year. It means a lot – to me, and to the whole GENCFO team.

Onwards to 2026.

See you there.