How CFOs Can Navigate The Tariff Hurricane |
It’s no surprise that CFOs are increasingly interested in AI, with a new study from Kyriba indicating that two-thirds of global CFOs expect the technology to drive a large transformation in their roles over the next five years—an increase of 14% from a similar survey six months ago. But they’re nervous about privacy and security risks. Financial management software platform Kyriba put together its own 200-point index measuring CFOs' optimism, preparedness, and risk, and found that the global average is 93.28, indicating CFOs are in the middle. Kyriba defined this as showing measured confidence: optimism about AI, but approaching it with strategic caution.
“The OPR Index captures this complexity and shows that true confidence isn’t just about feeling positive – it’s about being ready to act decisively even amid uncertainty,” Kyriba Chief Product Officer Monica Green Boydston said in a written statement. “Finance leaders who master this balance will be positioned to unlock AI's full potential while maintaining the trust and control their organizations demand.”
Kyriba suggests that this will take shape in 2026 when CFOs work to close the trust gap by investing in data reliability and security fraud prevention as their departments adopt AI. But in today’s volatile world, they’re likely to rely more on AI. Companies are moving away from “growth at all costs” strategies and are leaning more on forecasting and better visibility into all figures on the balance sheet, which AI systems can provide. AI-powered analytics, forecasting and scenario planning can help CFOs become more agile in decision-making in a rapidly changing business world.
Punctuating the uncertainty of the last year have been new tariffs, which President Donald Trump has freely imposed, amended, delayed and threatened to escalate—and which have been challenged at all levels by businesses and some legislators. And while a Supreme Court ruling about the legality of some of the tariffs is expected any day, we’re far from the end of the tariff issue. I spoke with Andrew Siciliano, Global and U.S. Head of Trade and Customs at KPMG, about the impacts and implications of tariff uncertainty. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter.
Last weekend, the news of a Justice Department criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell registered only slightly on Wall Street. Today, as markets open following a long weekend of divisive rhetoric and escalating threats of tariffs over President Donald Trump’s plan to gain full U.S. control of Danish-controlled Greenland, things look different. As the markets opened Tuesday, the S&P 500 dropped about $750 billion in wealth—roughly the equivalent value of Greenland itself. All of the major indexes were down more than a percentage point in early hours of trading, while the Cboe Volatility Index—often referred to as Wall Street’s “fear gauge”—spiked 28% on Tuesday morning to a three-month high. In the wake of market turbulence, investors turned again to gold and silver, again rocketing prices close to the all-time highs hit last week.
On Friday, Trump announced a new 10% tariff on eight European nations that don’t support his Greenland takeover bid, and threatened a 200% tariff on French wine and champagne over France’s unwillingness to join Trump’s Gaza “Board of Peace.” In an address Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe’s response to Trump’s proposed tariffs would be “unflinching, united and proportional.” She pledged her “full solidarity with Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark.”
European nations seem to be willing to try negotiating more with Trump for now, but the EU has many options, Politico writes. These include a retaliatory tariff that has been frozen since last year, which is scheduled to take effect on Feb. 7, and the EU Anti-Coercion Instrument, or “trade bazooka,” which can unilaterally........