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Hello, and welcome to Thor’s day. Anthropic states in its S-1 that losses from a “catastrophic AI-related incident” could be so great that “no single insurer, and potentially the insurance industry in the aggregate” could cover the risk. If Anthropic truly believes that, then maybe the risk managers in the room would have enough sense to tell leadership to…not do the thing creating that risk? Seems reasonable to us! In this issue: Most wanted 🔻 Deficiency drop 🛩️ Winging it —Demi Lawrence, Courtney Vien, Helena Cheng |
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TALENT MANAGEMENT Who will thrive?  Getty Images | The demand for finance talent has grown significantly in the last few years, but the kind of talent finance executives want has changed. Although not every finance job is equal, two CFOs at vastly different enterprises agreed that they look for workers who can contextualize, analyze, and translate the complexity of the business to help make better decisions. And yes, that does include AI. “Now, what makes a real difference is, can you audit and integrate the output you’re getting from AI?” Dan Zhang, CFO of AI-native project management software company ClickUp, said. “The people that I see really thriving in this age, they know how to test the hypothesis that the AI made. They will ask questions like, ‘Show me the details. What would break it?’ and they have counter arguments to every proposal that AI put[s] in front of them,” Zhang said. “The people with a T-shaped knowledge and talent will be the most popular,” Zhang said.—DL |
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Sponsored By AvidXchange AI ROI meets its match  | Saving time is a start. But if an AI-powered AP process speeds up invoice capture to leave approvals and payments stuck in the slow lane, finance teams could be leaving ROI on the table. AvidXchange’s free e-book Is Your AP Process Holding Back Your AI ROI? explores what happens after better invoice data enters the picture. It explains how connected AI across capture, approval guidance, controls, and payment execution can help finance teams turn isolated efficiencies into value across the full AP life cycle. Human oversight stays in the loop, where it belongs. With 63% planning to increase investment in AI tools and capabilities in 2026, the question is whether AP workflows can keep pace. Finance leaders can get the full picture without another spreadsheet scavenger hunt. Download the free e-book from AvidXchange. |
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AUDITING Report card time  Getty Images | Audit quality substantially improved in 2025, the PCAOB found. The rate of Part 1.A deficiencies—those involving insufficient evidence to support audit opinions—dropped to 23%, from 38% in 2024, staff wrote in a report. At the Big Four firms, which audit 80% of the US market cap on public companies, the results were even more striking: Their Part 1.A deficiency rate plunged to 8% from 20% in 2024. But audit quality also picked up at smaller firms. At firms auditing 100 or fewer issuers, deficiencies fell to 32%, from 53% in 2024. 2025’s results represent a marked improvement from 2022, when the deficiency rate reached 40%, a finding the PCAOB’s then-chair Erica Williams deemed “completely unacceptable,” and from 2023, when it climbed to 46%. “There was clearly a post-pandemic spike” in deficiencies, Richard Chambers, former president and CEO of the Institute of Internal Auditors, told CFO Brew. In 2020, for instance, the deficiency rate was 29%. Audit deficiency rates will be less comparable going forward due to the new focus on quality control systems.—CV |
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EARNINGS Boeing’s parts problem  Illustration: Morning Brew Inc., Photos: Adobe Stock | Boeing has finally found a number investors care about almost as much as 747. It’s 47—the monthly 737 Max production rate the company is trying to reach while wing and engine shortages get in the way. The planemaker currently builds roughly 42 Max jets per month, and it had hoped to stabilize production by reaching 47 this year. But CEO Kelly Ortberg said while reporting earnings Tuesday that the milestone is probably out of reach until early 2027, even as investors push Boeing to get more planes out the door. That delay explains a mixed quarter for Boeing’s biggest business. The company’s commercial airplane division lost $697 million, nearly twice what analysts expected, as deliveries stagnated. Boeing handed over 161 commercial aircraft in the third quarter, down from 171 in the previous three months. Shares sank more than 10% on Tuesday. Problems on the factory floor. Boeing doesn’t have a shortage of customers: Airlines are already waiting years for new aircraft. The problem is getting all the pieces of those aircraft to show up at the same time. Boeing generated $464 million in quarterly free cash flow, Brew Markets reports.—HC |
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EVENT Three systems, one headache  Morning Brew Inc. | If you plan in one system, close in another, and report in a third, the numbers are unlikely to agree. Join us for a conversation on how connected systems, one login, and AI across the full cycle can give finance leaders the whole picture. Register now. |
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market forces .jpg) Francis Scialabba | Today’s top finance reads. Stat: $1.4 billion. That’s how much a group of investors has offered to purchase Wendy’s. Suddenly, we’re hungry for fries and a Frosty. (CNBC) Quote: “We’re all aligned on how we’re executing the strategy, even when the stock price wasn’t necessarily reflecting that people liked it.”—UPS CFO Brian Dykes, on staying the course during the company’s strategic pivot (Fortune) Read: Barclays wants to buy default protection on $10 billion of debt to AI infrastructure development in hopes of making room for more AI-related loans. (Bloomberg) *A message from our sponsor. |
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Jobs  | Skip the noise and cut to the jobs that matter. CollabWORK curates openings from top employers and shares them directly in trusted spaces like CFO Brew—click here to see the full list for readers like you. |
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