Risk Management
AICPA, one of the largest accounting industry organizations globally, has launched an AI accelerator skills program in response to anxiety that AI may impact finance positions, aiming to provide finance professionals at all levels with training in AI application and operational integration. The program is designed based on a workshop attended by about 50 CFOs last summer and has been piloted at KPMG, Cisco, and Stanley Black & Decker, with costs ranging from approximately $495 to $1,000 per person. AICPA executives emphasize that "AI will not replace accountants, but accountants who use AI will replace those who do not."
A recent report by financial software provider Datarails indicates that the median 2024 compensation for CFOs at the largest U.S. public companies rose to $3.86 million, a 62% increase from 2019. The study shows that as CFO responsibilities expand from traditional accounting to strategic architecture, AI deployment, and M&A, the role's value and volatility have increased in tandem, yet CFOs have the shortest average tenure in the C-suite at just 2.12 years.
Pricing of goods and services is the cornerstone of a company's financial success, but the process is becoming increasingly complex. Antitrust expert J. Wyatt Fore points out that financial leaders need to be familiar with antitrust laws and offers four practical recommendations: discuss pricing internally, be wary of tacit cartels, use competitive intelligence tools cautiously, and avoid restrictive clauses. Recent cases involving Live Nation and Apple highlight the trend of stricter enforcement.
OpenAI and PwC announced a partnership this week to build AI agents for the enterprise finance domain, with applications spanning planning, forecasting, reporting, procurement, payments, treasury, tax, and accounting. The collaboration emphasizes real-world implementation, with OpenAI's own finance department serving as 'Customer Zero' in testing.
KPMG recently announced it will cut about 4% of its US consulting workforce (approximately 400 people) and plans to separate 10% of its US audit partners (approximately 100 people) through layoffs or voluntary early retirement. The firm also confirmed it will orderly exit its US federal audit business, affecting about 450 professionals. This move reflects a decline in some consulting demand due to changes in the regulatory environment, while demand for AI and cybersecurity-related consulting remains strong.
At a joint online event hosted by CFO Dive and Retail Dive, multiple industry experts noted that the aftermath of inflation and fluctuating consumer preferences are driving retail CFOs to increasingly rely on AI for pricing, forecasting, and consumer research. AI applications span scenarios such as precision discounting, synthetic audience construction, shopping intent inference, and conversational product discovery. However, experts emphasized that AI is not a silver bullet, as data quality and foundational infrastructure determine outcomes.
Hasbro said in a financial update on Thursday that a March cyberattack caused delays in order processing, shipping, and invoicing, which is expected to have a certain impact on second-quarter revenue and operating profit. The company is advancing the full restoration of its systems and expects first-quarter revenue to be between $970 million and $985 million.
Workday plans to expand the deployment of its agentic AI tool, the "Financial Testing Suite," which aims to help CFO teams automatically detect fraud, errors, and anomalous transactions. The product debuted last fall and is currently being trialed by a small number of early customers, with general availability expected in the second half of 2026. Meanwhile, competition among enterprise software vendors in the AI agent space is intensifying, but industry reports also highlight challenges and risks in the adoption process.
A PwC survey found that 81% of C-level executives expect their companies to wait at least another year before seeing substantial returns from AI investments beyond efficiency improvements. Despite the delayed returns, most companies still plan to maintain or increase AI spending. Dan Priest, PwC's US Chief AI Officer, noted that CFOs will play a central role in the next phase of AI adoption, driving transformation by focusing on high-impact projects and ensuring investments translate into measurable business value.
AI server manufacturer Super Micro Computer announced on Tuesday that it has launched a new investigation led by independent directors into the March indictment involving co-founder Yih-Shyan "Wally" Liaw and two others. The investigation has no set timeline, is led by former Deloitte audit partner Scott Angel and others, and is supported by the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson and consulting firm AlixPartners. The company reiterated that it has not been named as a defendant, and the three individuals involved have left or terminated their relationships.