🏠︎ | Past Sessions | From Data to Decisions Unlocking the Power of Finance Analytics
- Event: Finance Forum 25
- Date: 7 October 2025
- Speakers:
- Asif Ahmed, Managing Director, Cooper Parry Digital
- Noura Zein, Finance Manager, Worley
- Rajiv Chandra, Finance Director, Analytics and Value Creation, Virgin Media O2
- Estimated read time: 7-8 minutes
Quick summary
This session examined why many finance analytics programmes fail to change decisions, even when the data looks impressive.
The speakers agreed that the biggest blockers are not tools or dashboards, but trust, prioritisation, and clarity of purpose. Analytics only creates value when it is built backwards from business outcomes, translated into actions non finance leaders can execute, and supported by clean, consistent data.
They also highlighted a clear shift in the finance role. As automation and AI take on more transactional and analytical work, finance leaders must focus on storytelling, influence, and cross functional partnership, turning insight into decisions that move the business forward.
Data is an asset, and a liability
The discussion opened with a shared frustration. Most organisations collect vast amounts of data, but struggle to use it as a strategic asset.
Rajiv Chandra framed the core problem as a lack of intentionality. Businesses often focus on volume and sophistication without being clear about what they are trying to solve. Without that clarity, analytics becomes disconnected from outcomes.
The speakers returned repeatedly to the idea of working backwards. Instead of starting with tools or dashboards, finance teams need a precise understanding of the decisions the business is trying to make, then identify the minimum data required to support those decisions.
Noura Zein added a sharper warning. Data that cannot be trusted becomes a liability. If figures are inconsistent, late, or not actionable, leaders will either ignore them or fall back to manual workarounds.
“Data is our biggest asset, but also our biggest liability.” Noura Zein, Finance Manager, Worley
Trust is the foundation of finance analytics
Across different industries, the speakers described trust as the non negotiable foundation of effective finance analytics.
Noura outlined three conditions that determine whether data is usable. It must be consistent across the organisation, timely enough to influence decisions, and actionable, meaning it clearly points to what should happen next.
When any of these break down, finance teams spend their time reconciling rather than analysing. The result is slower decisions and declining confidence in insight.
Asif Ahmed connected this directly to growth and integration challenges. In acquisitive environments, poor data integration creates friction that slows down decision making and undermines future plans. When leaders cannot trust the numbers, progress feels like “walking through treacle”.
Dashboards should drive decisions, not decoration
The panel challenged the assumption that more metrics mean better insight.
Noura was clear that visually impressive dashboards often hide a lack of discipline. Measures that do not influence a decision do not belong on a leadership dashboard.
She compared effective dashboards to a cockpit. They should be uncluttered, focused, and designed to guide action, not overwhelm the user. In her view, five decision focused measures are more powerful than fifty static indicators.
Rajiv added an important distinction. Some metrics exist to support executive storytelling, while others exist to drive operational action. Finance analytics needs to serve both, but not confuse the two.
That requires ruthless prioritisation and a clear understanding of causality. Finance teams add value when they identify which levers genuinely shift performance, then help the business act on them.
From storytelling to action, where analytics earns its keep
One of the most practical parts of the discussion focused on translating analytics into operational change.
Rajiv shared examples where granular data enables better commercial outcomes. Tracking individual customer behaviour allows finance to challenge assumptions about lifetime value and commission structures. Telemetry data helps predict faults before customers complain, improving service while reducing costs.
At leadership level, the story may be about improved customer outcomes. Underneath, the real value comes from analytics that links operational changes to financial impact, such as understanding how reductions in call handling time affect EBITDA.
Finance’s role is to connect those dots and make the trade offs visible, working closely with data scientists, engineers, and operational teams to execute change.
Technology is not transformation
Despite extensive discussion of AI and analytics tools, the speakers were consistent on one point. Technology alone does not create transformation.
Rajiv stressed that tools are additive, not the solution. Without secure, clean data pipelines and clear outcomes, even advanced analytics will fail to deliver measurable value.
Noura reinforced this with a common failure pattern. Over engineered systems and heavy customisation erode trust. When users see inconsistent outputs, they revert to Excel, undoing the investment.
Her advice was to start small, build confidence in the data, and improve incrementally. Adoption matters as much as capability.
“If you have unclean data and a broken system, technology will magnify the problem.” Noura Zein, Finance Manager, Worley
Analytics only works when finance works cross functionally
A recurring theme was the danger of finance operating in isolation.
Noura described how organisations often allow sales, operations, and finance to work in parallel silos. In that model, finance becomes a scorekeeper rather than a partner.
To influence decisions, finance leaders must be part of the discussion early, understand business objectives, and communicate insight in a way non finance stakeholders care about. That requires relationships, context, and shared ownership of outcomes.
Asif echoed this through his experience integrating sales and finance data in private equity backed environments. When commercial and financial KPIs are discussed together, organisations make better implementation decisions and align faster.
The finance skillset is shifting towards influence
Looking ahead, the panel agreed that the finance role is changing rapidly.
Transactional processing and variance analysis will increasingly be automated. The value of finance professionals will come from interpretation, storytelling, and influence.
Rajiv described building teams that combine finance analysts with data scientists and engineers, focused on delivering end to end solutions rather than reports. Finance professionals do not need to become data scientists, but they do need to be data literate and able to ask better questions.
Noura emphasised influence as a critical future capability. Finance teams must be able to frame insight in a way that captures attention, shapes strategy, and drives decisions across the business.
What good looks like, practical actions for finance leaders
This session translated into clear, practical guidance for finance leaders seeking to unlock the power of finance analytics.
Questions to ask now- Which business decisions are our analytics actually supporting
- Where do leaders still distrust the numbers, and why
- Which metrics drive action, and which are legacy noise
- How early is finance involved in commercial discussions
- Are we investing in adoption, not just tools
- Leaders asking for insight and narrative, not just dashboards
- Fewer reconciliations and more time spent on analysis
- Cross functional teams using shared data sets
- Decisions being made faster with clearer trade offs
- Measurable outcomes linked to analytics investment
- Treating dashboards as an end point rather than a means
- Over engineering systems before trust is established
- Adding metrics instead of refining them
- Assuming AI will fix poor data discipline
- Allowing finance to remain a reporting function
What good looks like in practice
Effective finance analytics starts with clear outcomes, is built on trusted data, and is translated into actions the business can execute. Finance leaders act as connectors, linking operational detail to financial impact, and using insight to raise the quality and speed of decisions.
Conclusion, analytics is a leadership capability
The strongest message from this session was that analytics is not a technical problem to solve. It is a leadership capability to build.
Finance teams that unlock value do so by prioritising trust, focusing on decisions, and working across the business. As tools become more powerful, the differentiator will not be access to data, but the ability to turn that data into decisions that move the organisation forward.
Speakers
Managing Director, Cooper Parry Digital. Leads the firm’s digital consulting practice, supporting finance leaders with ERP, analytics, and transformation programmes.
Finance Manager, Worley. Strategic finance leader with over 20 years’ experience in FP&A and business transformation, bringing a human centred approach to leadership.
Finance Director, Analytics and Value Creation, Virgin Media O2. Finance transformation leader specialising in advanced analytics, AI, and data driven value creation.