Rouv Bergmann has been the financial director of Dassault Systems since January 2022. A software company, Dassault Systems is also active in the CAC 40 index of first -rate French actions. It is a unit of the Dassault group, which has titles in aeronautics, high -tech, digital and communications.
Global finance:: Since you joined Dasault Systems, what was the most difficult period and why?
Rouv Bergmann: The balance between long -term and short -term management is always the greatest struggle for the CFO. You must create the capacity to invest in the long term, but you must also manage the trimester of performance at quarter. Certainly, 2024 was a difficult year, due to volatility in the final markets. There was a lot of geopolitical instability in the world and in Europe. Think of the European elections and uncertainty in France. It was really a front wind in terms of decision -making cycles.
The time of decision -making becomes a little less predictable for our customers. It is not that they decide against us or for competition – this is not the case. We gain competition market share. But managing the cycle of transactions and offers has really become something more difficult to predict.
To give you an example, we signed a strategic agreement with Volkswagen in December of last year; The first discussion started two years ago.
GF: What is the impact of the new American tariff policy?
Bergmann: Obviously, 2025, with the situation that the American administration started with prices, creates a lot of uncertainty for our customers. Now they have to invest and adapt to the new world. I am not worried about our future, but that is sure, there could be volatility and short -term noise.
GF: There is a kind of academic debate on how the role of the CFO has changed: becoming more an ally and a trading partner of the CEO and less accounting. What do you think?
Bergmann: I have participated in this role for 10 years in different companies. For me, I don’t think it has changed. I think there are three types of financial directors. There is more than one accountant, who comes from the audit function, who, I think, is more on the conformity and the implementation of standards but which has less commercial interaction. Then, there is the financial director who comes from an investment bank, who is more on the capital and markets and communication of investors. And then there is the operational CFO, which is deeply linked to the company’s value creation cycle. I think that today you should find the right mixture of the three.
GF: What do you suggest to someone who is young and who wants to become a corporate financial director?
Bergmann: Win as much experience as possible with a business, in and out of finance. The role of the CFO is much more than finance; You must understand the financial function, but also understand how the company works.
For example, when I was already at a very senior level in a software company, I left finance and worked as coo leader in product development. It was a role that was a combination of operational planning and financial planning. I had to find the right mixture of resource resources, maintain and optimize what exists, while freeing sufficient capacity to develop new products.
At the same time, we all know that there are resources for resources. You cannot hire as many people as you want, so you really have to find productivity, move people and create this flexibility in your workforce. The company I made was one of the largest software companies in the world. There were 20,000 engineers in the development of software. So, I really learned the operational part of the company, and now I can combine this with finance.