AI GOVERNANCE

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Finance leaders know this dilemma well: How do you control costs but encourage AI innovation? The two objectives can feel…at odds. AI “tokenmaxxing” loses its luster after companies see how expensive the bills can get.

Ryan Roccon, CFO of automation software developer Zapier, told CFO Brew about his company’s approach: Give employees room to experiment, monitor the results, and set individual limits based on that information.

Zapier has spent “a lot of our time and energy” measuring what each employee spends in AI tokens over a given period “by model, by tier, by use case” and compares that to others in their department or the organization.

However, Roccon said he doesn’t want to “handcuff” an AI power-user in product engineering if their large bill also comes with true benefits. They’ll still have a spending cap in case of a “runaway [AI] agent,” but that limit will be higher than that of an accountant who only uses AI to automate month-end close tasks.

“[When] you get deeper into what they are actually building, what value they are finding, you can start to put caps in based on team, or by individual,” Roccon said.

Costly mistakes, such as runaway agents, can provide valuable lessons.—AZ

      

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INVESTOR RELATIONS

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When stock prices fall, activists arise.

CBIZ’s stock has plummeted 52% in the past year, and sure enough, an activist investor has come along with ideas about how the accounting and professional services firm should do things differently.

Reference Equity sent a letter and proposal to CBIZ leadership on June 15 arguing that the firm should end its share buybacks and return to M&A to spur growth, Bloomberg reported.

The Denver-based investment management firm calls M&A “a central pillar of CBIZ’s long-term strategy.” Three-quarters of the firm’s growth over the past decade has come from M&A, Reference Equity pointed out in its 24-page proposal. In 2024, for example, CBIZ acquired Marcum in a $2.3 billion deal.

In March of this year, though, President and CEO Jerry Grisko made remarks suggesting the firm’s de-emphasizing deals: “We would be very selective through 2026 on any acquisition opportunities…we wouldn’t expect anything of scale or size really in ’26.”

Reference Equity accuses CBIZ of chasing the “highest mathematical return.”—CV

      

STRATEGY

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Tariffs have posed a serious challenge to major industries across the globe, and with an estimated cost of around $35 billion since last year, automakers suffered some of the biggest casualties.

Many have had to pivot to mitigate the impact on their top and bottom lines. Nissan, for one, put more focus on its American-manufactured models like the Rogue, Pathfinder, and Frontier, to not only skirt the challenges of tariffs, but to boost overall growth.

According to Q2 sales figures, Nissan’s US retail sales grew 8% YoY; the carmaker has also experienced 16 consecutive months of YoY retail sales growth.

“Momentum is building at Nissan,” Tiago Castro, Nissan’s US SVP of marketing and sales, said. “We like to say Nissan is back—and it’s consistently back.”

Made in America. Alongside its Mexican-manufactured Kicks and Sentra models, Nissan’s American-built models—which accounted for over 60% of its retail sales volume in the first half of this year—have become the center of the company’s inventory strategy. According to Q2 sales figures, the Frontier saw retail sales grow by 37% YoY, the Rogue by 29% YoY, while the Pathfinder delivered the best-ever quarter total volume.

Refocusing on US-built models helped spur the turnaround, Revenue Brew reports.—LI

      

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market forces

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top finance reads.

Stat. 187,000. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits for the first time last week, seasonally adjusted. That’s the lowest number of claims since 1969, according to data from the Department of Labor. (CNN)

Quote. “It could be a health incident. It could be caregiving. It could be displacement. It could be AI.”—Surya Kolluri, head of think tank TIAA Institute, on why Americans are retiring sooner than expected. (USA Today)

Read. Donald Trump Jr.’s investment firm, 1789 Capital, is doing really, really well right now. (New York Magazine)

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