I recently finished reading The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage by Roger L. Martin. It’s well worth reading. Even though the book was published almost a decade ago, the ideas and principles espoused by the author are still relevant and applicable in today’s business environment.
Performance risk in financial markets refers to the potential for investments or portfolios to underperform due to market-wide fluctuations such as changes in interest rates, equity prices, or currency values. For CFOs, this risk directly impacts capital allocation, funding strategies, and overall corporate financial health. Understanding it enables better decision-making to safeguard shareholder value.
This edition of Gustavo’s Corner AI News for CFOs reflects a broader strategic inflection point in which artificial intelligence is moving from experimentation to enterprise-wide execution. Across industries, AI is no longer positioned as a standalone innovation initiative, but as a foundational capability shaping productivity models, decision-making processes, governance frameworks, and competitive positioning. The common strategic thread is the acceleration of AI from insight generation toward measurable business outcomes, alongside growing pressure to demonstrate return on investment, scalability, and organizational readiness.
I am a fan of the music from Led Zeppelin, especially their song Stairway to Heaven. In their song are these lyrics:
“Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run there’s still time to change the road you’re on. And it makes me wonder.”
Risk management is a structured process of spotting potential issues, monitoring risks, evaluating their impact, and implementing controls to protect the organization’s objectives. This involves the following key steps:
