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Imagine a marketing executive pitching a revolutionary new tool that automatically calculates the optimal price for every item you sell, tailored to appeal to specific customers and adjusted in seconds to account for industry conditions and competitor pricing. Powered by AI, your entire marketing department fits in one box. What's not to like? Without asking the right questions, algorithmic pricing engines are often the hottest thing in the marketing world, but they're also a hot item among antitrust lawyers and lawmakers. The Sherman Antitrust Act and state laws prohibit competitors from acting in concert to set prices, and many suspect…

Community banking involves its own financial risks. However, there are common challenges wherever CFOs operate. One is that the role of finance is becoming increasingly complex. Heather Luck, chief financial officer at Roseville, Calif.-based Five Star Bank, spoke with CFO leadership about mitigating risk, wearing multiple hats, and learning better communication skills. What drew you to joining a community bank? Prior to joining Five Star Bank, he spent eight years as an auditor at Ernst & Young's Sacramento and Los Angeles offices. During my tenure, I have been fortunate to serve clients in a variety of industries of varying size…

A renowned Chinese philosopher once said, “If you do not change direction, you might end up where you are heading.” This timeless wisdom highlights the fundamental challenge facing multinational corporations (MNCs) today. In a world reshaped by demographic shifts, geopolitical turbulence, regulatory volatility, climate change, rapid technological innovation and economic uncertainty, sticking to the current path may be the most dangerous strategy of all. Organizations that fail to proactively reassess their direction risk finding themselves in markets that have moved on, with business models that no longer create value and cost structures that are too burdensome to fix. In an…

If boards treat today's disruptions as passing storms rather than structural resets, and make high-stakes decisions as the rules of globalization, technology, and power are being rewritten in real time, they risk becoming blindsided. In the following interview, Lynn Miteva, chairman and CEO of Miami-based Kizoku Media, explains how her board leverages geopolitical literacy, AI fluency, and narrative intelligence to read weak signals, anticipate system-level changes, and manage volatility rather than reacting to headlines. For directors, her approach provides practical strategies. That means hiring people who can interpret complex global dynamics, integrate AI without relinquishing judgment, and design organizations to…

The board approved the AI-assisted development with the hope of seeing tangible results in faster delivery times. director of corporate directorAccording to the survey, the reason for winning the award was not for novelty, but for productivity and operational efficiency. However, many organizations still feel that delivery is delayed. Routine changes take too much time. A commitment to reliability replaces a commitment to growth. “Delivery friction” continues to consume expensive capacity without a clean budget line emerging. Expediting drafts is not the same as expediting delivery. Two signals for the second half of 2025 explain where the dividend will go.…

I recently got early access to Claude for Financial Services 2.0 and felt like I had a glimpse of the future of financial workflows. I ran a revenue quality review in about 30 minutes. Same file, same logic, no normal scrambling. One window remained open while the rest of the noise died down, and the work progressed in a straight line rather than the usual zigzag of tabs and footnotes. Claude reviewed the 10-K, reviewed the debt schedule, uncovered the revenue recognition changes, and organized the findings in a way that I could take directly to the deal team. The…

“Finance should enable growth, not hinder it.” That's the focus of Darian Hong, CFO of Calero, a Rochester, New York-based company that provides technology business management solutions. He was appointed CFO in January 2024 and brings a wealth of experience from previous roles at companies such as Velocify, WebPT, and Act!. and Raintree Systems. Hong shares how finance leaders can help their organizations build scale from day one. You've led the finance departments of a number of high-growth SaaS companies. What are the most important lessons you've learned about building a finance function that scales effectively, and what do you…

The year 2026 started with several events that caused major changes in the market. U.S. military action in Venezuela and threatening actions against other South American countries, uncertainty over the death of a protester during a civil unrest in Iran, and the U.S. Department of Justice opening a criminal investigation against Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell are among the events that are scaring investors around the world. Company board members need to be aware that shareholders may be a little nervous over the coming months, and nervous investors are likely to approach directors with their concerns. Boards will come under…

Editor’s Note: Raj Gupta will keynote the Directors Forum in Scottsdale, Arizona March 3-4, 2026. It’s a working retreat for active public company directors. Connect with peers and learn from some of the top experts on board governance in the world today. Join us >  A renowned Chinese philosopher once said, “If you do not change direction, you might end up where you are heading.” This timeless wisdom highlights the fundamental challenge facing multinational corporations (MNCs) today. In a world reshaped by demographic shifts, geopolitical turbulence, regulatory volatility, climate change, rapid technological innovation and economic uncertainty, sticking to the current…

Marie Myers‘ first job was planting sugarcane on her father’s plantation in far North Queensland, in a rural town with few other options for employment, and a high school education carried out mostly through correspondence. But the grit she learned from hard physical labor helped lead Myers to the corner office as executive vice president and CFO of software giant Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Myers joins host Jack McCullough to share her unconventional journey to leadership, navigating the complexities of AI infrastructure and her perspective on the evolution of financial leadership in the tech sector. Listen by clicking below. The Q&A,…