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After the quarter ends, many boards follow a familiar script of reviewing numbers, explaining variances, and answering questions. Despite this, many directors say they take surprisingly little time discussing the future. This is a strategic shortcoming that most CEOs underestimate. Quarterly meetings naturally focus on oversight, including reviewing performance, ensuring compliance, and addressing immediate issues. These responsibilities are important to the board's fiduciary and oversight role. When the agenda stops there, boards contribute far less strategic value than they should and ignore considerations for the organization's sustainability. An effective CEO-board partnership is about more than just governance. That way, your…

Carolyn Dewar is a senior partner at McKinsey and founder of the firm's CEO Excellence practice, where she spent 20 years counseling Fortune 100 CEOs. She has seen a lot and heard a lot (both good and bad) along the way. But what she hadn't seen, even though many of her clients had asked for it, was a handbook to guide her through all the difficult parts of a CEO's job. There, she wrote a book with colleagues Scott Keller, Kurt Strovink, and Vikram Malhotra. agenda CEO for All Seasons: Mastering the Leadership Cycle (Scribner) distilled research from 83 high-performing…

As AI-powered operations evolve, so too must corporate governance. This is a big concern for Ken Washington, i-GENTIC's chairman of the board. The Palo Alto, California-based company focuses on agent-based governance across data, privacy, cybersecurity, and AI-assisted operations. Mr. Washington previously led consumer robotics at Amazon, oversaw research and advanced engineering programs at Ford, and most recently served as senior vice president and chief technology officer at Medtronic, the world's largest publicly traded medical technology company. He spoke to CFO Leadership about the interplay between technology and governance, a board's perspective on the tools an organization chooses, and why companies…

In the graveyard of all potential reputations in American business, it had to be number one next to Apple's Steve Jobs. Nevertheless, Tim Cook, who announced this week that he would step down as Apple's CEO, took the position and made the post his own. Relying on unique skills and abilities that were completely different from those of Mr. Jobs, he built unprecedented value within the company, whose market capitalization now exceeds $4 trillion, just a few years after first exceeding $1 trillion. The word masterclass has been thrown around a lot lately (and we're just as guilty of that…

Victoria Thomas became CFO and co-owner of Kellymoss from a rather non-traditional background: becoming an emancipated minor at 17 in order to leave her small farm town, eventually becoming a self-made entrepreneur and now leading finance for North America’s most decorated Porsche racing team. In conversation with host Jack McCullough, she shares her career journey, and how she transformed a nine-employee operation into an 88,000-square-foot powerhouse boasting 135 employees and 48 national championships and redefined success. Thomas also shares her candid insights on the power of “failure,” the art of the unconventional and how she leveraged her unique path to…

If you ask a CEO or board member how AI will change the workforce next year, the answer, at least on the surface, will likely be: Not much. Roles are evolving and skills are changing, but for most companies, the AI ​​revolution will not change the existing workforce any more than expected in an uncertain economy. That won't happen in three or five years. A new survey of 109 CEOs and board members of U.S. companies conducted in early April by the Chief Executive Group and Long Term Stock Exchange (LTSE) found that 43% of those surveyed expect a net…

In the high-stakes world of B2B SaaS, the sound of a gong is the ultimate dopamine release. Whether it's a physical brass disc in a crowded bullpen or a digital trigger flooding a Slack channel, it represents the culmination of months of discovery calls, demos, and late-night negotiations. The contract is signed, the “winning bid” notification is triggered, and for a split second it feels like the hard part is over. But if you've been in revenue operations and finance for any length of time, you know the truth. That acclaimed “victory” was just the tip of the iceberg. What…

Department of Justice Anti-DEI Enforcement Score Settled with IBM – Corporate Director Skip to content The IBM settlement could prompt the Department of Justice to continue its anti-DEI enforcement activities at an accelerated pace. What boards should consider. The U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, which polices DEI policies, recently entered into its first False Claims Act settlement agreement with IBM regarding the government's claims that the tech giant “knowingly” maintained what the U.S. claims are discriminatory employment practices. This action confirms that any organization actively pursuing DEI efforts should take the Trump administration's anti-DEI enforcement…

Building the “perfect” financial model may be feasible for established companies, but it is less difficult for start-up companies, where uncertainty often rules the day. Jayesh Patel has been active in both capacities. Patel is currently Nexar's CFO. The New York City-based company powers the training of self-driving cars by providing AI-powered models based on real-world human driving data. Patel brings more than 20 years of financial and commercial leadership experience in technology, mobility and high-growth companies, including Hertz and global management consulting and technology company ZS. He has successfully expanded the strategic, financial and commercial organization through rapid expansion,…

Advisors agree with that approach. Rick Opal, global digital leader at professional services firm BDO, advises CFOs to “take technology off the table” when embarking on an AI journey and instead focus on business friction points first. Where are the bottlenecks, growth constraints, or operational inefficiencies? From there, the goal is to identify the “one or two” problems that AI can address. Opal points out that these projects should be quick, iterative successes rather than multi-year transformations. “We want to attack as quickly as we can. We jointly expect it won't be perfect from day one…and we work together to…