The Architect of Financial Resilience
Akash Ohri
CFO
Hamon Cooling Systems Private Limited
When volatility becomes the baseline rather than the exception, the mandate of the CFO expands far beyond financial stewardship. Inflation shocks, geopolitical tensions, supply chain realignments, regulatory expansion, and AI-led disruption are constantly reshaping financial assumptions and strategic priorities. In such an environment, finance leaders must anticipate change and guide organisations through uncertainty. For Akash Ohri, CFO at Hamon Cooling Systems Private Limited, this evolving reality has been an opportunity to reposition finance as a strategic nerve centre of the enterprise.
With over 28 years of financial leadership experience, Ohri has built his career on transforming uncertainty into strategic direction. He believes volatility today is structural and constant, requiring greater agility from finance leaders. The modern CFO’s role, he says, extends beyond explaining past performance to interpreting real-time data signals, conducting scenario-based forecasting, and dynamically allocating capital to support forward-looking strategy.
His expertise spans financial planning, forecasting, regulatory compliance, risk management, and governance, enabling organisations to maintain financial discipline while unlocking sustainable growth.
In this exclusive interview with TradeFlock, Ohri shares his insights on how finance leaders can harness data intelligence, translate financial complexity into strategic clarity, and navigate an increasingly unpredictable business landscape.
How do you balance financial planning, compliance, and forecasting to ensure growth and risk control?
Today, finance cannot operate in silos; it must function as a tightly connected value system. It begins with strategy, and budgets must clearly reflect strategic priorities. Increasingly, traditional annual static budgets are being replaced by rolling forecasts and stress-tested financial models that factor in variables such as interest rates, commodity exposure, and demand fluctuations. Capital allocation, in turn, is directed toward high-IRR opportunities that are strategically defensible.
Equally important is embedding compliance within system design rather than treating it as an afterthought. Technology plays a critical role here. Real-time dashboards that link revenue drivers, cost behaviour, working capital, and risk indicators enable finance to act as a true decision engine. Ultimately, governance should accelerate decisions, not delay them. A well-designed financial system builds stakeholder confidence—and confidence enables the speed organisations need today.
What is your approach to risk management amid geopolitical uncertainty and rapid market shifts?
Risk is no longer an event; it is the environment in which businesses operate. Geopolitical uncertainty, regulatory shifts, supply chain fragmentation, currency volatility, and technological disruption are no longer episodic shocks but structural realities. In such a landscape, risk management cannot remain reactive; it must be embedded into the DNA of financial strategy.
Traditional risk registers alone are no longer sufficient in an interconnected global economy. They must be complemented by scenario engineering like modelling extreme yet plausible disruptions through base, downside, severe stress, and opportunity scenarios. This approach allows leadership and boards to evaluate a range of potential outcomes rather than relying on a single-point forecast.
Across crises, from global recessions to pandemics, one lesson consistently emerges: cash buys time, time buys options, and options preserve value. Strong working capital discipline, diversified funding sources, prudent leverage, and dynamic hedging strategies are therefore not merely defensive measures but strategic necessities.
Beyond frameworks and models, resilience must also be cultural. Risk management cannot reside solely within finance; it must be embedded across procurement, operations, and commercial functions. Ultimately, the CFO’s role is not just to manage risk but to design endurance into the financial architecture of the enterprise.
What challenges do you face in strengthening financial reporting, internal controls, and audits while maintaining transparency and quick decision-making?
Complexity is the greatest challenge for finance leaders today. Organisations operate across multiple regulatory environments, digital transaction ecosystems, evolving ESG disclosure frameworks, and rising cyber risks. In this landscape, CFOs face increasing pressure to strengthen financial reporting, internal controls, and audit processes while maintaining efficiency.
Automation has therefore become a priority wherever possible, helping reduce manual dependency and minimise error risks. System-driven reconciliations and real-time monitoring enable finance teams to maintain stronger oversight and improve reporting reliability.
At the same time, not every control requires the same level of intensity. A risk-based internal control approach is essential, where material risk areas receive deeper scrutiny while lower-risk processes are streamlined to avoid slowing decisions. Ultimately, transparency is about delivering clearer insights through reliable reporting. Such clarity builds stakeholder confidence, and confidence enables faster, more effective decision-making.
What qualities should modern finance talent possess, and how can organisations nurture them?
The talent equation in finance has shifted significantly. The function is not facing a talent shortage as much as a relevance gap. Today’s finance professionals must evolve from technical specialists into strategic value creators. While strong accounting fundamentals remain essential, modern finance talent must also be data-fluent, digitally capable, commercially aware, and ethically grounded in uncertain environments.
Organisations can nurture this shift through cross-functional exposure, analytics training, and mentorship. Encouraging controlled risk-taking and broader business engagement helps finance teams move beyond traditional roles as number custodians.
Adaptability is perhaps the most critical trait today, as regulations evolve, technology advances, and markets shift rapidly. Learning agility now matters more than narrow technical expertise. Finance must speak the language of business and not just debits and credits. Ultimately, the CFO’s responsibility extends beyond managing capital to building capability, the most compounding asset any organisation can possess.
