Define Your AI Finance Identity Now 🧭

CFOs Set the Vision for Autonomous Finance

Author

Vanessa Carter
September 11, 2025

In partnership with

How 433 Investors Unlocked 400X Return Potential

Institutional investors back startups to unlock outsized returns. Regular investors have to wait. But not anymore. Thanks to regulatory updates, some companies are doing things differently.

Take Revolut. In 2016, 433 regular people invested an average of $2,730. Today? They got a 400X buyout offer from the company, as Revolut’s valuation increased 89,900% in the same timeframe.

Founded by a former Zillow exec, Pacaso’s co-ownership tech reshapes the $1.3T vacation home market. They’ve earned $110M+ in gross profit to date, including 41% YoY growth in 2024 alone. They even reserved the Nasdaq ticker PCSO.

The same institutional investors behind Uber, Venmo, and eBay backed Pacaso. And you can join them. But not for long. Pacaso’s investment opportunity ends September 18.

Paid advertisement for Pacaso’s Regulation A offering. Read the offering circular at invest.pacaso.com. Reserving a ticker symbol is not a guarantee that the company will go public. Listing on the NASDAQ is subject to approvals.

Hey there, CFOs! 💼

In this issue, Day One of Gartner’s CFO & Finance Executive Conference in London focused on AI, identity, and transformation in finance. Gartner encouraged CFOs to adopt a “catalyst” identity, noting that fewer than 40% of finance leaders are consulted on enterprise AI projects.

Here’s what matters now.

📰 Upcoming in this issue

  • 🤖 AI Identity Redefines the CFO Role

  • 📈 Insiders Now Dominate CFO Seats

  • 🔐 Stop Paying the Password Tax: A CFO’s Zero-Trust Playbook

🤖 AI Identity Redefines the CFO Role

Day One of Gartner’s CFO Conference showcases the “catalyst CFO” role, featuring jam-packed sessions on AI trust, speedier closes, and proactive tools.

Key Takeaways:

  • 🧭 Catalyst Identity: Gartner recommends that finance shift from guardian to growth catalyst, influenced by eight forces through 2030.

  • ⚙️ Own AI Agenda: CFOs prioritize objectives first, then align AI use cases, yet many stay sidelined on enterprise projects.

  • ✅ Trustworthy Data: Vendors now emphasize ROI by using ERP-validated data to minimize intercompany errors and accelerate reconciliations.

  • 📈 Skills Shift: AI automates transactions, while analyst agents emerge and teams shift toward systems skills and quicker close cycles.

📈 Insiders Now Dominate CFO Seats

Insiders now hold the majority of CFO positions, with 71.8% of H1 moves filled internally. Crist Kolder attributes this shift to uncertainty and succession planning.

Key Takeaways:

  • 📊 Internal Surge: Internal hires account for 71.8% of H1 CFO turnovers, up from 52.9% in 2024, exceeding the 62% historical average.

  • 🧭 Succession Strategy: Boards prefer established operators amid uncertainty, speeding up bench development and succession planning for finance leadership.

  • 🪑 CEO Pattern: CEO seats follow suit, with only 15.1% external hires in H1, down from 21% in 2024.

  • 🧩 DEI Slippage: Female CFOs make up 17.5%, while racially diverse CFOs account for 14.5%, both slightly decreasing year over year but still well above 2015 levels.

🔐 Stop Paying the Password Tax: A CFO’s Zero-Trust Playbook

“Hackers don’t break in anymore, they log in.” This guide shows how CFOs reduce the password burden with affordable, key-custody zero trust.

Key Takeaways:

  • 🔓 Credential Theft Dominates: Stolen logins cause nearly half of all breaches, and 88% of web app attacks depend on compromised credentials.

  • 💸 Password Tax Adds Up: Password resets account for up to 50% of help desk tickets, costing about $70 each and totaling six figures annually.

  • 🛡️ True Zero Trust: True zero trust maintains control over authentication keys within the organization, preventing cloud-synced replicas and provider-side recovery.

  • 📈 Practical CFO Path: Start with identity and access management, pilot user-held tokens, develop recovery workflows, and then expand to lower tickets and phishing risk.

Why It Matters

Finance won't change just by using tools. It needs a new identity and more decisive leadership.

CFOs who lead AI projects with clear examples, organized data, and effective management can reduce cycle times, free up working capital, and avoid unsuccessful pilots.

Wishing you continued success,

Vanessa Carter
Editor-in-Chief
CFO Executive Insights

P.S. Interested in sponsoring a future issue? Just reply to this email and I’ll send packages!

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