Ep. 12 | Why CFOs Should Balance Growth, Governance and AI

Tom Tildesley has a simple view of what separates good finance leaders from great ones: It's not what you do. It's how you do it.

In this episode of the Finance Chief Podcast, guest host Charlie King sits down with Tom, Chief Financial Officer at Innovo Group, to discuss entrepreneurial finance leadership, AI readiness, capital allocation and building high-growth businesses across international markets. 

Tom has held senior finance positions at BP – where he was a founding member of BP Alternative Energy – as well as Imperial Brands, Vistry Group and now Innovo, a business that has grown from £625m to £2bn in revenue in just three years. He brings a candid, commercially-minded perspective to a conversation about what finance leadership actually needs. 

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In this episode we explore:

• How CFOs balance governance with entrepreneurial growth
• Why finance leaders must become strategic business partners
• How AI is changing financial planning, analysis and decision-making
• Why clean, structured data is essential before AI can deliver value
• How Innovo Group allocates capital across international market
• Why people, culture and leadership remain the foundations of finance success

Why modern CFOs must think beyond compliance

Tom explains that financial governance remains the foundation of every successful finance function. Compliance, reporting and controls must operate flawlessly before finance leaders can earn a strategic seat at the executive table.

Once those fundamentals are in place, however, the role expands beyond accounting. Today's CFOs are expected to guide commercial decisions, interpret business performance and help organisations grow with confidence.

Entrepreneurship needs finance, not barriers

Having moved from major listed companies into Innovo Group's high-growth environment, Tom argues that finance should enable innovation rather than restrict it.

He shares how creating structure around entrepreneurial businesses allows organisations to experiment, learn quickly and discontinue unsuccessful ventures without discouraging future innovation. Supporting the business, rather than slowing it down, has become one of finance's most valuable contributions.

AI starts with better data

While AI continues transforming finance, Tom believes many organisations are overlooking a critical first step.

Before businesses can benefit from automation and advanced analytics, they must clean, structure and govern their existing data. Only then can AI generate reliable insights that improve decision-making and allow finance professionals to focus less on producing reports and more on analysing them.

Investing across global markets

Leading finance across the UK, UAE, Egypt and Canada requires different approaches to capital allocation.

Tom discusses how Innovo evaluates investment opportunities using disciplined financial metrics while adapting return expectations to local market conditions, inflation, economic stability and long-term growth potential. The result is a capital allocation strategy that balances opportunity with risk across multiple regions.

The future finance leader

Looking ahead, Tom believes AI will automate much of finance's reporting workload, allowing professionals to spend more time asking better questions, validating insights and challenging business decisions.

Alongside technical capability, he argues that communication, adaptability and understanding organisational culture will become increasingly important leadership skills as finance continues to evolve into a strategic business function.

Explore more from the Finance Chief Podcast

Catch up on Episode 11, featuring Stephen Roche, President and Co-Founder of Saphyre, discussing real-time settlement, AI-driven operations, the US Treasury clearing mandate and how financial institutions can prepare for the future of post-trade operations.