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The role of the CFO is evolvingand fast. In todays volatile business environment, finance leaders are navigating everything from unpredictable tariffs to tightening regulations and rising geopolitical tensions. The latest shuffle in global trade policy is just another reminder that agility is no longer optionalit’s a necessity. According to Pigments latest CFO survey, most companies missed their financial targets last year. This isnt just a sobering statisticits a clear wake-up call. In todays volatile environment, businesses can no longer afford to wait and react; they must anticipate and move faster than the market to stay ahead. Finance leaders need tools that not only keep pace with a rapidly shifting global economy but also enable proactive scenario planning. Artificial Intelligence has emerged as the most powerful tool to meet this challengehelping businesses pivot with the same speed and agility that today’s business landscape demands. AI is ushering in a new era of smarter, faster, and more strategic decision-making in the office of the CFO. Finance leaders must now embrace AI not just to boost insights and productivity, but to drive more transformative, strategic outcomes. Teams are leveraging AI to access data faster, forecast more accurately, and collaborate seamlessly across the organizationoften through simple natural language prompts. But the next evolution is underway: autonomous AI agents. These systems dont wait for prompts; they operate continuously in the background, proactively handling complex tasks with minimal human intervention. From real-time forecasting and dynamic scenario planning to risk management and anomaly detection, AI agents will become essential tools in the finance function. The right investments today wont just streamline operationsthey will fundamentally redefine how finance teams drive value, resilience, and competitive advantage for the business. The Rise of Finance AI Agents The latest tariff developments and world trade saga are causing financial leaders and their institutions a lot of headaches. Trade policy is notoriously complex for businesses to navigate. CFOs must assess not only the downstream impact of specific regulations on functions like their supply chain but also how their business may be affected by the wider impact on regional and global economies. But fortunately for CFOs, there is a silver lining. The introduction of AI agents for finance teams has opened new doors to autonomous planning, real-time insights, and more proactive risk mitigation. AI agents can do more than just streamline processes like reconciliation and financial reportingthey can work independently and proactively as an extension of the team to help CFOs stay one step ahead of todays fast-moving business environment. Imagine a world where a forecasting model not only reacts to past trends but also continuously learns from new data, anticipates market shifts, and updates projections in real time. AI agents can simulate the financial impact of global eventsfrom supply chain disruptions to new regulatory policiesand run thousands of scenarios to understand how these could impact the business well before the numbers show up on the balance sheet. This enables CFOs to help their businesses better decide the best course of action to take. AI agents are poised to be a game-changing technology for CFOs and finance teamsbut only if they are ready to embrace the change. Making Smart Bets When new technology emerges, there is huge upside but also equal risk for first movers and early adopters. For CFOs, the key to navigating through the AI hype cycle to make smart and grounded investments lies less in being an expert in emerging technologies and more in understanding your business and what you aim to achieve. First, its critical to understand the problem youre trying to solve with AI and the end goal: Are you trying to cut costs? Improve productivity? Looking for internal or external use cases? Most CFOs today are looking for ways that AI can help reduce spending and time spent on repetitive tasks, so their team can focus time elsewhere. But productivity is just one area that AI can drive value for businesses. CFOs should also think about how AI can democratize data for teams to be more strategic and even help make better business decisions and manage risk. No matter the primary goal for AI adoptionin order to maximize the ROI on AI investmentsits essential to have the right foundations in place. AI can only be as good as the data you feed it. If data sources are poor quality, disparate, or inaccurate then you will get lackluster results no matter how powerful the AI capabilities might be. Related, adding AI to an already complex platform can frustrate teams rather than help them. Platforms that integrate easily with data sourcesand clean up data during implementationmake AI reliable and accessible for nontechnical users to maximize its value. AI agents operate best when supported by the right architecture. It is critical that they are embedded in a platform that is AI-first, flexible, and intuitive, while also having access to accurate, real-time data in order to deliver transformational value, fast. Finally, for AI to be truly effective and seamless, it requires an organization-wide strategy. CFOs should work alongside their CTOs and CIOs to ensure their data foundations are sound so that when new tools or platforms are added, teams can trust the data and outputs from AI are accurate. It also helps to start small. Get clear on exactly the use case for AI and test this out before building it out further. The Next Move is Yours The opportunity to become an AI-empowered finance organization is there for the taking. CFOs who want to give their teams the best chance to succeed and exceed expectations should not wait to make their move. According to McKinsey, 78% of business leaders say AI has already improved operational efficiency and decision-making in their organizations. And forward-thinking CFOs are already piloting AI in planning and analysis workflows, fraud detection, and even ESG reporting. The results? Greater accuracy, faster turnaround, and a better handle on risk. Those who delay risk being outpaced by competitors who are already harnessing AI to steer their companies with precision through these uncertain times. AI isnt just about unlocking new levels of eficiencyits about giving finance teams better access to the insights they need to make faster and more informed decisions in a more challenging and unpredictable world. Agents in particular have the power to change a businesss trajectory and resultsfinding new pathways to accelerate growth, drive higher margins, and identify the right opportunities to make trade-offs. CFOs who embrace this shift and harness the power of AI wont just have a significant edge over their competitiontheyll lead and redefine their industries.
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E-Commerce
When scientist Zorana Ivcevic Pringle first started out in academia as an undergraduate student, she wanted to study interesting people. Unfortunately, thats not a scientific term, and it carries with it a value judgement (also unscientific, as fun as it sounds). I started being interested in describing what creative people are like, and understanding that complexity in a creative personality, she says. They seem to embody these dichotomies, things that oftentimes dont go together in most people. It grabs your attention to something really important. She frames creativity in her research around strength and vulnerabilities, particularly engaged in how both personality and processes feed a creative act or idea: How do you approach it when you have an idea? What happens with it? I became interested in what I ended up calling the process of self-regulation in creativity. And that is, how do you make yourself do it? Now, on the heels of launching her book The Creativity Choice (May 2025), Pringle, who is a senior research scientist at the Yale School of Medicines Center for Emotional Intelligence, admits she was onto something, and that dichotomy she senses about creativity is endlessly inspiring and interesting, across disciplines, everywhere. I wanted to study people who are complex, who are doing things that are different, and who are pushing boundaries of what is possible. The body of work shes cultivated in more than two decades of researching creative individuals and their processes is both incredibly layered and also fundamentally pedestrian. We all can relate to it, even if we dont have the last name of Bezos, Einstein, or Monet. Creativity has a lot of fun in it. We dont talk enough about it, but it also has times that are very hardI mean, excruciatingly hard. We encounter obstacles, as a rule. Nothing you ever try works out. Thats disappointing, frustrating, overwhelming. That can be stressful. We have to deal with that and on some level accept it will happen. We have to have comfort that we can handle it somehow. I became fascinated by that. I am very motivated by frustration. I work from the world of science. A gap, a question, something thats missing. I find it frustrating: Why hasnt this been asked? And then I want to ask it and work on it. I want to see how you can start answering it. That process of okay you have an idea but what are you going to do to make it real is fascinating. I sometimes start my talks with a New Yorker cartoon that shows a cocktail party. An Upper East Side-ish cocktail party. Theres a group of people and someone says, Do you know it is Harry who invented the daiquiri? He just never did anything with it. We chuckle because we have an understanding and a recognition of Harrys in real lifepeople who have ideas but dont do anything with it. We don’t always follow up on all of our ideas. There are reasons why people might not follow up on ideas. Oftentimes, the pictures of the creative process in the popular media are either limiting or more unintentionally discouraging. I love the picture book What Do You Do with an Idea? By Kobi Yamada. Its one of those rare things thats actually true to the creative process. That book is showing, Okay, I don’t know what to do with it. I’m just going to ignore it. And then it stays there, then you start on it. Okay, now you’re starting to nurture it, and then it starts growing with you. It is truly a stunning book. It is wonderful to see those kinds of portrayals in the popular media, but those are rare. There are barriers that we have to get over, that are psychological in nature. The sense of risk and discomfort associated with creativity, wondering whether we have confidence. I have done a study where I wanted to see what goes on in people’s mindsthe psychological experiencewhen they were considering whether to share ideas. And I found three strands of thinking: One is outwardly oriented. It is asking, well, what are people going to say about it? Are they going to find it silly? Are they going to think it’s stepping on someones toes? Is somebody going to be angeredgatekeepers, stakeholders, supervisors; angering them is not the best idea. These are real considerations, and we shouldn’t take them lightly. Another kind of consideration is more inward-oriented. And that one is, well, this is making me self-conscious. This is making me anxious, that personal discovery. And then the third consideration is completely different, and it’s saying this creative work, this trying to do something new, something originalbut effective and making a differenceis important to who I am as a person. It’s almost not a choice. You are making a choice, but it’s like involuntary because it’s just an expression of who you are. How you answer these outward and inward considerations is going to determine whether you start or not. Sometimes I hear people say, Oh, you have to get comfortable with risk. You have to get comfortable with this discomfort. You have to be fearless. I’m like, “No, you do not.” If that was the case, I would never have done anything. I came across this quote from Georgia OKeefe and she said something like, I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my lifeand I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do. I am not fearless, and I am not comfortable. And so if that desire and that sense of identity and the importance of creative work is there, it is possible to embark on it and do it, even if you are not comfortable. We’re just accepting the discomfort, to start the process. That is truly empowering. Those messages, you have to find the fearless in youwhat if you cant? Does that mean you cannot be creative? It implies it. It is not the case. I don’t think that you are born a fully creative person. It is true that for some people, some things that are important for creativity may come easier than for others. That does not mean that those for whom it doesn’t come all super easy cannot learn. We have wonderful evidence that creativity skills can be learned. We are starting to accumulate evidence that attitudes and mindsets relevant to creativity can also be learned. So all of these different pieces of the puzzle that is creativity can be learned. There is a whole constellation of things we need to be creative to the maximum the potenial. For the book, I interviewed the founder of Pinterest, Ben Silbermann. I really loved that interview because he had this unusual level of awareness and insight about the nature of the creative process, and in particular, the importance of the social side of it. He provided this really vivid example: When you are thinking of starting a company and you happen to be in the Bay Area, at the parties you go to, people discuss starting companies; at the bars you go to, people discuss starting companies. We don’t talk enough about that. We focus on individuals with great ideas. Sure thats important, but they are not coming out of a vacuum. There are reasons there are hubs where particular kinds of things tend to happen. Creativity is social, even when it does not seem like it. There is a big list of misconceptions on creativity. When I speak to my son, I say to him, if there is one thing, only one thing that you are going to learn from me about creativity, it is that first ideas are usually almost as a rule, not the most creative. And that seems to be, I have learned, counterintuitive to people. Thats because of the misconceptions about creativity that we have, that it is something that comes to you when you feel creative. We attach the word feeling to creativity because of how we were conditioned to think about it. But it is not a feeling. And because of this idea that it just comes over us that it’s not the result of purposeful thinking and work, we have this impression that the first thing that comes to mind has to be the most creative. But we can easily demonstrate that its not the case. There is a disproportionate association of creativity and genius. And it has very negative consequences. If we say the word creativity, we immediately think of Einstein, Monet, and Steve Jobs, then we look at ourselves and say, “Well, I am not that, because most of us are not that. If you say you are not that, which chances are you are not, then it is logical to think that there’s something special about them. That they were born with it. And if they are born with it and you are not, then there’s nothing much you can do. So why even try? And often in educational settings, we are trying to encourage and empower young people by putting forth these examples. But the exact opposite can happen. Some say that creativity is the highest when we have full freedom of action: no constraints, everything goes, but creativity is not about full freedom. Your mind has to start somewhere. And the way the mind works, it starts with what is familiar. What is familiar is something youve done previously. If youve done it previously it cant be original, by definition. Intuitively, it seems that creativity is this free floating, spontaneous thing. But no, not even for artists, who are the most stereotypically creative. Let’s look at that in the artistic practice: I am only going to use these materials. I’m only going to use this method for a particular thing. Those are constraints. Recognizing that the creative block does not mean that I am not capable. I can more easily say, “Okay, here are some things I can do about it to make it as short as possible.” I was using all of the strategies in the book, personally in the process of writing it, and I remember, vividly, getting stuck on a chapter about getting stuck. I stared at it, and I stared at it, and just was not going anywhere. And I said, well, I have to look at it in a different way. And I knew that each of the pieces I had felt right, but they were just not flowing. I printed my chapter draft that was not working and I cut it up and physically pasted different sections and then sat on the ground and arranged them in different ways. You can take different bits and pieces of a problem and start arranging them either symbolically or physically or in different ways to see what’s going to start clicking to create a full picture.
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E-Commerce
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Some homebuyers are sidestepping 6% and 7% mortgage rates by tapping into assumable mortgages. These allow buyers to take over a sellers existing loan, often locked in at ultralow rates, potentially saving hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month. While most conventional loans arent assumable, loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), or U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) areif certain conditions are met. Fewer than one in six outstanding mortgages are potentially assumable. Though they still represent a small share of total transactions, assumable sales are slowly gaining traction. This week, ResiClub heard back from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which provided us the number of FHA-insured mortgages assumed, broken down by fiscal year: 2021 > 2,549 2022 > 2,578 2023 > 4,060 2024 > 5,861 That’s a 127% increase over the past two years and a 44% increase over the past year. Based on preliminary data we viewed, ResiClub expects the number of assumed mortgages to climb even higher in 2025. Of course, there are some real challenges with assumable mortgages: Not many assumable mortgages occur because they require buy-in from both the buyer and the seller. Many folks in the industry dont exactly understand the process. The buyer must cover the difference between the outstanding mortgage balance and the purchase price of the home. This often requires a substantial down payment. For example, if a seller has a $200,000 mortgage on a home selling for $300,000, the buyer will need to bring $100,000 to the table, on top of assuming the seller’s loan. However, there are options for those who cant afford such a large up-front payment. Buyers may take on additional debt and get a blended rate, which often comes out around 5%. To help make assuming mortgages easier, back in September 2023 Raunaq Singh launched Roam, a real estate portal that resembles Zillow.com or Realtor.com. Only Roam exclusively showcases homes currently for sale with loans eligible to be assumable. Most people are shocked by this but there are actually millions of [potentially] assumable loans, meaning the buyer can take over the mortgage and transfer from the seller, Singh previously told ResiClub. As we started to look at the problem we realized there would be three key issues. The first was discovery: being able to help consumers find those homes. The second was the transparency throughout the process. And the third problem was coordination: Nobody in the entire transaction experience had experience doing the assumption. If youre the buyer and you want to assume the mortgage, you have to coordinate with your buyers agent, seller, sellers agent, lender, title, escrow, and closing officer. New York-based Roamwhich recently raised $11.5 million in a Series A round led by Opendoor cofounder Keith Raboisnot only finds properties with assumable mortgages but also is effectively your quarterback through that process and coordinating you through the closing, Singh says. Roam CEO Raunaq Singh [Photo: Roam] As of today, Roam’s listing website exclusively showcases homes currently for sale with assumable loans in 18 states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. When a seller in those states lists their home for sale, Roam then cross-checks it with proprietary mortgage data. If that mortgage is eligible to be assumed, it’s listed on Roams site. On Roams site, youre asked to fill out a simple questionnaire. Then youre taken to a portal for your selected market. I tried it out this week and selected the Atlanta metro market. The site then showed me 385 Atlanta homes for sale right now that have loans eligible to be assumable. [Screenshot: Roam] How does Roam make money? Singh tells ResiClub that Roam is free for sellers; the company collects a fee of 1% of the purchase price from the buyer through closing costs. In Singhs view, homeowners who hold an assumable mortgage have an advantage if they plan to sell. They [the homeowner with an assumable mortgage] dont know they hold an asset, or a benefit, that can unlock that sale. Early on when we started the company, Id pull out a list of sellers who had the benefit [a mortgage that could be assumable] but didnt know and Id call them and say, Hey, your home has been on the market for 60, 70 days. Did you know youre burying the lede on being able to sell your home? Youre not advertising the No. 1 benefit you have, Singh tells ResiClub. Its a $1,500 monthly payment as opposed to a $3,000 monthly payment. Where Roam is seeing the most site demand for assumable mortgages [Screenshot: Roam] As active housing inventory for sale continues to rise, and many pockets of the Sun Belt become neutral or buyers markets, more sellers are willing to work with buyers to do an assumable sale, Singh says. We’re seeing agents advertising Roam on their listings now because they want to differentiate their listing vis--vis every other home in the neighborhood because it is the only home that buyers can afford. This usually pulls in an additional three to four buyers per listing, and the median agent who does this goes under contract in 14 to 21 days after advertising their low-rate in their listing, Singh tells ResiClub. Singh adds: An independent group of economists also studied Roam and found that sellers who include their low rate in their home sale netted an additional 5% on their home sales price, which can be a strong negotiating factor for listing agents when they go out to market their home and defend their price point amidst price cuts.
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E-Commerce
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