Apple’s CFO Transition Underscores Evolving Role of Back-Office Leadership

It is the first Monday of 2025, and at least one thing is already different: Apple’s finance function. The world’s largest company, with a $3.27 trillion market cap, has a new CFO.

Kevan Parekh, formerly Apple’s vice president of financial planning and analysis, has officially replaced Luca Maestri at the helm of the biggest enterprise back office in existence, per a recent 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The news comes as Apple is approaching a $4 trillion valuation based on the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) effort, making, the stakes of selecting the right financial leader immense.

The move by the Cupertino giant underscores a broader trend in the evolving role of CFOs across industries.  As businesses confront a rapidly evolving, and uncertain, economic landscape defined by technological innovation, globalization, and rising stakeholder expectations, the finance department finds itself increasingly at a pivotal crossroads.

“Mr. Parekh joined Apple in June 2013 and assumed his current position in January 2025. Mr. Parekh’s previous positions at Apple include Vice President, Financial Planning and Analysis and Vice President, Finance for Sales, Marketing, and Retail. Prior to joining Apple, Mr. Parekh held various senior leadership roles at Thomson Reuters and General Motors,” Apple’s filing noted.

With Apple at the forefront of innovation and a leader in corporate governance, this transition offers a glimpse into the priorities and challenges shaping the CFO agenda for 2025 and beyond.

Apple’s former chief financial officer (CFO), Maestri, is expected to continue to lead Apple’s Corporate Services teams, including information systems and technology, information security, and real estate and development.

Read more: What Year-End CFO Moves Say About Finance Role’s Evolution

What Tops the Consideration Charts for CFOs

While Apple’s CFO transition is headline-worthy, it mirrors broader shifts in the role of CFOs across industries. Once viewed as a back-office function focused primarily on bookkeeping and compliance, finance is increasingly becoming a strategic partner tasked with driving growth, agility, and resilience.

PYMNTS talks to a lot of CFOs across industries, and as covered here earlier, among the five biggest trends reshaping both the finance function and its place at the table are the shift to real-time financial operations, the integration of AI and machine learning (ML) tools, the convergence of compliance and strategic growth, cybersecurity and risk management, and unlocking the role of payments innovations.

Apple operates in a global economy fraught with challenges, from inflationary pressures to geopolitical tensions. The CFO’s ability to navigate currency volatility, manage cost structures, and optimize global tax strategies will be paramount in 2025.

For CFOs at large enterprises, financial agility is equally key. This includes hedging against risks, maintaining liquidity to seize opportunities and leveraging data analytics to anticipate and mitigate macroeconomic disruptions. After all, the era of static financial reporting is fading. Businesses are moving toward real-time financial insights enabled by data analytics and integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

Read more: The Five Not-So-Obvious Things That Will Change The Digital Economy in 2025

The Back Office Revolution Is Underway

Apple’s own deepening investments in AI are no secret. From the integration of AI into its product ecosystem to its rumored ambitions in generative AI, the CFO’s role in managing these high-stakes bets is pivotal.

For other CFOs, AI investments require a balancing act between immediate R&D expenditures and long-term value creation. Strategic allocation of resources, evaluating ROI on nascent technologies, and aligning these investments with regulatory and ethical considerations are all critical components of the modern CFO’s playbook.

According to a PYMNTS Intelligence report, “Most CFOs See Limited ROI From GenAI, but Boost Its Investment,” 75% of CFOs plan to increase their AI investment.

Moreover, as AI becomes more pervasive, CFOs are uniquely positioned to leverage AI-driven analytics for internal efficiencies. From real-time financial forecasting to predictive supply chain management, the next-generation CFO must embrace AI not only as a product investment but also as a core operational tool.

Another PYMNTS Intelligence report, “Outlook 2025: CFOs Envision Growing Role for Generative AI in Finance,” finds CFOs are also adopting generative AI in finance for strategic and financial tasks. More than 60% of CFOs reported using GenAI for creating data visualizations and reports to help improve the clarity and accessibility of complex financial data.

“Incorporating data into the money flow will provide significant improvements for businesses,” Seamus Smith, executive vice president and group president at FIS, told PYMNTS. “Organizations that are early adopters and larger-scale consumers of new technology will accelerate ahead.”