CFOs are being pulled into more decisions, not fewer.

The better finance leader does not chase every table. They make it clear where their judgment changes the outcome.

Finance adds value when it knows which AI decisions deserve CFO-level judgment.

Fin’s on-demand session shows how teams can scale AI with clearer ownership, governance, and operating discipline.

Across product, ops, and CX teams, a new kind of role is taking shape: the person responsible for making AI actually work, day to day. In this roundtable, three people living this shift share what it's really like: Simone Santiago Broad (Yoco), Yelva Espinoza (Zumba Fitness), and Fin's Dave Lynch. You'll hear how they carved out these roles, what the job looks like across industries, the skills they'd hire for, and the challenges they're tackling right now.

Watch the full conversation on demand.

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74% of CFOs rate their AI literacy as intermediate or lower. That gap matters because AI is now touching capital, risk, productivity, and performance. The CFO does not need to own every AI decision, but finance must know which ones deserve CFO-level judgment.

There is a quiet trap in the expanding CFO role: usefulness can become overreach.

When every AI workflow, operating bet, or department tradeoff gets routed to finance, the CFO starts looking central while the decision system gets slower. That is not influence. That is congestion.

The stronger board story is about decision rights. Finance should be close to the choices that affect capital allocation, risk exposure, forecast credibility, investor messaging, and measurable performance. Other choices need clear owners who can move without waiting for the CFO to bless every step.

I learned this the hard way. Earlier in my career, I joined too many meetings because I thought presence meant control. It did not. It meant people stopped deciding until finance reacted. The calendar was full, but the company was not faster.

BOARD LINE: “Finance will stay closest to the decisions where CFO judgment changes capital, risk, or the story we tell about performance.”

Use a Finance Decision Rights Grid.

Keep it to one page.

The grid should create three lanes: decide, shape, or monitor. “Decide” means the CFO owns the call. “Shape” means finance frames the economics, then another leader owns execution. “Monitor” means finance tracks the outcome without slowing the work.

This is not about stepping back. It is about spending CFO judgment where it earns the highest trust.

CONTROL CHECK: Can your team tell which decisions require CFO approval and which only need finance visibility, yes or no?

The modern CFO does not become more effective by standing in every doorway. The role gains power when finance is precise about where it belongs. AI makes that discipline more important, because more decisions will feel financial even when they should not all wait for the CFO.

— Until next edition —