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Financial software provider Datarails announced on Wednesday the completion of a $70 million Series C funding round and the launch of new AI agent products. The round was led by One Peak, bringing the company's total funding to $175 million. The funds will be used to accelerate expansion in North America and globally, increase R&D investment, and potentially for acquisitions. Additionally, the company released three AI financial agents for strategy, planning, and reporting, with plans to launch Excel AI and expense control tools in the future.

Against a backdrop of high interest rates, M&A activity has picked up again, but data shows that 70% to 75% of deals fail to meet expectations. Executive compensation structures, shortened CEO tenures, and pressure from activist investors have jointly driven this trend. This article advises companies to focus on core businesses and long-term value creation rather than relying on M&A as a shortcut to growth.

The latest research from the Kiel Institute indicates that US importers and consumers have borne 96% of the costs of tariffs imposed since April. Although the 2025 'Liberation Day' tariffs brought in about $200 billion in revenue, only 4% came from outside the US. This conclusion contradicts the Trump administration's claim that 'foreigners bear the tariffs.' Meanwhile, the Yale Budget Lab warns that if a 10% tariff is imposed on NATO members such as Denmark, the US consumer tariff rate would rise to 17.5%, the highest since 1932.

Undergraduate enrollment in U.S. accounting programs grew by 7.3% year-over-year in fall 2025, marking the third consecutive year of growth, with a rate significantly higher than the 1.2% average across all majors. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) stated that this trend is related to factors such as industry-driven licensure reforms and the impact of AI on employment prospects for computer-related majors. Despite the rebound in enrollment, the number of graduates continues to decline, with accounting degree graduates down 6.6% year-over-year in the 2023-2024 academic year.

Audit software provider AuditBoard has appointed Hugo Doetsch as its new CFO. In an interview, Doetsch stated that he will prioritize building an efficient team and gaining a deep understanding of the company's business to become a strategic partner, driving the company's annual recurring revenue of over $300 million to continue growing.

According to the latest Gartner report, global AI spending will reach $2.52 trillion in 2026, a 44% increase year-over-year. Infrastructure remains dominant, with AI software spending expected to grow by nearly 60%. However, enterprise deployment is progressing slowly, with most organizations still in pilot phases, and the gap between expectations and reality for agentic AI is significant. Merger and acquisition activity is heating up, with giants like Microsoft, Meta, and Snowflake making recent acquisitions, and Nvidia securing a technology license from Groq for approximately $20 billion. Gartner analysts expect market consolidation this year, with some vendors potentially being phased out.

Daniel Danker, Walmart's Executive Vice President of AI Acceleration, Product, and Design, said at the ICR conference that the company's AI experiments over the past two years will translate into real changes this year. He described how AI is reshaping the shopping experience, including automated replenishment, virtual try-ons, personalized recommendations, and the expansion of the Sparky customer service agent. Meanwhile, Walmart's partnership with Google Gemini has gone live, but the company does not have direct control over product displays in AI search.

This guest article by Dean Quiambao, a partner at Armanino, points out that the traditional conservative mindset of CFOs is outdated. By 2026, successful CFOs will be those willing to say 'yes' to visibility, new technologies, and broader leadership. The article emphasizes the shift from 'scorekeeper' to 'platform CFO,' noting that AI will not diminish the CFO role but rather highlight the importance of judgment and leadership, and that visibility and forward-thinking will become key differentiators.

In the first episode of the Santander US Prosperity Exchange Podcast, Mike Lee, Head of Santander Commercial Banking, speaks with John Howley, Vice Chairman of Newmark, revealing how Santander won the role of servicer for a $9 billion real estate portfolio.

A report released by Expel points out that CFOs and CISOs have significant disagreements in cybersecurity investment decisions, primarily stemming from differences in metrics and decision-making logic. The report recommends that both parties educate each other and translate technical risks into financial language to promote strategic alignment.