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Cowen Partners in CFO Brew: The “CFO Time Bomb” and the Pipeline Crisis Ahead
CFO Brew opened its latest piece on the future of the finance function with a warning from Shawn Cole, President of Cowen Partners Executive Search: a serious crisis is building in the C-suite pipeline, and there simply aren’t enough Gen X and millennial leaders coming up to fill the seats.
In the article “The CFO pipeline won’t build itself,” writer Demi Lawrence explores why the office of the CFO is especially exposed, and leans on Cowen Partners’ own research to frame the stakes.
Our survey of 50 S&P 500 companies and the ages of their CEOs and CFOs found that a quarter of those CFOs are within five years of retirement, a finding the piece calls “the CFO time bomb.”
As Shawn’s research puts it, when the CEO and CFO roles hit retirement at the same time, a company isn’t running two separate searches. It risks losing its entire internal succession architecture in a single transition window.
The article pairs that data with a second problem: the CFO job itself has outgrown the old pipeline. The role has shifted from closing the books and reporting to operating strategically across go-to-market, capital allocation, AI, and technology, skills no one picks up in a single promotion.
The experts agree the fix has to start early, rotating future finance leaders through FP&A, treasury, investor relations, and corporate development, and getting them board exposure years before they’d ever take the seat, because succession is a three-to-five-year development process, not a six-month scramble.
Read the full article in CFO Brew.
About CFO Brew
CFO Brew is a leading digital publication from Morning Brew Inc. that serves chief financial officers and finance professionals with essential news and insights on risk management, compliance, strategy, talent management, and corporate finance trends.
Through its daily newsletter, virtual events, digital guides, and in-depth resources, CFO Brew delivers timely analysis and practical guidance that helps finance leaders navigate the complexities of their evolving roles. The publication covers everything from SEC regulatory changes and treasury operations to AI adoption in finance and executive compensation trends, making it a trusted resource for CFOs and senior finance executives seeking to stay ahead of industry developments.
About Cowen Partners Executive Search
Cowen Partners Executive Search is a leading national executive search firm, known for placing world-class C-suite leaders, board members, and senior executives across industries.
Specializing in finding and recruiting top talent, we provide clients with comprehensive access to the executive marketplace, ensuring that each search is tailored to the unique needs of the organization. Our clients benefit from a proven track record of delivering high-impact leaders who drive growth, innovation, and performance.
At Cowen Partners Executive Search, we go beyond traditional executive search by offering strategic insights and expertise that help companies build high-performing teams and navigate complex market challenges.
Whether it’s sourcing transformative CEOs, CFOs, or board directors, we are committed to excellence, transparency, and results-driven solutions, making us the trusted partner for businesses looking to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.
About Shawn Cole, President & Cofounder
Shawn Cole is a serial entrepreneur and executive leader with over 15 years’ experience founding and running successful companies. Shawn’s business career has been centered on value creation for both turnarounds and startups.
Shawn is President and Co-Founder of Cowen Partners Executive Search, a national CFO executive search firm focused on the key elements of a successful business: sales, marketing, and finance. Business clients across the country trust Cowen Partners Executive Search to take their companies to the next level by finding them executive talent, such as a CEO, CFO, COO, Chief Revenue Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer. Clients are both small and large, publicly traded, pre-IPO, private, and non-profit organizations.
An active participant in the business community and startup space, Shawn Co-Chairs The Cowen Partners Venture Fund, which provides seed funding and early-stage investments, focusing on market disruptors in niche markets, community businesses, and minority entrepreneurs.
Shawn attended Oregon State University’s College of Business Austin Entrepreneurship Program and participated in a first-of-its-kind experiential entrepreneurship experiment at Weatherford Hall. He was also a Founding Member and President of Oregon State University’s Students in Free Enterprise, an international non-profit organization working with university students who want to positively change their communities and learn practical knowledge to become socially responsible business leaders.
At the age of 16, Shawn became a volunteer firefighter and EMT, eventually founding and managing a half-marathon to raise funds for the community. To date, he has raised over one million dollars benefiting the community.
As trailblazing leaders in executive search, Cowen Partners Executive Search is also an innovator that routinely develops groundbreaking resources to empower better insights, decisions, and understandings of what it takes to recruit and retain top talent in today’s C-suites. Explore some of our elite resources below to see why Cowen Partners Executive Search continues to be a top executive search firm nationwide.
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