Matthias Grass will present at the CFO Executive Summit in Prague on April 26-27. Get to know Matthias a bit through our 3 questions.

What do you expect from the CFO Executive Summit?

This is a great opportunity for me to network with other CFOs and Finance professionals and to discuss the challenges and solutions that my peers are facing. I am also interested in hearing more on the latest trends in key Finance matters. I am new to CEE region, so am particularly keen to learn more about the market here, its trajectory, tendencies, and opportunities.

What are people talking about in the industry, what are the main topics?

I would argue there are 4 hot-topic categories– 1) People & talent for “Finance of the Future”, 2) Technology/digitization in Finance such as smart visualization, blockchain, robotics etc 3) Technical topics in Accounting, Tax and Regulatory matters, not least new US and OECD tax and transfer pricing rules, and 4) areas where Finance can drive the company’s performance, e.g. in cost management. All are equally important. With respect to Swiss Re, one of our key areas of focus is achieving the right cost level by leveraging superb cost transparency across the managerial and legal entity perspective. This requires work on all of the 4 dimensions I’ve mentioned.

Who do you want to meet at the CFO Executive Summit?

I am keen to meet CFOs and Finance professionals from both my own industry banking and insurance but also from non-financial services companies in order to get a broad set of perspectives on the nature and practice of our industry.