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Usually it's not a data issue. In fact, most executives don't miss the data. Often, they act on incomplete strategic decisions that they believe are already resolved. Costs are rarely shown in strategy sessions. It shows up months later in execution, resource allocation, organizational alignment, and ultimately performance. We've all experienced strategic priorities being announced. Efforts for change begin. Growth goals are set. The leadership team leaves the room believing they are on the same page. But beneath that apparent agreement, important questions remain unresolved, such as the trade-offs needed to support the strategy, the priorities at which resources must…

For 40 years, I have supported leadership transitions in organizations, first as a senior manager and then as an advisor. I've worked with hundreds of CEOs, board members, and CHROs, and I've seen transitions go smoothly in some cases, and others that nearly wipe out the organizations they've spent decades building. Succession was rarely the key element. In most cases, it was the outgoing CEO who determined whether the transition would succeed or fail. CEOs who manage succession well are not necessarily diligent or disciplined. They are just as competitive and selfless as their peers. What sets them apart is…

While artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the way boards access information, assess risk, and guide strategy, its role in the boardroom is actually still taking shape. For Jeanne Beliveau-Dun, an independent director at Columbus McKinnon, Edison International and Crudl, this shift is less about adopting flashy new tools and more about embedding AI into core areas of governance such as oversight, risk management and long-term value creation. She sees first-hand how boards are beginning to carefully, and often unevenly, integrate AI into their workflows across sectors with vastly different regulatory and operational pressures. Beliveau-Dunn suggests that what distinguishes effective boards…

Anti-DEI proposal receives 1% support for second year in a row – Corporate Director Skip to content Such minimal support for anti-DEI proposals across several categories indicates that shareholder interest in this issue appears to be waning. As proxy season winds down, support for anti-DEI shareholder resolutions appears to be losing momentum. Most anti-DEI resolutions that reached shareholder votes failed for the second year in a row. While proposals remain to be voted on in the coming months, board members should be aware that the threat of anti-DEI shareholder pressure is on the decline. Recent data shows that…

In 2018, Tesla's board granted Elon Musk a $2.3 billion stock option package on the condition that the company's market capitalization increase 12 times over 10 years. Depending on how you look at it, this award is either the most audacious pay-for-performance design in modern corporate history or the most egregious governance failure of its time. Either way, it changed the conversation. Since then, the boards of more than 50 large publicly traded companies have approved similar grants on a smaller scale. The conventional wisdom about these awards is wrong in important ways. When compensation committees worry about mega-grants, they…

A few months ago, I was training a RoboCFO client's finance team on the cutting edge of what Claude can do. And then we reached the realm of vibe coding, where everyone learns how to build and deploy their own apps. We just talked about the NetSuite MCP server, role-based access, and the guardrails that Oracle already has built in. These types of rails allow you to pass your tools to your controller and sleep comfortably. Then I said the part that has been spinning around in my head ever since. Anyone can bring AI to their company’s finances. It…

The headlines are impossible to ignore. Cutting-edge AI labs and others are competing aggressively for a relatively small pool of elite AI researchers, with reports of compensation packages measured in tens to hundreds of millions of dollars. Those stories are real. But they may be causing boards, executives and compensation committees to ask the wrong question. Rather than wondering how much to pay for AI talent, they should be wondering which AI talent market their organization is actually competing in. The prevailing narrative suggests that every company must decide how much more it is willing to pay for AI talent.…

On May 19, 2026, the SEC proposed sweeping changes to public company reporting requirements, intended to reduce compliance costs and encourage broader participation in U.S. public markets. While much attention has focused on scaled disclosure obligations and reduced regulatory burdens, the proposal may have more significant implications for executive compensation governance. Most notably, the proposal would eliminate mandatory say-on-pay requirements and substantially reduce executive compensation disclosure for most non-accelerated filers. If adopted, the proposal would not simply reduce disclosure; it could fundamentally alter how boards communicate executive compensation decisions and how investors evaluate compensation accountability. For more than 15 years, say-on-pay has…

The workforce is global by default, pay expectations are changing, and new technologies are reshaping the way companies hire and manage talent. CFOs who understand the financial aspects of these changes will be better prepared to guide their companies through what comes next. James Loftus, CFO of Palo Alto, California-based employer records provider Pebl, has many best practices when it comes to hiring in multiple countries. With more than 20 years of experience leading high-performing teams in fintech, M&A, and venture capital, Mr. Loftus was previously a managing partner at PayPal Ventures, where he led over $1 billion in early-stage…

This summer, the United States will celebrate its 250th anniversary. At the same time, this generation's most disruptive technology is rewriting the meaning of work. Boards are asking which jobs will survive. Employees are asking if their employees would do that. Politicians are asking who is to blame. The right questions for CEOs are different. “What happens next?” The honest answer is that we've already lived through this story not once, but six times. The American economy at its founding bore no resemblance to the economy we operate today. And what we pass on to our successors will look nothing…