Proof so far
Completed appointments: CFO, Head of Finance, Finance Director, Country Head, Head of Operations, Data Science Lead and Sales Leadership — across 20+ leadership and specialist mandates for 10+ clients, including 2 leadership hires in the USA. Client names are withheld; references are available on request. Read the case studies →
Executing finance transformation has been the top item on CFO agendas for three years running, and AI and automation moved up to second place in 2026. Yet only around a third of CFOs say they are confident of getting real business results from AI (Forbes, July 2026). The gap is rarely the software. It is the person leading the change.
Who we search for
- CFOs with a transformation mandate — finance chiefs hired to rebuild the function, not just run it.
- Finance transformation leaders — programme owners for ERP, close, consolidation and reporting change.
- Heads of FP&A with automation depth — driver-based planning, rolling forecasts and AI-assisted analysis that the business actually uses.
- Finance systems and data leads — the people who make the numbers flow from ledger to board pack without spreadsheets in between.
What we test for
Plenty of candidates can describe an AI pilot. Fewer can show what changed afterwards. We ask every candidate for evidence of results, and we check it with references:
- What did they ship, and what did it replace? A faster close, an automated report, a forecast the board now trusts.
- How did the finance team adopt it? Transformation fails on people more often than on tools.
- Do they still have the fundamentals? Controls, audit and statutory reporting cannot be traded away for innovation.
- Can they explain it to a board? A transformation leader has to win budget and patience.
Related reading: why strong CFOs can fail transformation roles.
A note on honesty
Talfino's delivered mandates so far are CFO and Head of Finance searches in India and Saudi Arabia. Transformation and AI-in-finance leadership is a focus area we search for, built on that finance foundation — we will tell you plainly what we have and have not done before you engage us.
Frequently asked questions
Do you hire AI engineers or data scientists?
Not as a core service. We hire the finance leaders who lead automation and AI in finance. Technology roles are taken selectively; see other leadership search.
Should a transformation role report to the CFO?
Usually yes, with a clear mandate and budget. Where it reports elsewhere, the CFO still needs to own the outcome, or adoption stalls.
How long does this kind of search take?
Typically five to nine weeks to offer, plus notice period. The target pool is smaller than for a standard finance role, so the market map matters more.
Planning a finance transformation?
Tell us what has to change and by when. We will map who has done it before and what they cost.
Confidential · A personal reply from the founder, the same business day