India, April 13 -- Earlier this year, I visited with Gina Mastanuono, CFO at ServiceNow, which provides a cloud platform that helps companies manage digital workflows. As a former CIO, I recounted my early experiences to her about CFOs who were skeptical of new IT projects, and whose objections were a constant presence in budget funding meetings.

Mastanuono laughed. "That's so old school!"

"Today, CFOs roles have changed significantly," she said. "As CFOs, we recognize that we can't just live in the financial world. We must be business strategists, capable of leading our organizations through a crisis like COVID, but also understanding how we will come out strong on the other side by strategically supporting innovation."

It was a breat...