ACCOUNTING TOOLS

David Fuhriman

A small, almost 90-year-old nonprofit organization might not be the place you’d expect to find cutting-edge AI. But thanks to its CFO, the Jewish Federation of San Diego has a fleet of agents handling multiple accounting and finance tasks.

CFO David Fuhriman, who joined the Federation in January 2025, used open source AI assistant OpenClaw to develop H2, a system that connects the organization’s data to software programs it uses, including Salesforce, Sage Intacct, and accounting platform Numeric. The platform “reconciles overnight, runs flux analysis, and drafts audit response memos,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post, and, as he told CFO Brew, creates sub-agents that it delegates tasks to.

H2 can log into Numeric on its own, Fuhriman said, “and help prepare month-end schedules on [our] behalf.” Overnight, he said, it can pull data from various systems to reconcile items needed for the close, and in the morning, employees review its work.

Crucially, H2 helps AI understand the context around the natural-language terms that different staff in a nonprofit might use, Fuhriman said. A development officer, for instance, might ask Claude very literally, “Where are we at in the fundraising campaign?” A human staffer would understand the context around that request, or know to ask follow-up questions, but an AI might not. “That information has to sit somewhere and it doesn’t sit inside Salesforce, so that’s this H2 layer,” he said.

The tool Fuhriman created has eliminated the need for some consultants.—CV

      

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CFOVILLE

Jorg Greuel/Getty Images

As recently as five years ago, if you had tried talking with Ann Dennison, CFO of the Cigna Group, about things like generative AI, data, or enterprise architecture, “I would have said [you have the] wrong executive…you should be talking to the head of tech,” Dennison told attendees at this year’s Workiva Amplify conference in Las Vegas.

Dennison was part of a panel of CFOs who, in a wide-ranging discussion, discussed the primary drivers behind the CFO job’s evolution: technology, data, and volatility.

For example, finance leaders have an important role to play in ensuring accurate data, so that organizations can trust the outputs they’re getting from tech tools, Dennison said. Medical insurer and benefits provider Cigna Group built a “finance data office” to connect the data in financial statements or FP&A reports “back to the accounting data, the operational data, the transactional data.” It’s a “single source of confidence” to “mak[e] sure people can trust the data” they’re basing decisions on.

It can’t wait. Since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, “volatility really stopped being just an event…it’s become the baseline,” Workiva CFO Barbara Larson said during the session.

“Speed of judgment has almost become the new skill,” CFO Barbara Larson said.—AZ

      

TURNAROUNDS

Morning Brew Design, Photo: Getty Images

Remember Peloton, the bike that turned bedrooms into spin studios and staved off thousands of pandemic pounds long before GLP-1s? While the fitness company has been sweating through a rough few years, it’s trying to reenter the race—this time on foot.

This week, Peloton rolled out three new treadmills, including its first foldable version, the Tread Flex, for $2,195. That’s about $1,000 cheaper than previous models, and is aimed directly at fitness buffs who are tight on both budget and square footage. Meanwhile, the equipment’s video screen has also gotten an upgrade. Peloton IQ, an AI-powered software platform launched last year, now comes with a slew of new tools for runners, including real-time feedback on form, pace, and technique. Consider it a robot running coach, free of the judgmental looks when your last half-mile sprint looks more like a jog.

As for bikes, the company’s old standby, CEO Peter Stern told CNN that spin classes have “clearly lost momentum,” adding, “The fitness landscape is evolving toward more sustainable and habitual routines rather than overly choreographed or intense workouts.”

So far, Peloton’s product pivot has been met with applause, with shares gaining 1.52% on Sept. 22. Will the runner’s high last?

North America’s home treadmill market is predicted to grow 40% by 2030, Brew Markets reports.—JD

      

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market forces

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top finance reads.

Stat: $1.6 billion. That’s the valuation of startup Hubble Network after its latest fundraising round, meaning the company pitching a global Bluetooth network through satellites has hit unicorn status. (Bloomberg)

Quote: “We’re talking about $6 diesel, but out here, it’s $8 diesel, we noticed on the way in, which is like science fiction.”—Claude Elkins, chief commercial officer at transporter Norfolk Southern, at a Morgan Stanley conference in Laguna Beach, CA (CNBC)

Read: Despite selling fewer devices, manufacturers are raking in more revenue. Of course, the AI race is behind it—specifically, the heightened demand it’s putting on memory chips. (the Wall Street Journal)

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EVENT

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