Good morning. We’re only in the early stages of exploring the capabilities and applications of AI agents in finance.
That was a key takeaway from Fortune’s Emerging CFO event on Thursday, held in partnership with Workday, a sponsor of CFO Daily. My colleague Geoff Colvin and I spoke with Silvio Savarese, EVP and chief scientist at Salesforce AI Research; Jamie Miller, chief financial and operating officer at PayPal; and Matt Castonguay, CFO at Team Car Care, about how their companies are leveraging this technology.
“AI agents can act as workflow and workforce multipliers for humans—like having a fleet of agents at your disposal, 24/7,” Savarese said. He described four key components of an agent: memory (for retaining and using information), a brain (for reasoning and planning), actuators (for executing actions via APIs), and sensors or interfaces (for communicating with the outside world).
In finance, Savarese explained, agents can automate and personalize customer interactions in retail banking, streamline processes like mortgage lending, and improve customer satisfaction with faster approvals. He added that agents will soon be able to communicate with each other, requiring new protocols for secure interactions. As compliance frameworks for agentic AI are still evolving, Savarese advised finance leaders to work with legal and risk teams to develop internal policies aligned with upcoming AI accountability standards.
At PayPal, Miller said the company targets use cases involving high-volume manual work, such as invoice processing and accruals. Agents can harmonize data from multiple formats and automate tasks like travel and expense compliance by auditing receipts and making recommendations. “As CFOs, we’re responsible for financial statements and compliance, so it’s critical to have the right checks, balances, and oversight,” Miller said. “With the right framework, the potential applications are limitless.”
Castonguay shared that Team Car Care, operator and franchisee of the Jiffy Lube brand, is focused on automating high-volume manual tasks such as accounting reconciliations and store support. The company is deploying an agent to help reconcile inventory transactions, a data-intensive process. Processing that much data has been a challenge, he said. “But it’s promising, and we expect to see ROI soon,” he added.
This work requires data-focused accountants who understand both the process and how the agent operates. And it requires all the team members to bring ideas to the table. “Whether it’s in Salesforce, whether it’s in Workday, whether it’s in a native third party tool—how can we leverage the use cases and the technology?” Castonguay said.
Miller called agentic AI a “game changer,” noting the massive capital investment from technology firms and private equity. “We’re just at the beginning,” she said. Castonguay agreed, adding that for private equity-backed companies like Team Car Care, managing costs with agentic AI is a top priority.
Have a good weekend. See you on Monday.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Leaderboard
Fortune 500 Power Moves
Gunnar Wiedenfels is the CFO of Warner Bros. Discovery (No. 114). The media and entertainment giant will separate into two publicly traded companies by mid-2026. Wiedenfels, CFO since 2022, will become CEO of global networks, the new company that will include cable channel businesses CNN, TNT, TBS, Discovery, and more. Before the April 2022 merger that created Warner Bros. Discovery, Wiedenfels was CFO at Discovery, Inc., joining in 2017 after serving as CFO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media in Germany.
Naveen Chopra, EVP and CFO of Paramount Global (No. 147), is departing to become CFO of Roblox Corporation, effective June 30. Chopra joined Paramount in August 2020. Andrew Warren, currently strategic advisor to the Office of the CEO and former CFO of Discovery Communications, will assume the additional role of EVP and interim CFO at Paramount. Warren also served as CFO of STX Entertainment and the NBCU Television Group.
Daniel Cunha was appointed CFO of Avis Budget Group (No. 360), effective July 1. Cunha will succeed Izzy Martins, who will be leaving the company on June 30 to pursue another opportunity. Cunha joins ABG from Orion Services Group, a private equity-owned commercial field services company, where he served as CFO for the past year. Before that, he was the CFO of Ocean Spray and Heinz North America.
Every Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.
More notable moves this week:
Jillian Bernard was promoted to CFO of Tobin Scientific, a provider of specialized logistics for the life sciences industry. Since joining the company as VP of finance in 2023, Bernard has played a key role in aligning financial strategy with the company’s growth trajectory. She brings nearly two decades of experience, previously holding senior leadership roles in finance across a range of industries.
Martin “Marty” Layding was appointed CFO of Vera Bradley (Nasdaq: VRA), effective June 12. Layding has served as a CFO in various organizations including as divisional CFO for Tapestry’s Coach brand in addition to CFO roles at several private equity backed firms, including for the Supreme Brand. Vera Bradley's current CFO Michael Schwindle has announced his departure from the company, effective June 30, and will work with Layding during the transition period.
Robert (“Bobby”) Leibrock was appointed CFO of ACI Worldwide (Nasdaq: ACIW), a global payments technology provider, effective July 1. Leibrock succeeds Scott Behrens, who is retiring following a career spanning nearly two decades at ACI. Leibrock joins ACI from Red Hat, Inc., where he currently serves as SVP, chief operating officer and CFO. He previously held senior finance roles at IBM.
Chris Monroe, CFO of Texas Roadhouse, Inc. since 2023, (NasdaqGS: TXRH), has left the company. Keith Humpich, VP of finance, was appointed interim CFO until a permanent successor has been identified. Humpich has more than 30 years of accounting, audit, and finance experience. He joined Texas Roadhouse in February 2005 as the director and then senior director of internal audit.
Steve Nee was appointed CFO of 3Play Media, a media accessibility and localization provider. Nee brings more than 25 years of financial leadership experience with the last 10 years in the technology sector. Before joining 3Play Media, he served as CFO at Thrasio. In his role as CFO at 3Play Media, Nee will oversee all financial operations, including strategic planning, financial reporting, treasury, tax and investor relations.
Big Deal
Deloitte Global’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey highlights what’s driving the next generation of business leaders. This year’s data reveals that learning and development opportunities, along with investments in financial security, meaning, and well-being, may be key to attracting, engaging, and retaining a strong Gen Z and millennial workforce.
For example, most Gen Zs and millennials worry that generative AI will make it harder for younger generations to enter the workforce, as it automates tasks typically performed by entry-level workers. The research found that both generations are focused on training and developing skills to prepare for working alongside generative AI. According to the report, 59% of Gen Zs and 62% of millennials believe that generative AI skills are somewhat or highly required for their career advancement.
Going deeper
Here are four Fortune weekend reads:
“Jamie Dimon says inflation will go up and employment will shift down as economy ‘deteriorates’ amid shifting ‘tectonic plates’” by Eleanor Pringle
“Nvidia’s Jensen Huang says he disagrees with almost everything Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says” by Beatrice Nolan
“Neobank Chime to ride wave of IPO enthusiasm, while CoreWeave is best performing offering” by Luisa Beltran
“Starbucks responds to America’s protein craze by testing a special new latte” by Beth Greenfield
Overheard
“The finance industry talks a good game about embracing blockchain, but the truth is much of the sector hopes crypto will prove to be a fleeting technical fad like Blu-Ray, so it can stick to business as usual.”
—Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson writes in a new Fortune opinion piece, titled “I’m the CEO of a Fortune 500 financial firm. My industry can no longer deny digital assets are the future.”
