Forbes Feature - How Finance Leaders Can Drive Cross-Functional Change
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Digital transformation in the finance industry is as much about people as it is about technology. Managing cross-functional teams through this process requires aligning priorities, overcoming resistance and ensuring every stakeholder understands the value of change.
Without strong leadership to align strategy and communication, even the most advanced tools can fail to deliver meaningful results. Below, members of Forbes Finance Council share the biggest leadership lessons they've learned from guiding cross-functional teams through digital transformation and how those lessons continue to shape their approach today.
1. Fixing Infrastructure To Unlock Team Performance
Infrastructure is culture. Leading cross-functional digital transformation taught me that vision isn’t enough. If ops, tech, compliance and service teams are fighting broken tools and batch processes, that’s not a people problem; it’s an infrastructure problem. Give teams real-time data and automated workflows, and they stop firefighting and start building together. - Bill Capuzzi, Apex Fintech Solutions
2. Clarifying The 'Why' And Decision Ownership Early
It’s important to articulate the "why" early and often so that teams are anchored. Transformation can go sideways when teams align on the goal, but not the outcome, and they lack a clear, accountable decision-maker. High-performing teams know who the key stakeholders are and who is ultimately making decisions. - Cody Banks, Velera
3. Prioritizing People Over Technology Adoption
Digital transformation is about leading people through change. The technology and transformation will only be as successful as the people’s ability to accept and implement change. Involve those with hands-on keys and those who interact with products and customers as early and as often as possible, and ensure they very clearly see the value and take ownership of the transformation to ensure success. - Shannon Power, Shabrae Strategic Advisors
4. Aligning Incentives, Language And Goals Across Teams
My biggest lesson is that transformation is more human than technical. Progress stalls when teams don’t share context or trust. The real work is aligning incentives, language and goals across functions so technology becomes an enabler of better decisions, not another layer of complexity. The key to success is sustained, transparent communication that keeps everyone anchored to the same outcomes. - Marthin De Beer, BrightPlan
5. Understanding The Full Digital Ecosystem
Everyone must be aligned on the company’s digital landscape—how systems integrate internally and externally to communicate, decide and execute efficiently. Digital transformation didn’t start yesterday; we’re now in a hyper-accelerated phase with AI and global reach. The best leaders adapt fast and lead through it. - Caroline Farah Lembck, LemVega Capital
6. Building Systems That Continuously Improve Outcomes
AI, automation, cloud platforms and emerging quantum capabilities don’t deliver impact in isolation. The real unlock comes from designing flywheel distribution models—systems where better data fuels smarter models, smarter models drive better decisions and those decisions generate outcomes that continuously strengthen the system. - Jacob D. Frankel, Beyond Alpha Ventures L.L.C.
7. Creating Shared Visibility Across Departments
Transformation requires uniting teams around a central mission and making sure we all have visibility into each department’s contributions. For us, that means monthly cross-functional meetings where each team shares their roadmaps and plans so we all see how their work connects to our goals. Those meetings help make transformation a shared vision instead of a mandate. - JB Orecchia, SavvyMoney
8. Starting With Small Wins To Build Momentum
The biggest leadership lesson from managing cross-functional teams through digital transformation is that it's best to begin with use cases where "wins" can be accomplished to encourage team members to ask for more. The benefits must be tangible, such as additional revenue, reduced cost or improved productivity. Broad pronouncements about digital transformation are not effective. - Kevin Cohee, OneUnited Bank
9. Earning Trust By Solving Real Pain Points First
Everyone wants transformation overnight, but it's a moving target; you don't just do it for a year, and you're done. Meet people where they are. Don't lead with, "Here's new software." Lead with, "What's eating your time?" Remove the pain first, earn the trust and then adoption follows. Nobody changes their workflow because the CFO told them to. You need to show why it matters to their day. - Mike Whitmire, FloQast
10. Focusing On Adoption Over Implementation
The biggest challenge in digital transformation is adoption, not implementation. When teams resist change, the cost shows up fast—in wasted time, people effort and underutilized technology. Finance has to champion adoption because we see the full cost of partial change and the value of getting it right. - Cynthia Hemingway, Fourlane, Inc.
11. Leading With Outcomes, Not Just Tools
Digital transformation isn’t a technology project–it’s a leadership test. You have to align teams on outcomes first, then stay close to the work to remove friction and stay curious about what’s not working. At our company, closing the gap between what advisors and investors expect and what the industry delivers requires clarity, humility and a commitment to learning as we modernize the platform. - Lou Maiuri, AssetMark
12. Demonstrating Value Before Driving Change
Digital transformation doesn't occur overnight. Employees tend to resist change, especially when something seems to be working. Demonstrating the value, security, necessity and efficiency of new technological processes needs to begin before implementation. - Brian Krogol, Standard Premium Finance (SPFX)
13. Aligning Regulation, Finance And Technology Early
Digital transformation in finance isn’t a technology challenge—it’s a mindset challenge. My biggest lesson has been that regulation, finance and technology teams must work as one from day one. When those areas move separately, projects stall. When they align around execution and trust, innovation moves fast and safely into real markets. - Hector Torres, TR Capital
14. Unifying Incentives Before Aligning Systems
My biggest leadership lesson is this: Align incentives before you align systems. Cross-functional teams do not struggle because of technology. They struggle because compensation, KPIs and accountability are pulling in different directions. If you do not unify what success looks like, departments will quietly protect their turf. Strong leadership exposes misalignment first. - Karla Dennis, KDA Inc.
15. Addressing Decision Rights And Power Shifts
Alignment fails when people think the project is about technology instead of decision rights. Digital transformation only works once teams know what decisions move to systems, what decisions stay human and who loses control. Resistance isn’t about tools. It’s about perceived loss of authority, relevance or risk. Address power shifts early, and execution speeds up. Ignore them, and the tech stalls. - Anatoly Iofe, IceBridge Financial Group, LLC
16. Making Bold Decisions With Unified Leadership Support
My biggest lesson is being bold enough to make hard calls. I automated processes that eliminated roles—uncomfortable but necessary. The key was securing cross-functional leader alignment upfront: Everyone understood the rationale, agreed on the approach and supported it publicly. Without boldness and unified leadership, transformation stalls. Progress requires tough decisions. - Pallav Sharma, EvoluteIQ Inc
17. Turning Resistance Into Strategic Input
Identify the most resistant member of your team. Do not force them to learn "how." Ask them to help you define the "why." Make them the historians of the future, charging them with teaching the AI what it cannot know: the nuance of human judgment. - Elie Nour, NOUR PRIVATE WEALTH
18. Measuring Success Through Tangible Productivity Gains
A critical leadership lesson is that adoption and measurable value are critical. Most often, new technology initially slows teams down; therefore, unless it delivers a meaningful 20% and productivity gain, it’s likely not worth the disruption. As a leader, we need to prioritize adoption and outcomes over novelty. - Leo Anzoleaga, Leo Anzoleaga Group at Luminate Bank
19. Redesigning End-To-End Workflows, Not Just Features
The biggest lesson: Map interdependencies before you map features. In finance, one workflow touches risk models, controls, reporting and customer experience. If you digitize a step without redesigning upstream and downstream handoffs, you just automate friction. Cross-functional wins come from redesigning the end-to-end value chain—not upgrading isolated tools. - Achal Singi, WestBridge Capital
20. Staying Humble And Adapting Through Feedback
The biggest lesson was humility. I've been wrong about what teams needed, what would work and what people were ready for. Digital transformation taught me to prototype, get feedback and adjust—not to assume I had all the answers upfront. The leaders who struggle most are those who can't admit their first plan wasn't perfect. - Gary Allen, LeanLaw
