When she graduated from New York’s Hunter College with a mathematics degree, Bolanle Williams-Olley wasn’t sure what her next step would be. Today, she’s CFO and equity partner at Mancini Duffy, a New York City architecture, design, and construction firm that boasts Verizon, KPMG, Peloton, Starbucks, and LaGuardia Airport among its clients. She’s also the author of a book, Build Boldly: Chart Your Unique Career Path and Lead with Courage, and has founded several nonprofits, including SheBuildsLives, which funds schools in Nigeria, where she was born.

“We always ask her how she does all this and how she sleeps at night,” said Christian Giordano, president and co-owner of Mancini Duffy, who’s known Williams-Olley for more than 15 years.

Williams-Olley said it’s her courage and capacity for hard work that have gotten her to where she is. She came to the US at age 17 to attend college. After graduating, she applied for a job as a junior project accountant with architecture firm HLM, despite not having an accounting background, because the design field interested her.

HLM “hired for character,” Williams-Olley recalled. “For me, that particular interview was life-changing because I represented myself. I was like, ‘Hey, here I am, take it or leave it’...And that started…an almost 16-year journey in the architecture/interior design/construction industry.”

Over the course of that journey, Williams-Olley made confident decisions that benefited both her and her firms—and now, she’s using her example to inspire others to act boldly as well. She’s also found work that allows her to pursue her passion for giving back.

Continue reading.—CV

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Cash is king, especially in this tough interest rate environment. That’s proving true in the mergers and acquisitions market this year, according to PwC’s US Deals 2023 midyear outlook, which says companies and private equity with cash in hand are making deals happen.

There are “opportunities for corporates with strong balance sheets. Private equity sponsors with large amounts of dry powder also have been getting deals done,” according to PwC.

Dealmakers need cash because lending has become tougher and more expensive to obtain. Additionally, “the IPO market has remained quiet for over a year,” according to the report.

Even the private equity market, which often leans heavily on debt financing, is reaching for other ways to get deals done, according to PwC: “Some PE sponsors have turned to more creative financing solutions, including higher equity contribution, seller’s notes, paid in-kind financing and the private credit markets.”

The challenging market is also impacting deal size. PwC found that dealmakers are eschewing big deals in favor of smaller opportunities. However, although the deals appear to be smaller, the volume of M&A activity is “relatively strong compared to” pre-pandemic levels.

Keep reading.—SW

Will generative AI replace human jobs or spur economic growth? It’s not that black and white, but new reports reveal some hints about how the job market is responding to the buzzy new technology.

Recent data from Indeed showed that job postings in June related to generative AI grew around 14% year over year. Conversely, a recent Verge investigation detailed how the boom around generative AI has led to an expansion in the use of gig workers to perform the mundane, low-wage tagging work that provides the data to train AI, and “artificial intelligence” was cited as a reason for nearly 4,000 job cuts in May, according to a report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

But the numbers aren’t all pointing to long unemployment lines: A survey of 1,400 business leaders from Upwork found that 64% of C-suite respondents said generative AI will lead them to hire “more professionals of all types.”

“We saw [C-suite executives] actually seeing this much more of an augmentation play with their workforce as opposed to automation,” Kelly Monahan, managing director of Upwork’s research institute, told Tech Brew. “And so we actually are expecting an increase in hiring…because it’s a brand-new technology and brand-new need within organizations.”

Continue reading on Tech Brew.—PK

Stat: $150 million. That’s the fine Bank of America has to pay for engaging in deceptive practices, including charging extra overdraft fees and signing up customers for credit cards without permission. BoA also owes consumers hurt by the practices over $80 million. (CNBC)

Quote: “Higher salaries are coming for in-house accountants whether management likes it or not.”—John Coffee, a law professor at Columbia Law School, on the impact that the accountant shortage is having on corporate financial reporting. (the Wall Street Journal)

Read: Not every company that promised to leave Russia has actually done so, according to new research. (CNN Business)

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