{"id":4973,"date":"2026-08-05T15:42:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T15:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973"},"modified":"2026-08-05T15:42:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T15:42:54","slug":"what-openais-finance-team-is-becoming-in-the-age-of-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973","title":{"rendered":"What OpenAI\u2019s finance team is becoming in the age of AI"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>The finance department increasingly has the mandate to help leadership act while the outcome can still change. Within OpenAI\u2019s finance department, led by CFO Sarah Friar, there is a strategic finance team that functions as a cross-functional partner to product, partnerships, engineering, and go-to-market teams. The team\u2019s tool of choice is ChatGPT Work, an agent that can act across apps and files, stay on a task for hours, and turn a goal into a finished product.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4971\">SpaceX races toward Musk\u2019s $1 trillion dream\u2014just as insiders can start selling<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The webinar was led by three members of OpenAI\u2019s strategic finance team: Stephanie Struck, head of product finance; Kyle Kober, director of product finance; and Jackson Wang, who leads data science. \u201cOur entire finance department uses ChatGPT Work,\u201d Kober said. Teams combine approved financial data, Excel models, and business context to get frontier-level intelligence that completes tasks two to three times faster, he said.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Struck demonstrated the tool auditing quarter-end materials to catch discrepancies between board decks and actuals. Wang described shifting forecasting \u201cfrom more of a spreadsheet-based system to more of a statistical-based forecasting model,\u201d improving both accuracy and collaboration. They detailed how the tool automates monthly close by pulling data from systems like Databricks into one validated dashboard. ChatGPT Work speeds up and structures the close, but doesn\u2019t replace the underlying accounting system or a controller\u2019s sign-off.<\/p>\n<p>Newer features include dynamic slide editing, a finance assistant for quick questions, an on-the-go podcast, with a \u201cCFO spotlight\u201d that surfaces the month\u2019s top priorities and biggest variances\u2014a feature the presenters said Friar values.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding data governance, Kober said: \u201cAll of it is governed and auditable with controls to lock down the spend and the usage of your ChatGPT work experience.\u201d However, there wasn\u2019t much discussion of who owns the data, or how agent decisions get audited.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4>The skills that matter now<\/h4>\n<p>Struck addressed what OpenAI looks for in finance hires. Accounting, forecasting, controls, and analytical rigor are still required, she said, but they\u2019re now baseline, not differentiators. What sets people apart is comfort with data and AI tools paired with judgment: knowing which questions to ask, challenging an AI\u2019s output, and translating it into a business implication. \u201cWhy does this matter for the business?\u201d is the question she wants her team asking constantly. Equally critical is communication\u2014insights only matter, Struck said, if they\u2019re shared quickly enough to change how the organization actually operates.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It seems that OpenAI isn\u2019t betting that the tool alone gets this right. It\u2019s betting on people who know when to push back on what it says.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4969\">Trump claims \u2014\u00a0yet again \u2014\u00a0that a deal to reopen Hormuz is close<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<br \/>Sheryl.Estrada@fortune.com<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Leaderboard<\/h3>\n<p><b>Kevin Kalicak<\/b> was appointed CFO and treasurer of Portillo\u2019s (Nasdaq: PTLO), the fast-casual restaurant known for serving Chicago-style favorites, effective Sept. 7. Kalicak has decades of financial leadership experience within the restaurant industry, serving in various roles with Darden Restaurants for more than 25 years. Most recently, Kalicak served as SVP of finance for Olive Garden. He has held several positions across various areas of brand finance, business analytics, enterprise finance, and investor relations within Darden\u2019s portfolio.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>Carla Chiorazzo<\/b> was appointed CFO of Adolfson &amp; Peterson Construction, a national construction management and contracting firm. Chiorazzo brings more than 20 years of financial and operational leadership experience. She most recently served as CFO of Conti Federal, a federal construction and design-build company. Before that, she was VP of finance, shared services at PAE, where she supported finance processes for more than 15,000 employees.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Big Deal<\/h3>\n<p><span>Gen Z has the lowest savings-to-spending ratio of any generation\u2014and yet they&#8217;re spending more, not less. A new Bank of America Institute report finds that despite tight budgets, Gen Z&#8217;s discretionary spending on beauty, jewelry, coffee, and travel has actually strengthened over the past six months, defying the &#8220;K-shaped&#8221; pattern seen elsewhere in the economy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The catch: a tougher labor market for new entrants is pushing more of them into gig work to fund it, with nearly 40% of that gig income now coming through social commerce platforms, according to the report.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Going deeper<\/h3>\n<div>&#8220;How credit risk is factored in corporate bond spreads&#8221; is a report in Wharton&#8217;s business journal. A new Wharton paper aims to resolve a long-standing bond market puzzle: credit spreads have implied investors should earn healthy compensation for risk, yet realized returns since 1986 have often disappointed despite historically moderate defaults. Using 128 years of data, researchers trace this to two culprits\u2014an unrepresentative recent sample and a benchmarking bias from mismatching callable bonds to Treasuries\u2014and find the credit risk premium is real once corrected. For CFOs, that&#8217;s a clearer signal on whether current spreads reflect true borrowing risk or a measurement quirk when timing debt issuance.<\/div>\n<h3>Overheard<\/h3>\n<p>\u2014Elon Musk said during SpaceX\u2019s first earnings call as a public company on Tuesday, <em>Fortune<\/em> reported. He believes SpaceX is uniquely positioned to dominate the AI compute race due to its rocket scientists. Data centers are a \u201ctrivial problem\u201d compared to what SpaceX\u2019s rocket engineers work on every day, Musk said. The company reported April-June revenue of $7.8 billion, compared with $4.1 billion a year earlier. SpaceX spent nearly $16 billion on AI infrastructure in the second quarter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4967\">Honda doubles profit as motorcycles and a weak yen fuel its post\u2011EV writedown comeback<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A look at how OpenAI&#8217;s finance department blends strategy, AI agents, and judgment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[208],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cfo-daily"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What OpenAI\u2019s finance team is becoming in the age of AI - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What OpenAI\u2019s finance team is becoming in the age of AI - Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A look at how OpenAI&#039;s finance department blends strategy, AI agents, and judgment.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-05T15:42:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4973#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4973\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"headline\":\"What OpenAI\u2019s finance team is becoming in the age of AI\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-05T15:42:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4973\"},\"wordCount\":917,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4973#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/b226d004250ed206464a344edd65b041.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"CFO Daily\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4973#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4973\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4973\",\"name\":\"What OpenAI\u2019s finance team is becoming in the age of AI - Cross Country Moving Team\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4973#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4973#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/b226d004250ed206464a344edd65b041.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-05T15:42:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4973#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4973\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4973#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/b226d004250ed206464a344edd65b041.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/b226d004250ed206464a344edd65b041.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4973#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What OpenAI\u2019s finance team is becoming in the age of AI\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cross Country Moving Team\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What OpenAI\u2019s finance team is becoming in the age of AI - Cross Country Moving Team","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What OpenAI\u2019s finance team is becoming in the age of AI - Cross Country Moving Team","og_description":"A look at how OpenAI's finance department blends strategy, AI agents, and judgment.","og_url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973","og_site_name":"Cross Country Moving Team","article_published_time":"2026-08-05T15:42:54+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"headline":"What OpenAI\u2019s finance team is becoming in the age of AI","datePublished":"2026-08-05T15:42:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973"},"wordCount":917,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/b226d004250ed206464a344edd65b041.webp","articleSection":["CFO Daily"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973","name":"What OpenAI\u2019s finance team is becoming in the age of AI - Cross Country Moving Team","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/b226d004250ed206464a344edd65b041.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-05T15:42:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/b226d004250ed206464a344edd65b041.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/b226d004250ed206464a344edd65b041.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4973#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What OpenAI\u2019s finance team is becoming in the age of AI"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/","name":"Cross Country Moving Team","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com"],"url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}