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Forbes
14 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
How CISOs Can Break Through Communication Barriers
Tech leadership is becoming more important—and understood—by companies and their boards. According to a survey from Deloitte this summer, half of tech professionals have four or more C-suite tech positions in their organizations—including CIO, CTO, CISO and CDAO (data and analytics). There tend to be more tech-specific C-suite roles than in any other single area of the company, but more executives don't automatically make the massive job of governing, regulating, upgrading, protecting and innovating with tech and data any easier. A quarter of respondents said they have a tough time keeping clearly defined responsibilities straight. Top priorities for the coming year also don't necessarily fit in any one executive's purview. About 36% ranked security as a top priority, which is often seen as the CISO's responsibility. But the other top priorities—reducing operational or product costs and increasing value, expanding into new markets or segments, and attracting and engaging customers—straddle many positions. And of course, many companies are working toward an AI transition. Not only do AI functions cross into many different tech areas (especially because many companies might not have a chief AI officer), but the skills for AI are lacking. About 45% say the inability to get people with the right skills is the biggest obstacle to bringing in AI—something that seven in 10 say is likely to add to the company's tech headcount. This is an unconventional barricade for tech leaders. The leadership positions are there, but duties are unclear, priorities are all over the map, and talent for improvement is lacking. It's time for companies and tech leaders to work more on their roles internally. Delineate exact policies and responsibilities for different executives, and decide what structure workis best for company needs. Work on upskilling existing employees. And keep an eye to what skills and capabilities are needed for the long term. While cybersecurity is traditionally the domain of the CISO, the nature of attacks and vulnerabilities today means that everyone needs to have some understanding and responsibility for it. But it can be tough to bridge the communication gap between technical CISOs and other employees. Sameer Ansari, global security and privacy lead at consulting firm Protiviti, gave me some strategies to do that well. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter. This is the published version of Forbes' CIO newsletter, which offers the latest news for chief innovation officers and other technology-focused leaders. Click here to get it delivered to your inbox every Thursday. POLICY + REGULATIONS President Donald Trump delivers remarks on AI at the All-In and Hill & Valley Forum "Winning The AI Race" on Hill & Valley Forum President Donald Trump unveiled his AI policy plan on Wednesday. The overarching goal is to solidify the U.S. position as the world leader in AI—through policies that encourage technology and infrastructure development in the U.S., as well as promoting other nations to buy American AI technology. 'America is the country that started the AI race. And as president of the United States, I'm here today to declare that America is going to win it,' Trump said at a Wednesday evening event in Washington, D.C. 'We're going to work hard, we're going to win it because we will not allow any foreign nation to beat us.' The particulars of the new policy and its parameters—or lack thereof—are not surprising, given Trump's well-known disdain for regulation. At the beginning of his plan: 'Remove red tape and onerous regulation.' The technology, the plan says, is 'far too important to smother in bureaucracy at this early stage, whether at the state or federal level.' The plan doesn't say what kind of AI use might be considered out of line—there are no mentions of protecting secure infrastructure systems, privacy or copyrights. But it directs the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, which helps organizations to minimize risks when implementing AI, to eliminate references to misinformation, DEI and climate change. In his remarks, Trump did speak out against copyright protections for content used to train AI models. 'You can't be expected to have a successful AI program when every single article, book, or anything else that you've read or studied, you're supposed to pay for,' he said. This issue is one of the biggest pending legal matters today around AI. Many publishers, including Forbes , have sued AI companies, accusing them of copyright infringement for unauthorized use of content. Two AI industry leaders—Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and AMD CEO Lisa Su—attended Wednesday's event and praised Trump's plan, the Wall Street Journal reported. 'For the U.S. to lead in AI, we have to run fast, and the AI action plan is a great way of just laying out all the various pieces that will be helpful for us to run fast,' Su told the Journal . NOTABLE EARNINGS Google headquarters in Mountain View, parent Alphabet reported yet another successful quarter, with $96.4 billion in revenue—a 14% year-over-year increase—surpassing analysts' forecasts of $94 billion. The largest percentage of growth came from the Google Cloud division, with revenues reaching $13.6 billion. But the services sector—which includes Google Search, ads on YouTube and other platforms, and subscriptions—saw $82.5 billion in revenue. 'This is all possible because of the long-term investments we have made in our differentiated full-stack approach to AI,' CEO Sundar Pichai said on the earnings call. 'This spans AI infrastructure, world-class research, models and tooling, and our products and platforms that bring AI to people all over the world.' Pichai said the company is increasing its investment in AI infrastructure this year by $10 billion, bringing the total to $85 billion. The dollars going toward infrastructure is planning ahead, he said, working to meet future demand trends. But analysts are tempering Alphabet's success both in the present and future with the outcome of a pending court ruling. The company was found to have held an illegal monopoly in search, and a federal judge is expected to issue a ruling on how to remedy the situation next month. The government has asked the court to force Google to sell its Chrome browser and share its search results data—two actions that could have deep consequences for the company's revenues going forward. CYBERSECURITY getty Hackers breached Microsoft SharePoint on-premise server systems last weekend, accessing data and internal code for an estimated 400 organizations, Reuters reported. The vulnerability was discovered in the attack, and Microsoft quickly issued a security patch, writes Forbes senior contributor Davey Winder. However, the patch doesn't cover all versions of the software that was breached, and the damage may have already been done; cryptographic keys stolen in the breach could allow hackers to retain access without a reset. Major victims of this breach include government, hospital and educational institutions that have security reasons for keeping more data on-premises. According to reports, victims include agencies of the Department of Homeland Security, National Institutes of Health and National Nuclear Security Administration. Microsoft said that Chinese nation-state actors Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon, as well as Chinese threat actor Storm-2603 have historically exploited these SharePoint vulnerabilities. BITS + BYTES How To Break Down Barriers Between The CISO And The Rest Of The Company Protiviti global security and privacy lead Sameer Ansari. Protiviti Cybersecurity is, to some extent, everyone's responsibility. It means the CISO needs to be able to communicate with other executives and employees who may not have the same technical expertise. I talked with Sameer Ansari, global security and privacy lead at consulting firm Protiviti, about how CISOs can make themselves a part of the company's strategic discussion, and be seen as more than a blocker who says new plans are too dangerous. This conversation has been edited for length, clarity and continuity. How does a CISO enter into a partnership with the rest of the company and come to a common understanding of both what they need and what the rest of the company's trying to do? Ansari: It's changing the typical approach that some CISOs have. We're getting out of the technical conversation and putting that to the side, and really focusing on what the business-oriented goals are. A lot of times, the business will come to the CISO with an idea that they want to do from a new product or new region perspective. It's up to the CISO to understand what they're trying to accomplish. If there are some risks associated with that, use that as an opportunity to educate the business on what those risks are, and not just say no: 'Hey, I hear what you're trying to do, but these are some of the risks I'm seeing. Let me explain to you why these are risks.' Use it like an education opportunity, and then start to work with them on joint solutioning. Sometimes, the business will be like, 'That's a security issue. You go deal with it.' And [you need to] show them that, 'Hey, me making a decision on my own in a silo is not good for you, just like you making a security decision on your own without having that conversation with me is not good for either of us.' You should make sure that you can actually have that joint conversation. You should also be solution oriented. If there is a risk there that you think the business is taking that's too large, thinking about saying, 'Here's some alternatives,' and seeing if they're open to those alternatives. How can a CISO get from talking in an overly technical way to explaining threats in a way that everybody can understand? It's through storytelling, using examples and actually giving things that are a little bit more concrete in terms of why things matter, focusing on what I like to call the 'so what.' You have a technical vulnerability. What's the impact of that? How does that translate to what the business is trying to do? Both parties need to put themselves in each other's shoes as much as they can. CISOs will never understand the business as well as the business understands the business, and the business will never understand cybersecurity as well as the CISO does. But spending time and collaborating and having those honest conversations about what each of you're trying to accomplish and how can they actually make those intersect. A good example would be expanding into China or selling a part of the business. Having the CISO early in that conversation and saying, 'Hey, if we want to divest from this business or go into a new market, what should we be thinking about? How do we actually approach this?' [They should collaborate] with legal, thinking about the cybersecurity compliance issues, what new threat factors do we need to think about, and what's the cost associated with that? A lot of times when the business has an idea, they're thinking about the ROI, but the cost of cybersecurity a lot of times does not get factored into that. What advice would you give to a CISO who is hoping to be more collaborative and proactive with other executives and the board of their company? We still see business as very relationship-oriented, so I think you should be having to invest in the relationships outside of your IT or CISO teams and spending time with the business—getting to know them, getting to know what their priorities and key strategies are. That'll make the CISO much more informed in terms of what their strategy should be. Also, when they go to the board to talk about what's happening within their organization from a cybersecurity perspective, [you'll know] how to present it in a way that the board will actually understand and care about certain things. COMINGS + GOINGS Cybersecurity solutions provider Check Point Software Technologies appointed Jonathan Zanger as chief technology officer. Zanger most recently worked in the same role at Trigo. appointed as chief technology officer. Zanger most recently worked in the same role at Trigo. Healthcare staffing company CHG Healthcare welcomed Theresa O'Leary as chief information officer. O'Leary joins the company from UPS, where she was vice president of technology, and she succeeds Scott Boecker, who is moving to another role. welcomed as chief information officer. O'Leary joins the company from UPS, where she was vice president of technology, and she succeeds Scott Boecker, who is moving to another role. Online learning platform Coursera tapped Grant Parsamyan to be its new chief data officer, effective July 21. Parsamyan previously worked as chief data & information officer at Alludo, and has also held leadership roles at OpenTable, eHarmony and Yahoo. STRATEGIES + ADVICE It doesn't matter how much time and money your company invests in cybersecurity threat management. The biggest threat is different departments working in silos. Here's why that's a problem, and how to break down those barriers. Many tech companies are adding AI agents to their software, but customers are slow to start using them. The reasons are many. They're new ideas, but they can also do unintended actions. Here's how to manage new AI agents so that they earn your company's trust and do what they're meant to. QUIZ An upcoming film titled Artificial is reportedly in development at Amazon MGM Studios. What real-life situation is it said to be about? A. The race for tech companies to develop applications and tools for home VR use B. The firing and rehiring of OpenAI cofounder and CEO Sam Altman C. Nvidia's rise from a gaming component manufacturer to the world's most valuable company D. The race to develop AI chatbots, focused on the rivalry between OpenAI cofounders Altman and Elon Musk See if you got the answer right here.
India.com
a day ago
- Business
- India.com
This Indian owned flats in Burj Khalifa, private jets, had Rs 18000 crore net worth, went bankrupt due to single tweet, was forced to sell Rs 12400000000000 firm for Rs 74, he is..
Luck plays an important role in our lives. Sometimes, even a ragpicker becomes a millionaire, whilst even the richest person can lose everything and become a beggar. And BR Shetty's story is one prime example. Once an Indian billionaire, who owned two floors in Burj Khalifa and private jets, had Rs 18000 crore net worth, was forced to sell his Rs 124000 crore firm for just Rs 74 due to…; well, read the story to know more about him. Who is this Indian Billionaire who suddenly went bankrupt, sold his Rs 124000 crore firm for just Rs 74? Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, famously known as BR Shetty, was born on August 1, 1942, into a lower middle-class family in Udupi, then part of the Madras Presidency during the British Raj (in what is now Karnataka). BR Shetty emerged as one of the world's wealthiest people, featuring on Forbes' India's 100 Richest People list in 2015, and was ranked 42nd in 2019. According to Forbes, he secured 804th position in the 'World's Billionaires List, The Richest In 2019' list. BR Shetty worked as a medical representative, and in 1973, at the age of 31, took the plunge to leave India for Dubai, UAE. Media reports suggest that he arrived in Dubai with just $8 and spent the initial days as a door-to-door salesman or selling medicines. However, in just a brief period, BR Shetty made connections with a small number of wealthy and influential individuals, and just a couple of years later, started up the New Medical Center Health (NMC), the first private healthcare provider company in the UAE, in Dubai. NMC Healthcare is the UAE's largest private healthcare network and the third largest healthcare network in Oman. Explaining Shetty's lifestyle is not surprising when he owned private jets, Rolls-Royce cars, and multiple luxury properties, including two floors in the Burj Khalifa (Dubai). He even founded companies like New Medical Centre (NMC), UAE Exchange, and Finablr, built a multi-billion empire in just a few years. Dr. Chandrakumari Raghuram Shetty is a well-respected medical expert in her own field. She has contributed immensely to both the establishment and growth of NMC Health. With her husband's (Dr. B.R. Shetty) venture, she was the first medical professional to step into his first medical center's role back in 1975. She contributed as the first resident doctor and was pivotal in constructing the clinical structure of NMC. She was the first resident doctor of the company and had an important role in the development of its clinical framework and finally became the Group Medical Director at NMC Health. However, his empire came tumbling down when U.S.-based financial research firm Muddy Waters Research called him out in 2019 for hiding $1 billion in debt from investors. This ultimately led to the total collapse of his entity and he subsequently sold his company for just Rs 74. In 2019, when he was at the height of his successes, B.R. Shetty's net worth was estimated at $3.15 billion – making him one of India's richest billionaires according to Forbes. When at his pinnacle, B.R. Shetty's net worth reached $3 billion (approximately Rs 20,000 crore).
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Groom's 7-word tribute to bride shocks at lavish wedding
Entrepreneur James Hachem, from Australia, married social media influencer Antonia Apostolou at a lavish ceremony by Lake Como in Italy where he blurted out the comment A groom suddenly uttered an expletive during nuptials at a stunning location in Italy which has gone viral and divided opinion. Entrepreneur James Hachem, from Australia, married social media influencer Antonia Apostolou by Lake Como in a ceremony that reportedly cost up to £500,000 and included celebrity guests. Antonia wore an intricate lace gown with a low-cut fitted corset and the look was finished with a flowing veil which also had lace wedding was posted on their social media accounts including TikTok but a comment that slipped out by James left many shocked. Antonia has more than 100,000 followers on her TikTok account and she shared a clip which was captioned: 'Aussies in the middle of their elegant Italian wedding.' And in the video Mr Hachem, who was featured on the Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in 2021, disrupting their vows, to suddenly blurt out how stunning the bride looked. 'F*** me does she not look insane?' he asked the wedding guests. Antonia could be seen laughing at the comment while the seated guests watching on clapped and cheered. James can be seen wiping away tears as his bride excitedly waved to the guests. 'Everyone take a deep breath... today is the day that's going to live in our hearts and our memory,' the marriage celebrant said. Mr Hachem, is the founder of of the skincare brand Alya Skin and clothing company Sasha Therese, and among the people at the lavish wedding were bar tsar Nick Russian and his wife Rosalia, along with Jackson Warne - the son of late cricketing great Shane Warne. James' seven word remark including the expletive has now been viewed more than 500,000 times with some people loving it and calling it 'gold' while others felt it was 'vulgar' and out of place. One person wrote: 'He's nervous, he blurted out what he was thinking - kinda cute,' while another comment read: 'She absolutely does look stunning. Valid as f***. Congratulations.' A further wrote: 'When he said that in front of everyone, I started laughing but I know that he loves you,' and another shared: 'Can't get more Aussie than this - and yes she does look insane.' While another person pointed out: 'You can tell the non-Aussies in the comments... 'oh my god, the foul language' ... this couple is hot.'
India.com
2 days ago
- Business
- India.com
This businessman has earned maximum money in world this year so far, his name is…, Mukesh Ambani also in Top 10
Home Business This businessman has earned maximum money in world this year so far, his name is…, Mukesh Ambani also in Top 10 This businessman has earned maximum money in world this year so far, his name is…, Mukesh Ambani also in Top 10 Not Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, or Mark Zuckerberg but Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has become the world's highest-earning businessman. This year, Mukesh Ambani is also included in the top 10 in terms of earnings. This businessman has earned maximum money in world this year so far, his name is..., Mukesh Ambani also in Top 10 Top 10 Richest People In The World As Of July 2025 List: Oracle's Larry Ellison has left everyone behind and topped the list of the world's highest-earning billionaires. He even left behind billionaires like – Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, who always dominated the list. However, Ellison is in second place when it comes to the world's billionaires list. His wealth has increased to more than USD70 billion this year. Meanwhile, Mukesh Ambani is in 16th place on the billionaires list with a whopping wealth of USD 106.9 billion, as per Forbes' real-time billionaires list. According to the latest ranking of the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, the Oracle co-founder is in the second position with a wealth of USD262 billion. interestingly, Mukesh Ambani also made it to the top 10 list in terms of earnings this year. Mark Zuckerberg Is On The Second Position Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is second with earnings of USD40.3 billion. His net worth is USD248 billion. The third place in the list is secured by Jensen Huang, who is the world's ninth richest person. He has earned USD35.8 billion this year. Huang's net worth is USd150 billion. Steve Ballmer is in fourth position. This year his wealth has increased by USD28.5 billion and total wealth is USd175 billion. Thomas Peterffy is ranked fifth in terms of earnings this year. He is the 22nd richest man in the world, with a wealth USD99.9 billion. This year he has earned USD23.5 billion. He is followed by Carlos Slim. His wealth has jumped by USD20.5 billion in 2025. What Is Special In The Top 10 Billionaire List? Notably, this year's list is dominated by tech giants, whether its Larry Ellison or Mark Zuckerberg, everyone runs a tech company. Larry Ellison's Oracle earns its profits from cloud computing and AI infrastructure investments. Whereas Mark Zuckerberg's Meta earns a major portion of its earnings from the metaverse and AI research. Jensen Huang's Nvidia earned big from global demand for AI chips. Steve Ballmer earned USD 28.5 billion from Microsoft's cloud services and OpenAI partnership. Global diversity also plays a major role for these companies in earning major profits. Carlos Slim's company has diversified investments in telecommunications and infrastructure. On the other hand, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance earns a major portion of its profits from renewable energy and 5G expansion. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers's L'Oréal earned billions from Asian demand for its luxury beauty products. For breaking news and live news updates, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Read more on Latest Business News on
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
What CFOs Need To Know (And Often Don't) About Company Workers
There aren't many good things to have come out of the Covid-19 pandemic, but a new study of finance professionals from accounts payable software maker AvidXchange pinpoints one of them: Businesses increased their readiness for the unexpected. As businesses navigate an uncertain financial future, two-thirds say they are more prepared to handle it now than five years ago, when many normal flows of global commerce were disrupted by the virus. Since the pandemic, companies have been investing more in strategic financial technology, including for automation, operational effectiveness, forecasting and productivity. Nearly three-quarters of respondents said technology implemented during the pandemic is helping them now, with seven in 10 reporting that technology is at least very important to their ability to continue to respond to market changes. Just having the technology available doesn't mean that finance professionals are confident in what is coming next, however. The vast majority—86%—are concerned about the state of the economy, and half have deeper concerns about a potential recession. President Donald Trump's unpredictable financial policy, punctuated by threats of high tariffs that are often delayed and revised, has made planning difficult. Nearly half of all companies are reevaluating their budgets and discretionary spending. Three in 10 are using scenario planning and financial modeling to prepare for a range of outcomes. So far, just over half have made moderate changes to their forecasts because of impending tariffs, but about a quarter that have been minimally impacted so far are monitoring them closely. Close to a fifth—17%—said the tariff threat has significantly disrupted planning and required major adjustments. This survey was taken in late spring—April to May—and many of the proposed tariffs seemed to loom much more in the immediate future. That effective date has shifted through the months, and is now set for August 1. However, one thing that hasn't changed since this survey was conducted is the unknown nature of the immediate financial picture, which has been a consistent fog over finance departments since January. When companies are being prudent about their finances, one area where they often make cuts is personnel. However, many companies fail to share relevant people data between managers, HR and the finance department, leading companies to cut employees based on salaries alone—a strategy that sometimes will lead to vital knowledge and capabilities being cut, and ultimately losing more money in the long run. I spoke with Andrea Derler, principal in Research and Customer Value at AI workforce analytics platform Visier, about why companies need to share data to make better informed staffing cuts in difficult times. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter. This is the published version of Forbes' CFO newsletter, which offers the latest news for chief finance officers and other leaders focused on the budget. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every Tuesday. ECONOMIC INDICATORS Stocks climbed to fresh all-time highs on Monday. Michael Nagle/Bloomberg What uncertain economy? Looking at the stock market, the U.S. economy appears to be making fast progress with nothing in its way. The S&P 500 shattered records with two all-time highs in the last week—Monday and Thursday—while the Nasdaq also set a daily record on Monday. Optimism in technology, especially AI, is buoying the markets, with Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Verizon, Qualcomm and Broadcom leading Monday's rally. Analysts are mixed on whether the rally will continue, with strategists at Goldman Sachs, Wells and Fargo projecting more growth this year. Analysts at JP Morgan Chase and Evercore ISI are projecting a decrease. Positive economic data has helped boost the markets. Unemployment claims hit 221,000 last week, down 7,000 from the week before, and June's retail sales were up 0.6% over May, writes Forbes senior contributor Pamela Danziger. Additionally, 83% of S&P 500 companies reporting earnings so far this quarter exceeded expectations. Alphabet and Tesla, two of the 'Magnificent Seven' tech companies, will report their earnings later this week. Despite all of these positive numbers, however, tariffs are still waiting in the wings, writes Forbes senior contributor Erik Sherman. According to President Donald Trump's latest deadlines, many of them will start on August 1, and could begin to impact the prices companies and consumers pay soon thereafter. Countries and companies are working to figure out how to mitigate the majority of the impact when it comes, the Washington Post reports. Meanwhile, Forbes senior contributor Jim Osman writes that a distressing sign is emerging from consumers: 5.1% of all car loans are delinquent, marking a 15-year high in subprime loan delinquencies. Osman writes car loans tend to be the last payment Americans skip. When times are tight, they may miss a credit card, utility, mortgage or rent payment, but vehicles tend to be the last thing they will risk losing. Osman writes that credit stress is spreading as household debt increases, while credit card and buy-now, pay-later companies tighten their standards. POLICY + REGULATIONS President Donald Trump holds up the just-signed GENIUS Act with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) applauding next to U.S. has regulations in place to govern some types of cryptocurrency. Last week, President Trump signed legislation to regulate stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies tethered to the value of assets like the U.S. dollar. The new laws put guidelines in place for banks and other entities to issue stablecoins. The new law has been hailed as a landmark moment for the crypto industry, writes Forbes senior contributor Charles Lloyd Bovaird II. Analysts told him that with regulations in place, there will be more momentum to establish and invest in cryptocurrency, both for individual investors and corporate entities. And several companies are looking into the issue. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Walmart and Amazon are considering launching their own stablecoins as a way to circumvent traditional payment systems. With the ink barely dry on the new law, the earliest impacts have come in the form of runaway valuations on Bitcoin and Ethereum stablecoins. Prices for these tokens have skyrocketed over the last week. Two other Republican-backed bills that would provide more regulation on the industry are currently before the Senate. They would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency and divide regulatory jurisdiction for digital assets between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. NOTABLE NEWS Illustration by Samantha Lee for Forbes; Images;; Devonyu-Getty Images; Ali Çobanoğlu-Getty Images; Joe_Potato/Getty Images; lavsketch/Getty images;It may be about time to take another look at office perks. In Trump's sweeping domestic policy bill—dubbed the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act—the 50% tax deduction on food and drinks in the office expires on January 1, writes Forbes' Kelly Phillips Erb. Office coffee, snacks and employee meals got a 50% tax break under Trump's signature 2017 financial policy bill, but the perk did not get renewed in the latest policy bill. (Unless you work on a fishing vessel in Alaska or a restaurant, that is.) The end of the deduction will raise $32.5 billion over the next decade, Erb writes—a relatively small increase in revenue, considering the bill includes tax cuts adding up to $4.475 trillion in the next decade. The question now facing companies is whether to continue stocking the office kitchen with goodies. A 2023 survey found that eight in 10 employees said catered meals encouraged them to come into the office, and 98% said free meals at work make them feel appreciated. But considering the other internal cost issues that may be at play in 2026, it may be challenging for companies to preserve a non-deductible employee perk. OFF THE LEDGER Why Data Blind Spots For CFOs Lead To Ineffective Layoffs Andrea Derler, Visier Principal, Research and Customer Value. Visier When it's time to cut costs, financial leaders typically begin by looking at a company's largest cost center: personnel. But the CFO's office and the personnel department don't always have the same data—down to agreeing on total employee counts—and the information the CFO has is usually based on numbers and location, missing important context like job functions and company plans for further growth. I spoke with Andrea Derler, principal in Research and Customer Value at AI workforce analytics platform Visier, about how everyone in the company can align on its workforce. This conversation has been edited for length, clarity and continuity. In an ideal business situation, what kind of access would the CFO have of personnel data? Derler: To begin with, what type of data does the organization have? How is it currently processed and integrated? I'm exaggerating here, but she's probably not going to be interested in seeing a spreadsheet with 300,000 employees. Ideally, it's in a system where it's easily accessible to the C-suite. The better it is integrated and actually prepared for results and insights, the easier it becomes. These people don't have time to play around with the system for half an hour to get to one insight. What's our headcount? Where's the diversity in terms of women in leadership positions? How does our projected headcount actually affect our ability to meet our targets next quarter? That needs to be really easily integrated. In terms of the detail and what they see, hopefully they'll work with the relevant IT and CHRO teams to understand: Can I have access to this and that because I need it for this and that? The collaborative aspect of all of these decisions is increasingly high nowadays because it's technically possible: Understanding and negotiating access to certain data points and certain business units is really a collaborative effort. There's a basic set of metrics that are always relevant. We need to know who is going, who is coming in the organization, particularly for workforce planning. You always need to know who is where. Engagement may not be the most important one for the CFO because it's further away from proof to say it really affects the bottom line. Closer to that would be how many people do we have? Do we have the right skills, and how is it going to affect our projected revenue next year? What are some of the bigger things that go wrong in companies because the CFO doesn't necessarily have access to good data from HR? We have a massive data set of [about] more 30 million employee records of global industry data. We look at that data constantly. Two years ago, we studied layoffs—reduction in force, turnover, resignation. Most companies have some type of a number we can see in our data. Then I interviewed six CHROs to understand what the decision making process around layoff positions look like? If there's a very short term calculation: I'm going to save this much if I let 10% go in the next three months, what's sometimes missing? Sure, you have the cost savings in the short term, but what's sometimes neglected is what the actual long-term cost is. I'm going to let go 10% now because I think we don't need them anymore, and currently I'm going to have to save some costs. Sometimes, what's not happening is thinking ahead 12 months. We want to grow again after the difficult economic times. Now, I'm going to have to rehire individuals or find new replacement employees. We know that hiring new employees is generally much more expensive than keeping existing employees and helping them either internally to find different roles or reskill them. There's a lot of academic research and also industry research that found that layoffs most of the time are not really financially making sense because the planning capabilities don't always exist. If the CFO knew how much it's going to cost their company to rehire, knowing it may cost a lot more, giving us another headache in two years time, [they may advise against it]. They had only the financial data and said, 'Oh man, we are spending way too much on wages. We're going to have to make some cost savings.' That's for lack of data integration. That's for lack of the ability to collaborate and look at the same data set and do thorough scenario planning, very much to the detriment, not only of the employees who are being let go, but even financially, it doesn't make sense most of the time. What advice would you give to a CFO who wants to make the best financial decisions in the long run for their company when it comes to personnel, and feels like they need to have more access to information? The first thing, very practically, I would recommend that they would go to their counterparts— CHRO or IT—and find out how solidly set up they are from a technology and analytics perspective in terms of what do we have? How are we set up? Are we still working on spreadsheets? What questions can you answer for me here and now—not tomorrow, next week, not in two months, because we still have to do all the calculations manually. That would be an expectation that the CFO can reasonably have, to say, 'Well, if we want to make good decisions, that's what we need.' Secondly, gauge the appetite. If it's not in place, make a business case for it and say, 'I will be able to make more solid financial decisions if I have the solid HR data behind me. I can make a decision faster and be more agile. That's a big selling point. Currently, with all that's happening in the economy, it's very hard to plan ahead. You need agility and the ability to look something up today. Find out what's in place. If nothing's in place, what's the appetite, and who are the stakeholders that I need to engage with within the company? The third important task that they could do by themselves is list what's missing for me right now in terms of people data. These are the table stakes five questions that I need to be able to answer so I can, as a CFO, make meaningful decisions, or help at least advise the board or others on those decisions. COMINGS + GOINGS Energy services provider Halliburton tapped Stephanie Holzhauser as its new senior vice president and chief accounting officer, effective July 16. Holzhauser was an intern with Halliburton before joining the firm in 2004, and she succeeds Charles Geer Jr. who is leaving the company. tapped as its new senior vice president and chief accounting officer, effective July 16. Holzhauser was an intern with Halliburton before joining the firm in 2004, and she succeeds Charles Geer Jr. who is leaving the company. Utilities provider Southern Company promoted David P. Poroch to its executive vice president and chief financial officer role, effective July 31. Poroch currently works as senior vice president, comptroller and chief accounting officer, and he will succeed Daniel S. Tucker, who is retiring after more than 25 years with the firm. promoted to its executive vice president and chief financial officer role, effective July 31. Poroch currently works as senior vice president, comptroller and chief accounting officer, and he will succeed Daniel S. Tucker, who is retiring after more than 25 years with the firm. Luxury retail group Saks Global appointed Brandy Richardson as chief financial officer, effective August 18. Richardson joins the company from Tailored Brands, Inc., and will succeed interim chief financial officer Mark Weinsten. STRATEGIES + ADVICE Businesses do want to make money, but your success and longevity may depend on your ability to do something else: create value for your customers. Here are some ways to make a shift away from pure profit, but possibly a better market position. If you want to add some leadership insight to your summer reading list, here are six books to help you reflect on your shortcomings and learn how to lead your team more effectively. QUIZ Last week, a TV network canceled a top-rated show because it said it was losing money—though critics have wondered if the cancellation had more to do with President Trump's dislike of it. Which show is it? A. 60 Minutes B. The Daily Show C. The View D. The Late Show See if you got the right answer here.
