CFO TALENT

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First-time CFOs accounted for 64% of global CFO appointments in the first half of 2026, according to the most recent CFO Turnover Index from leadership advisory firm Russell Reynolds Associates.

But even if there are plenty of fresh-faced CFOs to go around, they mostly already know how to find the coffee machine: The number of external first-time CFOs at S&P 500 companies has dipped from 15% to 5% since the first half of 2022, according to the firm, while internal first-time appointments have hovered between 56% and 61%.

Couple the first-timer stats with another major turnover trend—retirements and moves to board roles comprised 60% of CFO departures in the first half—and you have a complex succession environment: Companies need to fill the roles left empty by retirees, but boards may not be ready to gamble on an external new hire.

“In a perfect world, everybody would love a tenured CFO, somebody who’s had experience before, but the reality of the market is such that there simply are not enough experienced CFOs to fit the demand that all of our clients have,” Jenna Fisher, co-global leader of the financial officers practice at Russell Reynolds Associates, told CFO Brew.

Like piña coladas? One of the reasons so many CFOs are turning into former CFOs (with a beach read in one hand and a piña colada in the other) is plain and simple: It’s time.

Don’t let CFOs-in-the-making just sit in their familiar lanes.—NP

      

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DATA STRATEGY

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As some CFOs scramble to implement AI across their enterprises, the question of data quality quickly comes into focus. Without accurate or consistent data, AI deployment can fall flat on its face.

Among the obstacles enterprises encounter when they try to support AI agents with existing data platforms, according to an MIT Technology Review Insights survey, entrenched data silos were the top problem for half of the 300 IT execs surveyed in February and March.

“Data could be pocketed away in departmental or other silos, with no integration layer available to connect them with business context. Legacy infrastructure is also not designed for the scale and power agents require. And data may be in outdated formats or stored in obsolete devices,” according to the MIT report.

Cleaning up internal data with the goal of desilo-ing it better positions enterprises to deploy AI capabilities, Shahzad Bashir, CEO of legal industry AI platform Morae, told CFO Brew.

Analogous data. The best way to explain clean data, Bashir said, is “if you think about the number of containers I have information in. Right now, I can see my iPad, my iPhone, my laptop, and the list goes on. Then I look at the number of sources, and it drives me crazy in the morning…In the good old days, I would look at email as my source of business communication. Today, I’ve got Teams, I’ve got Zoom, I’ve got WhatsApp, I’ve got SMS,” he said.

How to prevent data from being siloed and difficult to access.—DL

      

DIGITAL TRANSORMATION

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White Castle may be known for its miniature sliders, but its digital transformation plans are anything but tiny.

For the past six years, the fast food burger chain has cooked up automation initiatives across its stores to help employees better serve customers.

Meet Julia. Part of White Castle’s digital transformation efforts have revolved around Julia, a drive-thru AI voice assistant. White Castle CIO Susan Carroll-Boser told IT Brew that Julia helps drive-thru employees “be a little bit less of an octopus.”

“They’re trying to do five or six different things. They’re trying to talk to and be pleasant in the drive-thru. They’re trying to take money from the car that came up. They are trying to hand food out. They’re trying to have a memorable moment at the window where they actually talk to people and are friendly,” Carroll-Boser said. “And that’s a lot to ask.”

“Almost every company that uses drive-thru will end up using voice AI,” a restaurant tech exec told IT Brew.—BM

      

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market forces

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top finance reads.

Stat: $1.2 trillion. That’s how much President Donald Trump said he would give American citizens—$5,000 per adult citizen—if the Republicans win the upcoming midterms. (CNBC)

Quote: “We are concerned that so much exposure is tied to a single thread, AI, be that through data centers, through software, through our venture portfolio. We’re trying to be mindful about our overall exposure to AI.”—John Bradley, senior investment officer at the Florida State Board of Administration (Bloomberg)

Read: Several US congresspeople called for updated rules surrounding AI after an ex-Anthropic researcher warned that Anthropic and OpenAI are “racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.” (Reuters)

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