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Shrinkflation blues
To:Brew Readers
CFO Brew // Morning Brew // Update
The ticking time bomb on the CFO’s desk right now.

Hello, and welcome to Monday. It’s okay, our brackets are completely, hopelessly busted, too.

In this issue:

Downsizing

Misalignment

Inside scoop

Drew Adamek, Natasha Piñon, Alex Zank, Courtney Vien

STRATEGY

shrinkflation consumer pushback CFO

Francis Scialabba

Cookie Monster only needed three simple words to deliver a scathing edict on the hot topic currently plaguing grocery store aisles and finally infiltrating the halls of Congress: “Me hate shrinkflation!”

Seemingly everyone else—from President Biden to Senator Elizabeth Warren to probably just about all your friends and family—has shared the same message recently, with maybe just a touch more eloquence.

That’s good news for the US consumer.

For CFOs, however, it’s a warning that the jig will soon be up. The next step in the shrinkflation saga: navigating consumer backlash.

Click here for more on finance’s role in shrinkflation.NP

PRESENTED BY MINDBRIDGE

Calling all CFOs, finance experts, and internal audit professionals: How’s your AI readiness? It feels like someone slammed the reset button on the audit process, so teams are gonna need to adapt. Fast.

Fortunately, MindBridge is here to help. They deliver trust, transparency, and efficiency to audit and finance teams by elevating AI for internal controls over financial reporting.

They've created an entirely new way of applying AI to your ICFR process—they call it AiCFR™, and it boosts control effectiveness and process efficiency.

MindBridge is the real deal. In fact, they are leading the transition to AI-powered audits. It’s the only AI specifically engineered for internal audit and financial transaction risk analytics.

Get AI ready.

BOARD RELATIONS

Boards execs disagree

Wong Yu Liang/Getty Images

Nothing is worse on a long-distance road trip than the driver and navigator bickering over the best route to take. Company leaders should remember this simple fact when aligning their objectives and methods.

While executives and boards are aligned on organizational objectives, they don’t necessarily agree on how to reach them, according to a new survey from Protiviti, BoardProspects, and Broadridge Financial Solutions.

“While the board and C-suite each have their own part to play in the effective management of an organization, they must be on the same page when it comes to navigating the most complex and daunting challenges their companies will face,” Joe Tarantino, president and CEO of Protiviti, said in a news release.

Course correction. The report included recommendations for beefing up board governance and performance. Here are a few suggestions from the research team:

Click here for more on improving relations between boards and execs.AZ

CFOS

Devin Poch Figure 8 CFO

Devin Poch

Devin Poch became CFO of Figure 8, which runs the Museum of Ice Cream in New York City, in December 2023. Previously, he was regional CFO at WeWork. He spoke with CFO Brew about what drew him to the role and his passion for design.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

What advice would you give someone who wants to become a CFO?

I don’t think there’s any one track to become a CFO. I think it’s more about adding varied experience and skill sets to your toolbox. It's about being curious. It’s about asking questions. I do think people who want to learn as much as possible about the business, understand the drivers behind the business, can then ultimately add value to the business.

If there are projects that are surfacing within the company, always raise your hand. You never know…where that experience may take you and how it may serve you later in your career.

For more of Devin’s inside scoop, click here.CV

TOGETHER WITH XACTLY

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PODCAST

A graphic with purple, blue, white, and green geometric shapes features a portrait of Katie Perry and another of Austin Hankwitz. A white logo reads "After Earnings," and two smaller logos underneath read "Morning Brew" and "Stakeholder Labs."

Morning Brew

After Earnings connects modern investors with decision-makers shaping markets. Join Austin Hankwitz and Katie Perry as they bring conversations that used to only be available to hedge fund managers to the rest of us. Listen now to their interview with Celsius CEO John Fieldly about the beverage company's rapid growth. Listen now.

MARKET FORCES

market forces chart

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top finance reads.

Stat: $2.1 billion. That’s how much Advance Publications, owner of the Condé Nast global media company, allegedly made off last week’s Reddit IPO. Advance bought Reddit for $10 million in 2006, so we’re guessing there will be a lot of upvoting bonus packages for Advance execs this year. (CNN Business)

Quote: “I actually think this is a moment-in-time type of role. And it’s funny to say that about your own job. The need for the specific AI person goes away simply because everyone else levels up their skills and knowledge around these technologies, which is what my guess is probably happens.”—Dan O’Connell, chief AI and strategy officer at the cloud communications company Dialpad, on the (temporary?) rise of the chief AI officer (Tech Brew)

Read: Here’s a handy guide for motivating finance teams and building engagement and efficiency. (Financial Management)

Join the evolution: AI has accelerated the internal audit process, meaning the future is now—ready for it? MindBridge can prep you. Their tools can help you crush AI-powered audits. Stay up to date.*

*A message from our sponsor.

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