Deloitte: What would you like to achieve as CFO during the coming 12 months?
Yvan Cardenas: This is a good one…. In the next 12 months, I want to continue growing as a CFO and as an executive manager. My focus is on being a strong manager for my teams, supporting their development, and fostering collaboration across the entire organisation. I also want to maintain a holistic view of the business, balancing financial performance with key areas like ESG and growth initiatives, to drive our company’s success.
Deloitte: How do you assess the potential of generative AI in the finance function, not least from the perspective of a shortage of labour?
Yvan Cardenas: I would like to insist on one aspect: while it’s essential for a CFO to recognise the trend towards AI in finance, it’s equally important to maintain a realistic view of where we stand today. The possibilities are vast, but the journey to widespread adoption will take time. In my opinion, actual implementation everywhere is still limited.
As the technology evolves and more organisations begin to realise its potential, we can expect to see broader and more impactful applications in finance. First of all, CFOs should ensure that sufficient capital expenditure is allocated to building robust data management systems, cloud computing resources and secure platforms. This is what we have been doing at Swissquote in the past 12 to 24 months. It required my personal involvement to understand the cost structure of this new infrastructure and to make sure that the design of the organisation around it was appropriate.
Today as a CFO, I try to stay informed, focus on understanding AI’s potential, and identify pilot opportunities (such as fraud detection). In addition to developing our infrastructure, the finance function needed to evolve and incorporate new resources with different profiles (such as data analysts and automation officers). It took us a bit of time to recognise this, but these new roles are essential for driving initiatives and ensuring that the finance team can utilise the potential of technology effectively.
Deloitte: How will the role of CFO change in the coming years?
Yvan Cardenas: In my opinion, CFOs are likely to see their influence expand beyond traditional financial boundaries. Increasingly they will collaborate with other departments, such as IT, HR and marketing. This expanded role requires CFOs to have a broader understanding of the business and the ability to think holistically. I should also mention that ESG factors are becoming more important to many stakeholders. In the coming years, companies will no longer be assessed solely on their financial performance, but increasingly on their non-financial performance as well. This is why CFOs will play a crucial role.
Deloitte: How do you think that interest rates will move in the coming 12 months, and impact financing conditions for your company?
Yvan Cardenas: I expect interest rates to fall over the next 12 months. It will likely impact our company’s profitability, and it presents an exciting challenge for me as CFO. My focus will be on preparing the organisation to adapt effectively, optimising our financial strategies to navigate these changes and seize new opportunities.
Yvan Cardenas
CFO Swissquote Group Holding Ltd «CFO of the Year», category Swiss Performance Index® (SPI®) without SMI Expanded®
Yvan Cardenas is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Swissquote Group Holding Ltd and Swissquote Bank Ltd, a role he has held since 2019. He has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from the University of Lausanne. He began his career at PwC, where he spent seven years specialising in audit in the field of financial services.
In 2010 he joined Swissquote. Over the past 14 years, he has developed both professionally and personally within the Group. His strategic financial leadership has been instrumental in expanding Swissquote's investor community, increasing analyst coverage of the Swissquote stock, and driving significant growth in profits, the total number of clients, and client assets.