Good morning. One of the things I like to showcase in our newsletter and at our WSJ Leadership Institute events is the expertise of our readers and professional communities. If you read the Morning Ledger last week, Justin Greenberger, the chief customer officer at Optro and a former executive audit manager at General Electric, offered his best advice for finance professionals who train audit teams.
Justin suggested that CFOs focus on three things: Expertise in a specific area or domain, an understanding of data flow through the enterprise, and portfolio-level fact-pattern analysis.
We asked what you thought about his advice, and Justin also heard from readers, so here are some of the highlights:
First, another word from Justin: "The lessons I learned around system fluency, decisions and leadership have become even more amplified in the age of AI," he wrote in a LinkedIn post. "At Optro we're seeing the rise of what we call audit engineers: hybrid, cross-functional people who understand system maps and data, but truly understand risk and where it sits in the company."
"AI is absorbing more of the mechanics, which makes domain judgment more valuable, not less. Judgment itself is a control. If you're a domain expert, I expect the next five to 10 years to be very good for you." From Thomas Anderson, chief IT auditor at Boeing and the former principal managing director of data and AI at Accenture: "I love these insights. Having subject matter and domain experience allows an auditor to determine if AI-generated insights are accurate. This expertise enables them to refine the model or prompt, and update an agent's reasoning process or workflow to align with real-world business realities," Anderson wrote in response to Justin's post about our conversation.
And Tanner Cramm, a senior FP&A analyst at Axle Funding in Dallas, and former consultant at Protiviti, wrote to me noting: "Per Justin's commentary, I couldn't agree more," Tanner said. "I formerly worked for a large consulting firm on just the business process audit side but because I could understand system interaction, I often reviewed systems as part of audit scope, too (since it's often key to business operations)."
"In the context of AI integration and use cases from a CFO perspective, this is what I think about now in my new role. AI is an exponential driver of productivity, meaning if the underlying user and business use is present, it can absolutely scale at an exponential rate. However, it takes a strong foundation and understanding of what it can do (learn, comprehend complexity faster, automate, etc.) but it should never be used to think critically."
Tanner concluded that the best cases he sees in his current job and previous roles is when leaders understand the following concept:
"It can absolutely be a waste of time and even dangerous to rely or expect so heavily on AI to do so many critical tasks in operations and thus, remove the human workforce to cut costs," he said. "But if it can be thought of as an accelerator to the human workforce, it means timelines shrink, output increases and thus the bottom line can grow with the current investment of human capital."
?? Share your thoughts: What do you think of this reader response? Or what would be your best advice on this topic for CFOs or finance leaders? Reply to this email, and we may feature more of your best insight in a future newsletter.
The Day Ahead
📆 Earnings
Academy Sports & Outdoors
American Eagle Outfitters
Chewy
Cooper Cos.
Korn Ferry
SailPoint
📈 Economic Indicators and Events
Apple hosts the "Surprise and shine" event at its headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. This will be the first launch event as CEO for John Ternus, who replaced Tim Cook on Sept. 1.
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What Else I'm Watching
War in the Middle East. The U.S. launched new attacks on Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday in response to a fresh attempt by Tehran to strike U.S. warships in the Middle East, according to U.S. officials. Over the weekend, Iran had fired ballistic missiles at a U.S. aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer, with both evading the attacks.
U.S.-Canada trade dispute. President Trump on Tuesday signed orders to ban the importation of many dairy products, alcoholic beverages and motorcycles from Canada in three weeks-a retaliation for Canadian tariffs that took effect earlier the same day. Israel trade restrictions. The U.K., France, Canada and nine other countries said they would impose new trade restrictions on Israel, escalating a dispute over the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
What Else Matters to CFOs
Wall Street's marquee event this fall is expected to be Anthropic's initial public offering. It could raise up to $100 billion and value the artificial-intelligence giant at around $2 trillion, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Those figures would top records set by SpaceX's debut in June.
Investors are still waiting for a peek at the company's inner financial workings, and the company still has key decisions to make.
Here's what you need to know about Anthropic's planned IPO, courtesy of Corrie Driebusch.
Also read: Anthropic Researcher Quits Over 'Out-of-Control' AI Fears
📰 Other headlines
GE Aerospace to Buy Consolidated Precision Products for $11.75 Billion
U.S. Employment Trends Index Rose in August, Conference Board Says
States That Gave Data Centers Billions in Tax Breaks Are Now Ripping Up the Deals
OpenAI Says It Has Solved a Millennium Prize Problem-a Holy Grail of Math
Meta Launches a Personal AI Agent Designed to Be Easy to Use
Ford's Use of Chinese Tech Called 'Unacceptable' by Transportation Secretary
Brian Dyson, the Coca-Cola Executive Who Championed New Coke, Dies at Age 90
Blackstone's Head of Real Estate Is Leaving the Firm
It's Getting Harder to Return Things-and It's Making Shoppers Mad
Podcast: How to Build a Data Center Without Making Enemies
📈 Earnings wrapup
GameStop Profit Rises, Boosts Full Year Outlook
United Natural Foods Guides for Sales to Rise This Fiscal Year
For more earnings news, click here.
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The WSJ Leadership Institute's CFO Journal offers corporate leaders and professionals CFO analysis, advice and commentary to make informed decisions. We cover topics including corporate tax, accounting, regulation, capital markets, management and strategy.
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