70% of Initiatives Fail from Poor Deployment

The operational edge isn't just about faster execution; it's about making ruthless calls on strategy, leveraging data for real signal, and understanding where human judgment remains irreplaceable.

📊 12 episodes across 10 podcasts

⏱ 481 minutes of intelligence analyzed

🎙 Featuring: Hannah Munro, Evan Campbell, Ademola Odewade, Kevin Appleby, Ryan Roccon, Shiv Verma, The Future of Finance is Listening, Stephen Dubner, Tarek Mansour, Robin Hanson, Nicole Kagan, David Den Boer, Jack Sweeney, Mike Brower, Tim Zue, Gregg Clevenger, Dallas Clement, Michael Bannon, CJ Gustafson, Blake Saunders, CJ, Peter High, Riaz Raihan, Riaz Muhammad, John Wise, Megan Weis, John, David Ivan, Scott Luton, Tevon Taylor, Tevin E. Taylor, Sarah Lane, Jason Thomas, Jay Wilson, Alison Mass, Rich Friedman

The Big Shift

The pervasive hype around AI often obscures a more fundamental, and immediate, operational challenge: the inherent waste and inefficiency embedded in processes that we accept as "the way things are." While AI promises future optimization, operators are now realizing that truly impactful gains come from a ruthless re-evaluation of basic principles—whether it's strategic initiative deployment or the movement of goods.

On CFO 4.0 - The Future of Finance, Evan Campbell points out that 70% of strategic initiatives fail not due to flawed strategy, but poor deployment. He advocates for CFOs to think like venture capitalists, applying a "liar's discount" to over-promising project sponsors and being willing to "pull the plug" on underperforming initiatives early. This is a direct challenge to the common organizational inertia that lets bad projects fester.

"What's the fastest, cheapest way I can kill off the bad initiatives?"
— Evan Campbell, Author of 'Adapt to Win' on CFO 4.0 - The Future of Finance

This same waste-reduction mindset is evident in supply chain. David Ivan, President and CEO of BNSF Logistics, argues on Supply Chain Now that transportation itself is a form of waste when viewed through a lean lens. He challenges the industry to solve customer business problems, not just sell a mode of transport, likening the supply chain to an "accordion" where every expansion is a cost. The signal is clear: before chasing the next shiny AI solution, look for and eliminate the structural waste you've been living with. AI can accelerate an optimized process, but it magnifies the flaws of a broken one.

The Rundown

① AI is not a magic bullet; it's an orchestration layer for good processes.

David Den Boer (CEO & Founder, Column5 Consulting & Darwin Analytics) made it clear on CFO THOUGHT LEADER that no single AI component can run finance operations alone without hallucination. He stressed the need for orchestration between different systems—LLMs, data platforms, BI, EPM—to connect them, arguing that if EPM solutions were so great, they should have removed Excel by now.

→ The Operator's Take: Don't look for a single AI vendor to solve all your problems; focus on integrating AI as a strategic orchestrator across your existing, well-defined processes to unlock true efficiency.

② Prediction markets are outperforming experts, but regulatory hurdles are real.

Tarek Mansour (Co-founder and CEO of Kalshi) and Robin Hanson (Professor of Economics at George Mason University) discussed on Freakonomics Radio how prediction markets leverage collective intelligence and incentives to be more accurate than traditional forecasting methods, even when pitted against domain-specific experts. Kalshi notably spent four years securing regulatory approval before launching, allowing them to gain significant market trust and share.

→ The Operator's Take: Explore prediction markets for internal forecasting and strategic scenario planning; the collective wisdom can expose blind spots from expert bias, but be aware of the regulatory overhead if moving to public markets.

③ Geography, not just ambition, shapes the CFO career trajectory.

A host-led discussion on CFO THOUGHT LEADER featuring multiple CFOs highlighted how location significantly influences career paths, from leveraging local networks in Wyoming for diverse M&A experience to embracing a specific city's ecosystem (like Boston) to connect disparate professional experiences. Mike Bannon (President and Chief Administration Officer of sitecore) shared how an internship in Kansas profoundly shaped his career aspirations.

→ The Operator's Take: When planning executive roles, consider the strategic value of geographical location for talent acquisition, ecosystem networking, and specific industry exposure, rather than just viewing it as a logistical constraint.

④ Private Equity is facing an "exits crisis," not a performance one.

Rich Friedman (Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management) explained on Exchanges that the biggest challenge in private equity today is the lack of exits, not the operational performance of portfolio companies. He notes that everything has slowed, leading to capital being tied up longer and making it harder for firms to realize returns.

→ The Operator's Take: When engaging with PE-backed companies or considering PE investments, scrutinize the exit strategy and hold period assumptions even more closely, as liquidity continues to be a significant bottleneck in the current market.

⑤ Your data quality directly determines your AI strategy's success.

Ademola Odewade (CEO, K-Dems Consulting Ltd.) bluntly stated on GrowCFO Show that "If your data quality is low, your AI strategy will blow. It's that simple." He emphasized that AI amplifies human capability, whether high or low, and human judgment remains essential for ethics and reliability, especially in areas like fraud detection.

→ The Operator's Take: Prioritize robust data governance and quality initiatives as a foundational prerequisite for any AI implementation; bad data fed to powerful AI models will only accelerate bad decisions.

Signal Board

⬆️ HEATING UP

• Strategy Execution Tracking: Evan Campbell (Author of 'Adapt to Win') emphasized the ability to "intercede mid quarter, mid month" to keep strategic initiatives on course on CFO 4.0 - The Future of Finance.

• AI-driven Operational Agility in Finance: David Den Boer (CEO & Founder, Column5 Consulting & Darwin Analytics) discussed how AI is lowering the cost of experimentation, allowing CFOs to test solutions without decade-long commitments on CFO THOUGHT LEADER.

• Repeatable, Programmable, Scalable Revenue: Blake Saunders (Founder and Managing Director at Core Advisors) noted that subscriptions are highly valued for their predictability and scalability in media valuation on Run the Numbers.

• AI for Reducing Building Energy Consumption: Riaz Raihan (Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer, Trane Technologies) revealed that AI-driven HVAC optimization can cut global energy use by 2.5-3%, four times the power consumed by all data centers, on Technovation with Peter High (CIO, CTO, CDO, CXO Interviews).

🆕 ON WATCH

• Predictability/Certainty in Transportation: David Ivan (President and CEO, BNSF Logistics) highlighted that surprises are the one thing in business you can't work with well on Supply Chain Now, underscoring the value of certainty.

• Simplicity, Certainty, and Cost Trade-offs: Tevon Taylor (Host, Supply Chain Now) pointed out that you never maximize all three at once on Supply Chain Now, a critical consideration for operational leaders.

• Human Instinct Detecting Fraud (68%): Jason Thomas (Senior Director of Technology, Security, Governance and Risk, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation) noted on Cybersecurity Headlines that human intuition outperforms technical tools in detecting fraudulent job candidates.

• Private Equity Exits Crisis: Rich Friedman (Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management) identified a lack of exits, not operating performance, as the primary crisis in the PE industry today on Exchanges.

⬇️ COOLING OFF

• AI Payoff Later Than Market Assumes: Rich Friedman (Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management) expressed skepticism on Exchanges about current AI valuations, comparing them to the dot-com bubble and suggesting a long-term, slower adoption curve.

• Passkey Phishing Vulnerability via Social Engineering: Jason Thomas (Senior Director of Technology, Security, Governance and Risk, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation) warned on Cybersecurity Headlines that even strong authentication methods like passkeys are vulnerable to social engineering.

• Cybersecurity Expertise Exclusion in AI Development: Jason Thomas (Senior Director of Technology, Security, Governance and Risk, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation) questioned on Cybersecurity Headlines why cybersecurity experts are often left out of AI safety discussions, seeing them as "blockers" rather than "enablers."

The Bottom Line

Operational excellence demands a rigorous focus on eliminating waste and ensuring execution, recognizing that human insight and well-structured processes remain paramount over AI's shiny promises.

Quick Appendix

CFO 4.0 - The Future of Finance: "288. Strategic Investment: How CFOs Can Turn Vision into Results with Evan Campbell" · 41 min · Featuring Hannah Munro, Evan Campbell ▶ Listen · Apple Podcasts

GrowCFO Show: "#302 Is AI Creating a Finance Jobs Crisis? Ademola Odewade CEO, K-Dems Consulting Ltd." · 36 min · Featuring Ademola Odewade, Kevin Appleby ▶ Listen · Apple Podcasts

CFO THOUGHT LEADER: "2016: Building the Operating System for Agentic Automation | Ryan Roccon, CFO, Zapier" · 49 min · Featuring Ryan Roccon, Shiv Verma, The Future of Finance is Listening ▶ Listen

Freakonomics Radio: "687. Are Prediction Markets the Best Forecasting Tool Ever — or Just Another Casino?" · 49 min · Featuring Stephen Dubner, Tarek Mansour, Robin Hanson, Nicole Kagan ▶ Listen · Apple Podcasts

CFO THOUGHT LEADER: "When AI Changes the EPM Decision | David Den Boer, CEO, Column5 Consulting" · 28 min · Featuring David Den Boer, Jack Sweeney ▶ Listen · Apple Podcasts

CFO THOUGHT LEADER: "People and Places: The Geography of a CFO Career" · 37 min · Featuring Mike Brower, Tim Zue, Gregg Clevenger, Dallas Clement, Michael Bannon ▶ Listen · Apple Podcasts

Run the Numbers: "How Media Actually Makes Money | Blake Saunders" · 51 min · Featuring CJ Gustafson, Blake Saunders, CJ ▶ Listen · Apple Podcasts

Technovation with Peter High (CIO, CTO, CDO, CXO Interviews): "How Trane Technologies Uses AI to Make Buildings More Autonomous" · 31 min · Featuring Peter High, Riaz Raihan, Riaz Muhammad ▶ Listen · Apple Podcasts

CFO Weekly: "Why CPAs Make Great CFOs" · 30 min · Featuring John Wise, Megan Weis, John ▶ Listen · Apple Podcasts

Supply Chain Now: "Less Waste, Better Outcomes: Rethinking Transportation with BNSF Logistics" · 52 min · Featuring David Ivan, Scott Luton, Tevon Taylor, David, Tevin E. Taylor ▶ Listen · Apple Podcasts

Cybersecurity Headlines: "The Department of Know: Passkeys phished, Cisco hits root, nuclear red lines for AI" · 35 min · Featuring Sarah Lane, Jason Thomas, Jay Wilson ▶ Listen · Apple Podcasts

Exchanges: "Rich Friedman on the Rise of Private Markets and AI Investing" · 42 min · Featuring Alison Mass, Rich Friedman ▶ Listen · Apple Podcasts