Transformation is now a constant in business rather than a one-time exercise. Yet most companies still regard it as an initiative driven exclusively by a Chief Transformation Officer (CTO). And the result? Low success rates.
BCG’s 2025 research indicates that almost 70% of transformation efforts are successfully implemented when the CTO closely collaborates with the CFO and the CSO. This alignment strikes a responsible balance among financial discipline, strategic clarity, and execution excellence, the three elements organizations lack when transformations stall or collapse.
To put it differently, transformation is not merely about changing; rather, it is about changing simultaneously in finance, strategy, and operations. That’s where the trifecta of CFO-CSO-CTO becomes extremely useful.
The CFO: Guarding Financial Discipline
All transformations carry big aspirations, digital transformations, market penetration, process reengineering, but the house of cards falls down without the rhythm of financial discipline. This is where the CFO enters the picture.
The role of the CFO is to balance perspective on the transformative initiative with financial realities and viability. The Chief Financial Officer has been the guardrail for cost winners and losers by prioritizing investments and monitoring ROI.
This is borne out in the evidence: McKinsey reports that “companies with a CFO in the driver’s seat are 30% more likely to meet their transformation programme budgets.” CFOs help fulfill that task by imbuing the idea process with sufficient financial rigor so that bold ideas do not fall prey to reckless spending sprees.
Essentially, the CFO translates: “Can we afford this, and is it worth it?”, grounding transformation in fiscal reality. Without them, efforts at change drive off route.
The CSO: Providing Strategic Clarity
Transformation efforts frequently fail not necessarily because the initiative itself was poorly implemented, but because the organization lacks a sense of why it is transforming in the first place. It’s here that the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) plays a vital role.
The CSO is the “north star,” making sure that every transformation effort is tied to the long-term vision and competitive positioning of the company. Without this discernment, companies are shooting arrows in the air or pouring resources into initiatives that do not further their central goals.
To put this in perspective, PwC found that approximately 70% of transformation initiatives that did not succeed fell victim to reasons related to misalignment of strategy. The CSO avoids this by translating strategy into practical roadmaps for transformation so that the organization does not confuse activity with progress.
Rooting transformation in the larger strategic story enables the CSO to guide organizations not just to transform, but to transform in the right way.
The CTO: Driving Execution and Change Management
The Chief Transformation Officer is the engine of transformation, making the vision a measurable reality. The CFO keeps the financial house in order, and the CSO sets the strategic guidelines, but the person who ensures the transformation actually occurs is the CTO.
CTOs do two things: execute and adopt. Execution is taking plans and turning them into actionable programs with milestones, KPIs, and accountability. Adoption means ensuring that transformation ultimately leads to new, and often challenging, ways of working that people accept rather than reverting to old habits.
The evidence for this is compelling: Bain & Company found that organizations where transformation leadership was effective were able to maintain performance improvements for twice as long as those without it. In practice, this means creating ways of measuring progress, adjusting and iterating systems as necessary, and institutionalizing change within the culture.
In short, the CTO prevents transformation from becoming a one-off initiative. Instead, it becomes an organizational capability that can be called upon repeatedly in an age of perpetual disruption.
The Power of Alignment: Why the Trio Works Together
Transformative change doesn’t happen through isolated leadership. While each role is important on its own, the real impact emerges when the CFO, CSO, and CTO work together as a collaborative trio. This alignment removes silos, accelerates decisions, and ensures that financial, resource, strategy, and execution disciplines are all moving in the same direction.
When aligned, each leader strengthens the other. The CFO contributes essential financial guardrails through budget discipline and ROI tracking. Without alignment, organizations face cost overruns and underfunded priorities. With alignment, they gain sustainable funding and clear ROI.
The CSO adds strategic clarity by defining the “north star” and setting a clear roadmap. When this role operates without alignment, initiatives become scattered and goals lose direction. With alignment, the enterprise gains a unified direction and sharper, more focused priorities.
The CTO acts as the execution engine, overseeing KPIs, adoption, and culture shift. Without alignment, projects stall and adoption falls behind. With alignment, outcomes become measurable and change becomes sustainable.
The BCG statistic, that success rates increase by around 70% when this trio works cohesively, highlights the multiplicative power of this partnership. Together, they create an ecosystem where strategy is pragmatic, funding is reasonable, and execution consistently delivers results.
Practical Steps for Leaders
Creating alignment between the CFO, CSO, and CTO does not happen by itself; there needs to be specific structures and routines to help this. Leaders can support this alignment with a few practical steps:
- Establish Joint Steering Committees
Build regular platforms for the CFO, CSO, and CTO to jointly discuss the status of transformation. This ensures that financial, strategic, and operational viewpoints are integrated before a decision is made.
- Adopt a Shared Transformation Scorecard
Measure factors that cover the spectrum of finance (return on investment, cost reductions), strategy (revenue growth, market position), and execution (KPIs as planned, user adoption). It holds all leaders accountable to the same outcomes through a single dashboard.
- Co-Own Transformation Narratives
Integrate messages to employees and stakeholders rather than decoupling them. A consistent story helps build trust and reinforces the point that this is a shared priority of leadership, that transformation is a collective concern.
- Case in Point
One global manufacturing company that adopted this model of the trio leading the charge reported a 15% increase in ROI from their transformation efforts in two years compared to their previously siloed transformation efforts. When these practices are made part of the institutions, fit is no longer about a specific personality but about having a designed system.
Conclusion: Transformation as a Leadership System
The key to success in transformation is not just having great ideas or new technology; rather, it is having leadership alignment. When the CFO, CSO, and CTO all work in concert within the organization, they provide the financial savvy, strategic vision, and ability to execute the strategy to make your dreams a reality.
At Inobal, we enable organizations to build transformation playbooks that are integrated with finance, strategy, and execution from inception. When leaders move in the same direction, transformation is not only successful but also lasting.
