CFO Corner: Steffen Baetjer, Fielmann Group
Fielmann Group CFO Steffen Baetjer discusses global expansion, building scalable finance operations, margin management, and the business impact of AI. The post CFO Corner: Steffen Baetjer, Fielmann Group appeared first on Global Finance Magazine .
In the September 2026 issue of Global Finance Magazine, an article features Steffen Baetjer, the CFO of Fielmann Group, who joined the company in 2023. With a background as a strategy consultant at McKinsey and CFO at several private equity-backed companies, Baetjer is spearheading the global expansion of the eye-care services and hearing aid provider.
According to Baetjer, his most significant achievement since taking the helm at Fielmann is transforming the finance organization to support the company's international and complex business landscape. This transformation involved modernizing finance structures, upskilling people, and implementing new processes and technologies to become an integrated global finance function.
The goal was to create an organization that could support Fielmann's international business across diverse markets, systems, and regulatory environments, while still delivering on the core CFO objectives of cost control and process acceleration.
Baetjer's primary focus is on building organizations, processes, and capabilities that enable finance to help the business make better decisions and drive growth. This includes creating a unified finance organization across all countries, focusing on business development to enhance decision-making and strategic alignment, and investing in talent development to ensure the finance team is equipped to handle the organization's growth.
For Baetjer, having a strong team is paramount, as it is the foundation upon which all other aspects of leadership can be built. He enjoys witnessing teams grow, overcome challenges, and take on increased responsibility, which fosters a sense of accomplishment and drives the organization forward.
Regarding the impact of AI on his work, Baetjer views it as a valuable tool for enabling better decision-making, rather than a means of replacing human roles. The real value of AI lies in its ability to support decision-making by providing faster data analysis and identifying patterns, which in turn amplifies the impact of human effort. Baetjer believes AI's true potential lies in augmenting human capabilities, allowing finance professionals to focus on the most valuable aspects of their work and drive even greater impact.
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