My 3 interesting things for you this month…
1. Focus on the business future, not the finance past
One of the most common frustrations I hear from finance leaders and their teams is: “We want to influence the business, but the conversation always ends up back in the details of the numbers.”
As we’ve talked about in previous newsletters, it’s not our insight that holds us back, it’s the questions we ask.
If we want to drive business action, we have to stop asking questions that are only finance focused and start asking questions that are open, future focused and business focused instead.
The problem with classic finance questions
Think about the last review you were in. How many questions sounded like this?
- Why is travel £120k over budget?
- What happened in Q3 in Europe?
- Can you send me a breakdown?
They’re great for fixing data issues and closing the books, but they’re backward-looking and don’t change decisions or shape strategy.
If all our questions are about the past, people see us as historians of the numbers, not co-pilots of the business.
Three shifts that change everything
Here are three simple shifts that can move you from “reporting” to “driving action”.
1. From closed to open
Closed: Is this overspend a problem?
Open, action oriented version: What options do we have to respond to this overspend?
Closed questions invite short, defensive answers. Open questions invite thinking, ownership and ideas.
A simple trick: start more questions with what, how, where, who instead of did, is, can, should.
2. From past to future
Past focused question: Why did marketing overspend last quarter?
Future focused version: What will we do differently next quarter so we hit the same growth with less spend?
The past still matters, but the value is in what happens next. Always try to follow any historical question with a future one.
3. From finance focused to business focused
Finance focused questions: “Why is gross margin down 2 percentage points?”
“Can you hit the OPEX target?”
Business focused versions: “What is happening with our customers, pricing or mix that is driving margin down, and what levers do we have to pull?”
“What trade-offs are you prepared to make to deliver both the OPEX target and the growth plan?”
Business focused questions use customer, product, channel, risk and opportunity language to connect finance to the bigger picture. As a result, they connect numbers to choice and trade offs.
This makes a big difference in turning finance from budget enforcers to partners in problem-solving.
Build a new habit in three steps
I’ve explained the difference – so how do you turn these ideas into action?
1. Prepare one great question before every key meeting
Look at the pack and write down one open, future-focused, business-focused question you’ll definitely ask.
2. Listen for “number traps” in the meeting
When the conversation gets stuck in the numbers, jump in with a bridge question such as:
- “What does that mean for our customers?”
- “If nothing changes, where does this put our year end result?”
- “What action are we agreeing out of this discussion?”
3. Finish with a “so what now” question
Before the meeting ends, ask:
“What are we actually going to do differently after this conversation?”
This question alone can transform month end reviews from status updates into decision meetings.
Let me know how you get on!
2. Latest AI news from the present
If you feel like AI news is moving faster than your month-end close, you’re not alone. The last few weeks have been intense, with a wave of launches that actually matter for finance teams, not just the techies. I’m updating my “Making AI a Daily Habit” course slides pretty much daily at the moment!
Here are the big updates and what they actually mean for finance right now.
1. Gemini 3: deeper reasoning for analysis and research
Google has launched Gemini 3, its most advanced model yet, integrated straight into Search and the wider Gemini tools. People are absolutely loving this update. I didn’t recommend Gemini much before as there was usually a better model, but I’ve been using this most days since launch.
I like this one because it has some of the power of paid models, but it’s free, accessible and people have a decent level of trust in it.
Gemini 3 can combine text, charts and even audio transcripts in one go. That means you can throw a mix of notes, public data and charts at it and ask for ideas, scenarios, risks and opportunities. It still needs checking, but it can get you to a first draft story much quicker.
There’s also been massive improvements to Nano Banana Pro 3, an image and infographic model built on top of Gemini 3 Pro. It finally handles text in images properly and will generate high quality, legible charts, posters and infographics from a prompt. This is awesome, I’ve been having some fun with this in the last couple of weeks!
Gemini 3 is still nowhere near closing the books for you, but it can absolutely help a finance team move from towards making AI a daily habit.
2. Claude’s professional push: better for technical work
Anthropic has been on a big enterprise drive. Claude 4 and now Claude 4.5 are aimed squarely at professional users, with better performance on finance and scientific tasks and a lot of work on safety and reliability for business customers.
As I talk about on my course, Claude is often the model people haven’t tried yet, but really like once they use it for the right kind of jobs: accounting policies, tax questions, regulatory wording, governance papers.
You should still always check the work, but answers are more likely to be useful – more concise, more likely to say when it doesn’t know the answer.
Again, this is support, not substitution. It’s very good at helping your team write better and think more clearly, but it’s not a substitute for a qualified accountant signing off a judgement-heavy paper.
3. Copilot in Teams: “deep thinking” for fixing process
Finally, Copilot steps into the realm of consistently useful!! This is hot off the press – I only saw this in my Teams last Monday, and it still seems that only about 50% of users can see this update.
Copilot in Teams now has Thinking and Think Deeper modes. These run more careful, step-by-step analysis using higher-reasoning models. For finance work, especially process and control issues, this makes a noticeable difference.
In the Copilot app in Teams, you’ll see the options in the top right – it used to say ‘Try ChatGPT-5’ (or ‘GPT-5 On’), but now says Auto. Make sure to always turn this to Thinking or Think Deeper.
Hurray! At last. Microsoft is finally joining the party on a useful tool – still not able to do the analysis for you, but when it comes to fixing our broken processes – I’ve seen some excellent results this week.
4. GPT-5.2 arrives in ChatGPT
A smaller but still important update to finish, OpenAI has started rolling out GPT-5.2 as the new flagship model in ChatGPT, with two flavours: Instant for everyday chatting and Thinking for deeper reasoning.
5.2 appears at first look to be running significantly faster and more effectively than 5.1. A reminder to use ‘Thinking’ mode wherever you can for better answers.
I’m more excited about what will be coming next from the OpenAI team – hopefully in early 2026. Their response to all their competitors catching up should drive some focus and exciting updates in the near future
What AI still cannot do for finance (yet)
With all this shiny new capability, it is tempting to think: “Can I just delegate some of my finance work to AI now?”
Short answer: no, not reliably.
Even with Gemini 3, Claude 4.5 and the latest Copilot reasoning modes, AI still cannot consistently produce accurate and reliable analysis.
What it can do exceptionally well is help you to optimise your own skills, processes, approaches and frameworks and save you time.
How do we make this stick for us?
Want to know more about how you can make all these tools work with your team? Get in touch about me running my most popular course – ‘Making AI a Daily habit’. At just 3 hours it packs a massive punch for the time and investment.
Two attendees last week said it was the best course they had EVER been on! Let me know if you’d like more details at my contact form (note my newsletter email doesn’t take replies!)
3. What type of finance leader are you?
As AI takes on more traditional finance work, your value won’t come from closing the books or producing reports. It will come from the problems you choose to solve and how you solve them.
A useful way to frame this is through four CFO types: Operational, Commercial, Strategic and Transformational (including AI). Most CFOs relate to more than one, but one or two will feel most natural. That is your unique selling point.
1. The Operational CFO
“I run the machine of finance.”
You focus on control, clarity and no surprises. But by 2026, this is entry-level. AI and automation are doing more of this work. Ask yourself: Are you mainly known for keeping the wheels turning, or do people come to you for more?
2. The Commercial CFO
“I live where the numbers meet the customer.”
You sit close to sales, marketing and product. You bring clarity to pricing, margin, segments and deals. Your USP is translating commercial noise into clear choices. AI can analyse the data but it can’t manage stakeholders or frame trade-offs. If this sounds like you, be clear: “I help the business make better commercial bets.”
3. The Strategic CFO
“I help decide where we are going and what we invest in.”
You focus on direction, capital allocation, exits, acquisitions and investor relations. Your USP is judgement. AI can model scenarios, but it can’t balance culture, timing, risk and stakeholder appetite. If this resonates, your line is: “I make sure our capital and focus follow our strategy.”
4. The Transformational CFO (including AI)
“I redesign how finance, and even the business, work.”
You rethink operating models, drive AI adoption, simplify systems and build future-fit teams. Your USP is turning transformation from a slide into something that sticks. If that is you, say: “I’m building a finance team that is AI-enabled, not AI-threatened.”
So what is your USP, really?
In 2026, being operational is the starting point. Your edge comes from how you build on that with commercial, strategic or transformational strengths.
To clarify your USP, ask yourself:
- What problems do I genuinely enjoy solving?
- What do people come to me for that others can’t offer?
- How do I talk about my value?
Instead of “I run finance”, try:
- “I help the business choose and execute the right growth bets”
- “I make sure every big decision has a clear financial storyline”
- “I’m building the finance team of the future”
Let me know if you want help refining this into your 2026 narrative.
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