Good morning. When I was in Chicago earlier this week, talent and AI were on the agenda.<\/p>\n
At Fortune\u2019s CFO Collaborative dinner on Wednesday night, sponsored by Deloitte<\/a>, Ted Souder\u2014CEO and co-founder of Quoin, a startup developing AI-powered infrastructure for private capital markets\u2014drew on his decades-long career, including more than 20 years at Google<\/a> and his role in founding the Google CFO Forum, to share his perspective on AI\u2019s impact across organizations.<\/p>\n Now an adviser to startups and venture capital funds on AI and business transformation, Souder spoke with Fortune\u2019s Diane Brady before an audience of leading CFOs from Chicago and beyond, sharing observations from his global travels. Everywhere he goes, he finds businesses asking similar questions: How do we implement AI? How do we measure ROI? What does it mean for our workforce? And how do we build strategies for long-term success?<\/p>\n Whether at intimate gatherings or major summits, one thing stands out: no company feels far ahead or behind in its AI journey. \u201cWe\u2019re all in this unknown together,\u201d Souder said. He noted that this shared sense of challenge makes events like these invaluable for learning and connection\u2014even as competitive pressures lead some leaders to withhold lessons or setbacks.<\/p>\n \u201cFor many businesses, if they have big AI wins, they don\u2019t necessarily want to share them\u2014perhaps because it\u2019s a competitive advantage,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if they\u2019re not having AI wins, they don\u2019t really want to share that either. So we\u2019re all in the same boat.\u201d<\/p>\n Why success requires a long-term vision<\/p>\n AI will impact every job, industry, and country, Souder told the CFOs. \u201cWe need to start thinking about how we\u2019re embracing this today,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe can\u2019t wait and see how this pans out.\u201d He cautioned against postponing AI initiatives simply because other projects take priority.<\/p>\n Souder emphasized that effective AI adoption demands collaboration across the C-suite. \u201cThis is a mindset shift,\u201d he said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t a tech project. This isn\u2019t an ERP implementation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Finance chiefs have unique visibility across the organization; CFOs can be central to driving an AI \u201cmindset shift.\u201d He added that C-suite leaders\u2014including CMOs, CIOs, and CEOs\u2014should break down silos and work together.<\/p>\n To foster real change, Souder recommends that leaders visibly commit to AI, set clear policies, allocate resources, and focus on talent<\/a> by investing in workforce training. He suggested practices such as tying AI proficiency to performance reviews, which help connect employee development to organizational transformation.<\/p>\n Souder also advocated forming AI councils or \u201ctiger teams\u201d to oversee strategy, implementation, and governance\u2014including privacy and ethics. With the right structures, companies can create a culture of experimentation and learning, rather than expecting overnight success, he said.<\/p>\n Success with AI adoption, Souder said, requires a willingness to embrace incremental impact and \u201cshake out some of the bad decisions.\u201d Boards, he added, must get comfortable with long-term visions, not just quarterly results or instant ROI. \u201cFrom the CFO perspective, having that board exposure is really important,\u201d Souder said.<\/p>\n Sheryl\u00a0Estrada Leaderboard<\/p>\n Fortune 500 Power Moves<\/p>\n Todd Cunfer was appointed EVP and CFO of The Campbell\u2019s Company (No. 425<\/a>), effective Oct. 20. Cunfer succeeds Carrie Anderson, who is leaving the company to pursue new opportunities. Cunfer brings over 25 years of experience. He joins Campbell\u2019s from Freshpet, where he served as CFO since 2022. Before that, he was CFO at Simply Good Foods Company, a nutritional foods and snacking products company. Previously, Cunfer spent over 20 years in senior finance roles at The Hershey Company, including VP of international finance, VP of global supply chain finance and VP of North America finance.\n<\/p>\n Every Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts\u2014see the most recent edition<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n More notable moves<\/p>\n Brent Wahl,\u00a0CFO of\u00a0NextDecade Corporation<\/a> (Nasdaq: NEXT), has resigned from his position, effective Oct. 20. The company has appointed Mike Mott,\u00a0SVP of\u00a0enterprise transformation, as interim CFO.\u00a0Wahl is leaving NextDecade to join a digital infrastructure company, and he has agreed to serve in a consultant capacity through Dec. 31, 2025. The company will initiate a search process to find a permanent successor.\n<\/p>\n Mark Schmitz was appointed CFO of\u00a0Deep Fission, Inc.<\/a>, a nuclear energy company.\u00a0Schmitz brings more than 40 years of global finance leadership experience. He has served as CFO for companies, including Goodyear, Itron, Plug Power, and Alghanim Industries, and has held senior finance positions in China, Brazil, the U.K., and the Middle East.\n<\/p>\n Big Deal<\/p>\n The startup Zip\u2019s inaugural \u201cState of Spend<\/a>\u201d report finds that 75% of companies now factor AI into hiring decisions, with 17% requiring proof that AI cannot perform the role before approving new positions.\n<\/p>\n Technology spending is increasing despite workforce reductions, with 37% of organizations planning to add new vendors\u2014particularly for AI tools. The data is based on a global survey of 1,030 C-suite and senior decision-makers who control corporate spending across procurement, finance, IT, and operations.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the first time in history, companies are looking at everything through the lens of AI,\u201d said Nick Heinzmann, head of research at Zip.\n<\/p>\n AI fluency topped the list of most valued skills in new hires, with 56% of those surveyed placing it above all other skills, followed by data analysis at 43%, according to the report.\n<\/p>\n Going deeper<\/p>\n \u201cBattle over Elon Musk\u2019s trillionaire pay package builds as pension funds face off against Tesla\u201d is a Fortune report<\/a> by Amanda Gerut\n<\/p>\n From the report: \u201cTesla is weeks away from a monumental shareholder vote on CEO Elon Musk\u2019s potential $1 trillion pay package at its annual investor meeting, and the EV-maker is pulling out all the stops to push the measure through.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Last year, Tesla rallied thousands of mom-and-pop retail investors to vote their shares of stock in favor of Musk\u2019s billions in pay. Now, Tesla is teeing up retail holders for another vote on Nov. 6 that would set Musk on the path to becoming the world\u2019s first trillionaire by granting him up to 12% of Tesla\u2019s outstanding shares divided into 12 tranches through a restricted stock grant.\u201d\u00a0 You can read the complete report here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Overheard<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m envious of the current generation of 20-year-old dropouts, because the amount of stuff you can build\u2026 the opportunity space is so incredibly wide.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told Rowan Cheung during an interview<\/a> at the DevDay conference on Monday, Fortunereported<\/a>. Altman said he envies Gen Z college dropouts, as he hasn\u2019t had a \u201creal chunk of free mental space\u201d in the past couple of years to think about what he\u2019d build now. \u201cBut I know that there would be a lot of cool stuff to build,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good morning. When I was in Chicago earlier this week, talent and AI were on the agenda. 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sheryl.estrada@fortune.com<\/a><\/p>\n