Just Group CFO Mark Godson on AI, automation, and the future of finance

The role of CFO is no longer about just managing the books – it’s about driving strategic decisions, fostering innovation, and navigating change.

No one knows this better than Mark Godson, who has navigated the insurance sector across global markets, from EY to Swiss Re Group, and now guides the finance function as Group CFO at Just Group. In our interview, Mark explains how his finance team supports the company’s mission, using data-driven insights and strategic decision-making to help drive long-term success.
 

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Hi Mark, how is your finance team structured at Just?

My team is about 180 people. This includes about 150 people in classic finance roles such as reporting, actuarial, expense management, investment operations and finance systems. I also oversee some roles that aren’t strictly finance, including our lawyers, the company secretarial team, and investor relations.

Would you describe your organisation’s strategic objectives as more financially driven or value-focused?

We’re very value-focused at Just. The way we talk about the business and the way we make decisions all centres on our purpose: ‘helping people achieve a better later life.’ That core purpose is our biggest driver and is fundamental to how we operate as an organisation.

As the finance lead, what challenges are you currently facing?

Our main focus at the moment is continuing to achieve sustainable growth. As a growth business we want to grow revenues faster than costs. This means ensuring our processes aren’t overly dependent on manual effort and having systems that can scale with us. We’re achieving this through constantly automating, simplifying, and consolidating tasks so we can take on new work without continuously adding headcount.

How do you prioritise digital transformation across different areas of the business?

Each year we allocate a change budget for internal improvements. We then prioritise investments based on potential returns, cost savings and profitability.
 

Our change team helps track progress and benefits, making sure we’re focused on the right areas. We also have dedicated teams looking at future transformation opportunities. For example, we have a nascent AI hub exploring use cases in finance, and we’ve centralised expertise in certain technologies like Python to replace Excel.

In terms of skills, how are your teams embracing this transformation?

It’s a mix. Some people are fully embracing it, a few are resistant, and others are interested but don’t know where to start. Our approach is to demonstrate success through real use cases. We start small, prove that something works, then build on that. Once we have a few successful examples, confidence grows. People start to see that it’s doable, that their colleagues have done it, and they feel more comfortable getting involved. It’s about building familiarity and trust in the new tools.

Are some of your team stepping up to become specialists or is everyone being encouraged to embrace change?

In general, the goal is to embed skills across the team, rather than keeping them confined to specialists. For applications like Python, we want everyone to be able to use it just like Excel. That said, we also want to establish clear development standards to ensure consistency. I think the same will eventually be true for AI.
 

Right now, we’re further away from that, but I don’t see why AI shouldn’t become a tool that everyone in the organisation uses over time.

How are you using AI in the business?

Currently, we’re using it selectively, for example with admin, to help with document writing, and in our medical IP to analyse medical and mortality data so we can price our products effectively. Another area we’re investigating is using AI with our vulnerable customers, since most of our customers are over 70 and primarily communicate with us over the phone, we’re exploring whether AI can add value there.

Beyond that, there’s a huge amount we could do over the next five years, like using AI to support code development. There’s also a lot of potential in our contracting processes. When customers buy a product, it’s essentially a contract, so how do we reduce the manual intervention? It’s about ensuring the data we collect is reliable, using available sources, so we don’t have to keep going back to customers asking for documents like birth certificates.

And within the more traditional finance roles, have you seen a shift in skillsets over the last few years? And how do you plan for evolving skillsets?

We’re definitely seeing a need for more data, architecture, and engineering roles within the finance function. I wouldn’t say fewer traditional accountants or actuaries, but maybe not more. As we grow, the proportion of these traditional finance roles shrinks, even if the number stays the same.

In terms of forward planning, the way we think about our business is across three horizons: Horizon 1 is the next 12 months, Horizon 2 is the next 2-4 years, Horizon 3 is beyond that. We assess our workforce planning alongside technology and business plans, identifying skills we need to hire in the next 12 months versus ones we need to build over time. This helps us stay ahead of the game.

What about at exec level? Are you starting to see more specialism or have existing roles just evolved to cover more ground?

At the exec level, the roles themselves have been quite stable, it’s more about their responsibilities evolving rather than adding new positions. At the management level, we do see more specialisation. It’s an interesting dynamic. In smaller companies, people wear multiple hats. Someone in finance might also be arranging meetings and managing AGMs. As businesses grow, roles naturally become more specialised.

We’re at that stage where we’re starting to create more specialisms, and we’re asking ourselves: is this the right move? Does it add efficiency, or just bureaucracy? It raises the question, are we becoming too specialised for our size? It’s easy to identify new skills you need, but it’s much harder to recognise ones that have run their course.

What’s one essential skill finance teams should develop to keep up with their evolving roles?

Strong communication skills are becoming increasingly critical. While finance teams excel in technical expertise, they could be far more impactful if they had better communication – going beyond just presenting data to clearly conveying why it matters and creating a story around it. In a hybrid work environment, where face-to-face interactions are more limited, the ability to engage and persuade through effective communication has become more important than ever.
 

Learn more about the emerging role of the Chief Value Officer

Download the report Chief Value Officer - The Important Evolution of the CFO

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