Artificial intelligence may frighten some (it is spooky season, after all), but establishing effective governance around its implementation shouldn’t be a cosmic horror unknown to CFOs and other C-suite execs.

We shouldn’t think of AI like a mysterious bogeyman lurking behind the closet door. Siqi Chen, CEO and CFO of finance platform Runway, said we can view it—and the governance surrounding it—in the same light as other technology.

“It’s kind of odd to me that AI governance is like this separate thing that’s really scary when, in fact, it is just the same thing that they’ve been dealing with this whole time,” Chen told CFO Brew. “It’s just a different piece of software.”

Chen acknowledged that AI is different from other innovations in that it has massive potential to disrupt and is creepily intelligent. But “at the end of the day, it’s still chips and software and data, and we’ve been working with chips and software and data for a very long time,” he said.

But it is something that CFOs will need to pay attention to in the coming years. Good AI governance helps protect businesses from damage to their reputation or their pocketbook, according to Matt Farrell, director at advisory firm Riveron.

For more on creating effective AI governance, click here.—AZ

Boeing is looking to scrounge up $25 billion over the next three years by offering at least $10 billion in new stock or bonds, along with issuing new debt, according to reports of the troubled company’s regulatory filings.

It’s Boeing’s second major move in less than a week to prevent a financial nosedive. CEO Kelly Ortberg told employees on Oct. 11 that “over the coming months,” he would cut 10% of their positions—about 17,000 jobs, based on the headcount in its 2023 annual report—to help the company “align with our financial reality and to a more focused set of priorities.”

The company also filed notice of a new $10 billion line of credit on Tuesday.

Strapped for cash. The $10.3 billion in cash and securities that Boeing had on hand at the end of September is “close to the minimum amount the company has said it needs to operate,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

The company hasn’t been building most of its planes since machinists went on strike Sept. 13. If it can’t ramp up production, Boeing won’t be able “to begin generating free cash flow in 2025 and strengthen credit measures,” S&P Global said on Oct. 8, putting the planemaker on notice for a potential downgrade to a junk rating.

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There will be fewer big red “W” logos lit up across the US, since Walgreens plans to shutter 1,200 of its “underperforming” retail drug stores over three years as part of the company’s plan to turn its finances around.

Tim Wentworth, CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, said during a Q4 earnings call this week that “we…want to be accessible and convenient but we need to be appropriately sized.” Most of the workers at the affected locations will be offered employment elsewhere in the company, he said.

According to Wentworth, all but 2,000 of its 8,000 retail pharmacies are profitable. The closure of 1,200 stores “will enable us to respond more dynamically to shifts in consumer behavior and buying preferences,” he said. Wentworth added that Walgreens needs to be better at responding “to a changing environment,” something its competitors have done in recent years.

About 500 locations are slated to close in the new fiscal year, CFO Manmohan Mahajan said during the earnings call. The closures will result in a benefit of approximately $100 million in adjusted operating income, and also help fund the company’s plans to invest more into its profitable locations, he added.

Walgreens reported a $3 billion net loss in Q4, compared to a $180 million net loss in Q4 2023. Its adjusted net earnings fell 41% to $340 million.

For more on Walgreens’ announced closures, click here.—AZ