Around 100 CFOs had a chance to network and be inspired by various speakers at the CFO Live conference at Grand Hotel in Stockholm a week ago.

The main theme was Digitalization- threats and possibilities.

The moderator, Dennis Lodin, guided us through the day professionally and got speakers from Danske Bank, PwC, SAS Institute, Forefront and Collector Bank to present concrete examples on how to work in the ongoing digitalization. Dennis did a live survey during the conference and the data from the participants reflects the notion that most of them have started the digital journey. The survey showed low figures regarding the journey about IoT (Internet of things), however.

I really liked the use of the live survey tool - the use of trusted data made the conference even more interesting.

“Start use data-driven business today if you have not already started” Magnus Lenngren, Collector Bank, said. “Do not throw your data away. It doesn´t matter how you stored it. Only that you store it and then use and trust the data,” Magnus continued.

Fredrik Holmgren, SAS Institute, answered the big quesstion: "What is IoT, The Internet of Things"? He gave concrete examples of the advantage of IoT and what it means for multiple SAS customers around the world. “The CFOs are the people that should be proactive and take the initiative so that IoT can begin to take shape within their organizations. All of you have access to all valuable data,” concluded Fredrik.

To get a deeper understanding I recommend you to read the whitepaper "IoT Analytics in Practice".

Final words from the moderator: “In the transformation journey it is not necessary to involve IT. The team will create the success, not the individuals. The customization concept has come to stay and will become a natural part of digitalization.”

This was the 7th time CFO Live took place and it was a really good event. The gut feeling is that next year over 200 people will participate. But best is to trust available data - and judging from that about 100 participants will join the event next year.

I'm looking forward to the next CFO Live and don´t hesitate to reach out to me for any questions or further dialogue.