Event Recap: Cowen Partners Attends Hunt Scanlon’s CFO Recruiting Summit in Chicago
Cowen Partners Executive Search was proud to sponsor and attend Hunt Scanlon Media’s CFO Recruiting Summit, “Beyond the Balance Sheet: Executing Growth and Value Creation,” at The Ritz-Carlton Chicago. The full-day event convened 250 CHROs, chief talent officers, CFOs, executive recruiters, and finance professionals to explore how the Office of the CFO is undergoing a fundamental transformation from financial stewardship to enterprise-wide strategic leadership.
As Chicago-based executive recruiters with deep roots in the city’s finance and business community, Cowen Partners Executive Search was honored to participate in this important conversation about the future of CFO leadership alongside industry luminaries including Brian West (former CFO of Boeing), Blythe McGarvie (Lead Independent Director at Apple Hospitality REIT and Wawa, former CFO of Société BIC), and Jillian Evanko (CEO of Duravant).
Key Takeaways from the Summit:
The CFO Role is Becoming the CEO Pipeline
Multiple sessions reinforced that today’s CFO organizations are evolving into enterprise-wide strategic engines. As the CFO role increasingly serves as a pathway to the CEO seat, boards are reassessing what true leadership readiness looks like—moving beyond technical financial expertise to evaluate capabilities across capital allocation, risk oversight, transformation initiatives, and governance.
From Scorekeeper to Value Driver
The transformation from “chief scorekeeper” to strategic architect was a recurring theme. Speakers emphasized that CFOs are no longer just reporting results—they’re actively influencing strategy, performance, and value creation at the highest levels. This shift requires leadership, judgment, and enterprise-wide decision-making capabilities that extend well beyond the finance function.
PE-Backed CFOs Face Unique Pressures
The summit explored how CFOs in private equity environments drive value throughout the investment lifecycle, from early-stage transformation to exit. Compensation structures, hold period realities, and the balance between equity upside and guaranteed cash were examined in depth—themes that align closely with the market dynamics Cowen Partners navigates daily in CFO placements.
Succession Planning Can’t Wait
Building the CFO bench emerged as a critical strategic priority. Organizations are being challenged to develop leadership pipelines now—not when transitions become urgent—and to balance internal development with external hiring to ensure depth and continuity across finance organizations.
AI Fluency is Now Table Stakes
Across multiple panels, AI literacy for finance leaders was highlighted not as a future requirement but as a current expectation. CFOs and their teams are being asked to understand how AI can transform financial planning, reporting, and decision-making processes.
Chicago’s Role in Finance Leadership
As a executive recruiters with strong presence in Chicago, Cowen Partners Executive Search recognizes the city’s position as a critical hub for finance talent and CFO leadership. Chicago’s concentration of Fortune 500 headquarters, private equity firms, and middle-market companies creates a dynamic environment where CFO roles are both highly competitive and strategically essential. Events like Hunt Scanlon’s summit reinforce Chicago’s standing as a center of gravity for finance executive talent and thought leadership.
ABOUT HUNT SCANLON MEDIA
Hunt Scanlon Media’s global news network is the most comprehensive in the talent management field. All of our lead stories, rankings tables, news alerts, and thought leadership articles provide the latest thinking in a sector that is highly evolving and in transition. Our editorial team covers news nationally and globally, originating exclusive news briefings each day that provide up-to-the-minute coverage of the entire talent management and leadership solutions sector.
Today, Hunt Scanlon Media interfaces daily with more than 365,000 human capital professionals in over 181 countries — from CHROs, chief talent officers, talent acquisition specialists, company directors, and top decision-makers in finance, IT, sales, and marketing, to the more than 15,000 global executive search consultants who service them.
About Cowen Partners Executive Search
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