• The classic path to CFO involves a stint at a Big 4 firm. It teaches rigor, structure, and communication.
• However, the "Audit Mindset" can also create blind spots around risk-taking and strategic agility.
• Successful leadership requires leveraging that structured foundation while unlearning the fear of ambiguity.
• Future CFOs might come from more diverse backgrounds as AI equalizes the technical accounting playing field.

Caitlin Haberberger started her career at Arthur Anderson, one of the original Big 5. She believes that experience was invaluable. "It's a very structured way to start your career," she notes. Beyond the technical debits and credits, audit teaches you "how to operate in an environment with certain expectations, how to show up, how to communicate."

This is the "foundation" that allows a CFO to function under pressure. You learn to handle feedback, manage deadlines, and navigate complex client relationships before you're even 25. For many, this crucible is what separates a Controller from a bookkeeper.

The Risk of Rigidity

However, there is a shadow side. Audit is about compliance, checking boxes, and following rules. Strategy is about breaking them. If a leader stays too long in the "Audit Mindset," they risk becoming a blocker rather than an enabler. They might view every innovation through the lens of "risk mitigation" rather than "opportunity creation."

Ashok Manthena wonders if AI will change this trajectory. "With AI now coming into play, we don't know how that's going to evolve." Perhaps future CFOs won't need 10 years of audit experience because AI will handle the compliance, freeing humans to focus on the business logic from Day 1.