Latest news
In a recent interview at the Money20/20 fintech conference in Las Vegas, Dan Stummer, Managing Director at Protiviti, stated that CFOs have been slow to respond to the exponential growth prospects brought by artificial intelligence, and need to allocate a significant portion of annual spending to technological exploration while accepting the possibility of failure. He cited a MIT survey showing that despite companies investing $30-40 billion in generative AI, 95% of organizations have not seen returns. Stummer advised CFOs to distinguish between 'exploratory portfolios' and 'operational portfolios,' evaluate them with different criteria, and emphasized that if they do not transform, companies will face declining cash flow.
Robinhood Markets announced during its earnings report on Wednesday that Chief Financial Officer Jason Warnick will step down in Q1 and transition to a strategic advisor role, with Shiv Verma succeeding him. Despite significant growth in Q3 revenue and net income, shares fell approximately 10.8% on Thursday, closing at $127.08, partly due to cryptocurrency trading revenue missing analyst expectations.
As CFOs formulate their plans for 2026, AI remains high on the priority list. Myles Corson, EY's global financial accounting advisory leader, says the pace of technological disruption and the actual capabilities of AI will become clearer, and finance executives need to maintain a sustained focus on AI data governance. Data quality, understanding of sources, and governance frameworks are crucial for navigating economic uncertainty and regulatory changes.
The latest report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas shows that U.S. employers announced 153,074 layoffs in October, a 175% increase year-over-year and an 183% rise month-over-month. Cost cutting and AI adoption are the two main causes of private-sector layoffs, with the tech sector under continued pressure. Federal Reserve Chair Powell stated he is closely monitoring AI's impact on employment.
At the recent Money20/20 fintech conference in Las Vegas, SentiLink CEO Naftali Harris stated bluntly that many anti-fraud software solutions fall far short of expectations in practice, making it difficult to withstand the impact of new types of scams such as deepfakes. He warned that over the next 20 to 30 years, fraud and account takeover issues will become increasingly serious, and even with the deployment of AI defenses, the outlook remains bleak. Oscilar CEO Neha Narkhede shared cases where deepfakes have evolved from one-time impersonations into persistent synthetic identities, and emphasized that human-machine collaboration will be key to combating fraud.
A recent report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) shows that employer coverage of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs continues to expand, with 55% of employers covering them for diabetes and 36% covering both diabetes and weight loss. The proportion of large employers (5,000+ employees) covering weight-loss indications jumped from 28% last year to 43%. However, monthly drug costs can exceed $700, and treatment courses may last several years, sparking debate over the trade-off between short-term cost surges and long-term reductions in health spending.
ADM announced at its Q3 earnings call a reduction in full-year EPS guidance to $3.25-$3.50, citing the impact of evolving global trade patterns and delayed US biofuel policy on its agribusiness and oilseed operations. The CFO stated that the company is on track to cut costs by $200 million to $300 million, while the CEO emphasized that clarity on the details of the China-US trade deal and regulatory clarity on biofuel policy are key variables affecting commodity prices.
Multiple studies show that AI in back-office functions can significantly reduce costs and improve efficiency, such as shortening monthly closing times and accelerating customer inquiry processing. Experts point out that back-office applications are the scenarios where AI value is easiest to quantify, but an MIT survey also reveals that most organizations have yet to benefit from them.
According to CFO Dive's analysis of the financial reports of four tech giants, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta's combined capital expenditures last quarter reached $112.5 billion, a 77% increase year-over-year. Microsoft led with $34.9 billion, followed closely by Amazon at $34.2 billion. Gene Munster, a partner at investment firm Deepwater Asset Management, called this figure 'staggering' and expects it to continue rising. Meanwhile, a survey shows that 97% of CFOs say their boards require regular updates on AI investment progress, but the market is divided on whether the massive investments by some companies will yield corresponding returns.
Cornerstone Research's mid-2025 report shows that over the past 12 months, 117 companies with assets exceeding $100 million filed for bankruptcy, a 44% year-over-year increase, with 32 of these being 'large bankruptcies' involving assets over $1 billion. CFOs must leverage early warning indicators such as changes in payment behavior, order anomalies, public signals, and personnel changes, combined with a four-step action framework (assess exposure, adjust credit terms, strengthen monitoring, review contract rights), to mitigate losses before client bankruptcies occur.