The past four years were a boom time for ESG and climate considerations for businesses. The SEC proposed greenhouse gas disclosures for public companies in 2022, the European Union set up the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive that same year, and in 2023, half of the world’s largest companies had some kind of net zero commitment.

Yet with the boom came the backlash. Also in 2023, mentions of ESG on earnings calls dropped to their lowest level since 2020, according to the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance. And more than 150 anti-ESG bills were introduced into 37 state legislatures that year. But these were just preamble to the vibe shift after the 2024 reelection of President Trump. His administration’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, the SEC dropping climate disclosure rules, and the EPA’s bid to cancel $20 billion in climate grants signaled to companies that sustainability is not a top priority.

But the question is, have CFOs been listening, and what does it mean if they haven’t? The Trump administration’s hatred of DEI resulted in a massive pullback from corporate DEI initiatives by businesses from Target to Home Depot. However, companies seem to be charging ahead with climate-related spending, according to experts who spoke with CFO Brew.

Let’s zoom out for the big picture.—JK

A majority (54%) of US-based companies said they’ll need to raise prices following President Donald Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” announcement, compared to 46% that said the same thing before the big April 2 reveal, according to an Allianz survey.

There’s been a tariff deal since Allianz conducted its survey. The US and China earlier this month agreed to a 90-day pause that lowers tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to 30%, and lowers China’s tariffs on US goods to 10%. This likely changes little for pricing strategies, according to Allianz.

“Despite recent positive developments, price hikes are likely to remain the go-to strategy globally to counter tariff impacts,” the report states.

The insurance giant, which gathered responses from 4,500 companies globally in March and April, found that nearly three in five expect the trade war will negatively impact them.

For more on how companies are responding to tariffs, click here.—AZ

AI was everywhere at the 2025 Gartner CFO & Finance Executive Conference. No fewer than 68 sessions were specifically devoted to the topic. Practically every SaaS vendor touted their products’ AI capabilities. The keynote speakers asserted that 60% of finance organizations will use “AI-enabled scenario planning” by 2028, and made ominous pronouncements, such as “There is no future for good process executors. There is still a future for humans, but only humans who want to work on complex, novel problems.” (Outside of Star Trek and role-playing games, you will never be referred to as a “human” as often as you will at a finance conference.)

But Gartner’s also known for its Hype Cycle, fittingly enough, and it raises the question: How much of the AI buzz was just that: hype? Is it really going to transform the finance function for good, or is it merely an extension of technologies that came before it?

As it turns out, the answer’s a little of both.

Read on to see what human-like tools can do for you.—CV