Good morning.
“To the extent that generative A.I. and other A.I. technologies have the potential to automate a significant percentage of how workers spend their time, it could lead to significant changes in jobs and the job market,” Gary Gensler, chair of the Security and Exchange Commission, said on Monday in his remarks at the National Press Club in Washington.
Generative A.I. is indeed remaining top of mind for regulators and the C-suite. I shared with you on Monday what CFOs at some of the world’s largest companies were saying overall about the technology during McKinsey’s recent closed-door forum.
To delve deeper, today I’m sharing the insight of finance chiefs from different industries on how they’re viewing the changes ahead.
Claus Aagaard, CFO at Mars Inc., a multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products
“We believe that generative A.I. is the most significant technological development we have seen in the last few years. It has the potential not only to increase efficiency and productivity in the finance function but at all levels of an organization, freeing up time and resources that will allow us to focus on innovation and value creation at an unprecedented scale and speed. In order to unlock its full potential, it’s imperative that it’s used responsibly and in a way that is fair, inclusive, and sustainable, protecting the privacy and security of our people, consumers, and partners.”
“At Mars, we have established an enterprise working team to create a strong framework of policies and governance around the use of generative A.I., and we are also working with technology partners to ensure we are leveraging generative A.I. safely while exploring all the exciting opportunities it brings.”
Alice Globus, CFO at Nanotronics, a science technology company
“Generative A.I. represents more than a technological trend—it’s the largest advancement since the advent of the internet. It’s a transformative tool that is allowing CFOs, including those of our clients, to redefine their strategies and operations. It’s up to us as CFOs to harness these technologies, not just for immediate financial performance, but for the sustainable and responsible growth of the businesses we serve.”
“Generative A.I. has opened up exciting new frontiers for CFOs and financial leaders, allowing us to visualize and implement strategies in unprecedented ways. The ability to directly interact with this technology is not just empowering or time-saving, it also enables us to personally influence and contribute to the value-creation process within our organizations.”
Nanotronics has incorporated generative A.I. to provide value to clients, particularly those within the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors, according to Globus. “Our A.I. platform enables them to maximize their yields and productivity by leveraging real-time sensor data to predict what will potentially go wrong in the future,” Globus said.
Alka Tandan, CFO at Gainsight, a customer success software platform
“Digital is our focus in the very near term. We do believe that generative A.I. is around the corner. Our efforts include having a dedicated A.I. product roadmap as well as focusing on how this technology can streamline our own operations. One important consideration for our efforts is to ensure that costs, particularly with regards to hosting and bandwidth, still allow us to maintain our margin goals.”
“We believe our digital strategy is key for the coming years for our customers to extract more value. We recently launched our digital customer success initiative to address our customer’s desire to reduce costs and increase efficiency. As CFO, I do believe this is what the market is asking for, so I support this as a high priority in our strategy.”
Ross Tennenbaum, CFO at Avalara, a provider of tax compliance automation software
“Competitive advantage and success is going to be founded on A.I. We’re going to see centers of excellence born out of the use of generative A.I. and investment in people and technology to bring this to life. One focus is managing A.I. and the people around it to democratize it in the company.”
“Generative A.I. allows companies to interact with their corporate data using common language to identify trends and do proper analysis.
“At Avalara, we’re also using Large Language Models to power our tax engine and certain business functions to help increase accountants’ productivity. We also made our sales tax calculation tool available via ChatGPT, which allows users to ask the platform to calculate and research sales tax rates based on their location.”
Jeremy Klaperman, CFO at Rho, a financial platform for corporate spend and cash management
“Beyond simple checks and balances, CFOs are transformation catalysts. Compared to what the CFO role entailed 20, 10, or even five years ago, finance chiefs can now bring technological fluency and apply technology in a way that improves the accuracy and efficiency of internal processes, in addition to accelerating top-line and bottom-line growth.”
“Generative A.I. is a great example. You may not have all the answers today on how it can be applied across business functions to drive tangible outcomes, but it’s critical that you are budgeting some of your mindshare toward exploration and research to begin crafting a point of view.”
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Big deal
"Is your supply chain trustworthy?" a new Deloitte Insights survey report, finds that supply chain executives significantly overestimate stakeholder trust in their supply chain capabilities and intentions. The findings are based on a survey of more than 1,000 executives from large global organizations operating complex supply chains. Eighty-nine percent, on average, who self-identified as leading suppliers said customers trust their supply chain operations, compared to just 68% on average of roughly 500 customers who said the same.
Although bottlenecks may have improved, continuous supply chain volatility is expected, according to the report. Seventy-seven percent acknowledged experiencing an adverse supply chain event in the last 12 months, and 44% expect more shocks in the coming 24 months. The primary challenges that executives are planning for in the next 12 months include price volatility, inflation, resource shortages (labor and materials), and geopolitical instability, Deloitte found.
Going deeper
"Why Increased Firm Competition Can Cause a Spiral of Distress," a report in Wharton's business journal, highlights research that argues that when financially troubled firms "break from a 'competitive balance' to focus on survival, their corporate debt bubbles could burst, causing pain across their industries." Wharton finance professor Winston Wei Dou and his research coauthors find that firms in financial distress tend to compete more aggressively, and the intensified competition in turn reduces profit margins, pushing firms into deeper distress and adversely affecting other firms.
Leaderboard
Kristy Chipman was named CFO and treasurer at Five Below, Inc. (Nasdaq: FIVE), a value brand, effective July 17. Chipman succeeds Ken Bull, who, as previously announced, has assumed the new role of chief operating officer of Five Below. Chipman most recently served as EVP, CFO, and COO at Ruth's Chris Hospitality Group. Before Ruth's Chris, she served in a variety of financial leadership roles with Orangetheory Fitness, Domino's Pizza and McDonald's Corporation.
John W. Dietrich was named EVP and CFO at FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX), effective Aug. 1. As previously announced, current EVP and CFO Michael C. Lenz will transition out of his role on July 31, and will remain with the company as a senior advisor until Dec. 31. Dietrich held numerous leadership roles at Atlas Air Worldwide since 1999, including serving as president and CEO, and member of the board of directors since 2020. He has more than 30 years of experience in the aviation and air cargo industries. Before Atlas Air Worldwide, Dietrich worked for United Airlines for 13 years.
Overheard
"We definitely think the office sector is crashing. We’re seeing that evidence in the data, and also hearing it from our clients. It’s a very tough time to be an office landlord, and we know that banks are withdrawing debt from the sector as well."
—Kiran Raichura, deputy chief property economist at Capital Economics, a provider of independent macroeconomic analysis, forecasts, and consultancy, told Fortune in an interview. Raichura predicts a substantial decline in office values from peak to trough, amounting to 35%. And this decline is unlikely to recover even by 2040, the firm predicts.
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