The Pre-Read

Workiva

Just like the slides you get before a big meeting, The Pre-Read prepares CFOs and senior leaders for the decisions ahead. This is the global podcast for the modern office of the CFO, focused on how finance leaders drive performance, resilience, and long-term value in a constantly shifting environment. Designed for executives operating at scale, the show features candid conversations with CFOs, board advisors, regulators, and business leaders shaping how companies compete, comply, and grow. Hosts Alyssa Zucker and Steve Soter connect financial performance, data integrity, regulation, and technology to the real questions CFOs are being asked by boards, investors, and stakeholders. From AI adoption and enterprise data trust to evolving disclosure expectations and global regulatory pressure, The Pre-Read focuses on what matters now and what's coming next. Each episode cuts through noise to surface practical insight, strategic perspective, and the signals CFOs need to lead with clarity. If you're responsible for stewarding capital, managing risk, and creating value over time, you're in the right place.

  1. 19h ago

    Who’s Building the Next CFO?

    Finance leaders build judgment and gain experience by doing the work throughout their career. But what happens when agents do the work instead? Workiva CFO Barbara Larson joins The Pre-Read to talk about her first six months in the role and the talent pipeline risk she thinks is flying under the radar: a generation of finance leaders who are skilled at directing AI but may not have the experience to recognize when something breaks. In this episode: • Why the path to CFO is about doing work and growing financial skills alongside AI • How to build a finance culture where people are ready to lead • What the CFO of 2035 will need to prove to compete against AI numbers • Why finance leaders should focus less on pursuing the CFO title, and more time learning the skills necessary to identify and respond to risk
 Subscribe for episodes on the issues shaping finance, audit, risk, and sustainability at the C-suite level.

    Who’s Building the Next CFO?

  2. Aug 3

    Who Owns What Your AI Does?

    AI transformation is a problem of governance, not technology. Anthony Habayeb, CEO of Monitaur, argues that organizations don’t need to spin up a new AI governance framework, but they need better use of the controls CFOs and auditors already own. In this episode: -Why AI pilots stall and what it reveals about governance gaps -How to build an AI governance framework from structures you already have -Why the agent isn’t the risk, but the use case is -Who owns accountability when an autonomous system takes action? -How CFOs and audit teams are becoming the forcing function for AI quality Subscribe for episodes on the issues shaping finance, audit, risk, and sustainability at the C-suite level.

    Who Owns What Your AI Does?

  3. Jul 20

    What Your Climate Risk Assessment Is Missing

    Most climate risk assessments are missing hazards, scoping too narrowly, and leaving physical climate risk under-analyzed. Linda Romanovska helped write the rules, and she’s here to explain what better reporting looks like.
 As co-author of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards and a member of the EU Sustainability Reporting Board, Linda has spent 20 years working on climate risk assessment across sectors and jurisdictions. She joined The Pre-Read to break down what mandatory climate-related financial disclosure requires. In this episode: Why most climate risk assessments assess too few hazards The key differences between physical climate risk and transition risk How to scope scenarios and time horizons without cutting corners What climate-related financial disclosure users want to see Where AI is making climate risk assessment faster and more audit-ready

  4. Jul 6

    Markets Are Moving: Is Your Finance Team?

    The M&A market is heating up, and AI is compressing deal timelines from weeks to days. In this episode of The Pre-Read, guest host Josh Gertsch and Troy Hooper of Mergermarket provide a capital markets update that touches on the SpaceX IPO, the quiet M&A surge, and why quality assets with resilient cash flows are winning. Then, guest host Esther Toth talks with Latitude Financial Services CFO Guillaume Leger about leading finance teams through change, AI, and why sustainability reporting is a frontier CFOs can’t ignore. 0:00 What’s in this episode 1:56 Capital markets & M&A update with Josh and Troy 3:32 The IPO boom and M&A recovery 4:39 Trends driving M&A 13:18 Esther asks Guillaume about guiding finance teams through change 16:55 Upsides and downsides to AI in finance 19:48 The new frontier of financial reporting Subscribe to The Pre-Read for weekly conversations at the intersection of finance, sustainability, audit, and risk.

    Markets Are Moving: Is Your Finance Team?

  5. Jun 22

    Restatement Is a Dirty Word, Except When It Isn't

    Sustainability reporting and financial reporting are converging fast. But the controller who treats them as the same thing could get burned. In this episode, Dr. Lee Hui Mien of Singtel and Jonathan Gregory of The Hershey Company offer their views on one urgent question: what does it actually mean to bring sustainability reporting under the finance umbrella, and where does that process break down?
 Chapters: 0:00 — Intro 2:30 — Dr. Lee Hui Mien on why sustainability data is fundamentally different 8:45 — Why restatement in sustainability is a feature, not a failure 13:20 — Scope 3 and why supply chain visibility can break down at tier two 19:10 — Jonathan Gregory, Global Controller at The Hershey Company 24:00 — AI governance and segregation of duties 29:45 — What the next five years demand from controllers
 Guests: Dr. Lee Hui Mien, Sustainability Leader, Singtel Jonathan Gregory, Global Controller, The Hershey Company Subscribe to The Pre-Read for more conversations at the intersection of finance, sustainability, audit, and risk.

    Restatement Is a Dirty Word, Except When It Isn't

  6. Jun 8

    Are You Taking Enough Risk? Probably Not.

    Boards are under pressure to govern AI responsibly, but most directors still lack the knowledge to ask the right questions, let alone hold management accountable. Two leaders explain what it actually takes. Dr. Chong Yoke Sin chairs Singapore’s SCS AI Ethics and Governance Council and sits on financial services, property, and healthcare boards. Heather Holding is Chief Risk Officer at Best Egg and hosts an AI adoption series called “AI With Heather.” They’ve approached AI governance from opposite ends of the org chart—and landed on the same answer. In this episode: Why fiduciary responsibility now extends to AI (and what that means for directors who lack technical backgrounds)How continuous AI monitoring is disrupting the traditional three-lines-of-defense modelThe “organize my closet” onboarding method that got an entire risk team using AI regularlyWhy curiosity is the most important governance capability of the next 12 monthsWhat “clean data in” means for getting AI outputs you can trust Subscribe to The Pre-Read for bi-weekly insight for finance, risk, audit, and sustainability leaders.

    Are You Taking Enough Risk? Probably Not.

  7. May 11

    The Strategic Compass: Navigating the Intersection of GRC and Sustainability

    Climate mandates, GRC strategy, and a bike metaphor that'll change how you think about controls.
 In this episode, Alyssa Zucker speaks with sustainability expert Mark Mellen on California's SB 253 soft launch—and why companies treating this year as a free pass will be blindsided in 2027. Then 25-year GRC veteran Graeme Fleming explains why governance-first programs help organizations move faster. Chapters 00:00—Intro: California, GRC, and what's at stake 01:45—Mark Mellen: California SB 253 and the soft launch 07:00—SB 261, climate risk, and the commercial case 10:00—Global mandates: CSRD, ISSB, and the fragmented web 11:30—The ESG controller and data governance 17:00—Quantifying sustainability value 20:00—Graeme Fleming: Putting the G back in GRC 22:00—AI, the EU AI Act, and GRC's strategic role 23:00—The bike brake framework
 Subscribe for new episodes!

    The Strategic Compass: Navigating the Intersection of GRC and Sustainability

  8. Apr 27

    Regulatory Reprieve? SEC Simplification and 2026 Capital Market Updates

    "I think risk factors have become more of an area where companies are trying to reduce their exposure to litigation, and it's not really viewed as being a meaningful section to most readers of financial statements." — Chelsea Hall  In this episode, we tackle SEC updates and the high-stakes world of IPO readiness. Market dynamics are shifting from rigid quantitative thresholds to a new era of professional judgment. Financial reporting expert Chelsea Hall unpacks recent SEC signals on materiality and the potential for significant tariff refunds. Then, Josh Gertsch joins to discuss the massive backlog of unicorn companies and a capital markets explosion sitting on the sidelines.  Key Discussion Points:  Materiality Overhaul: Why the SEC is moving away from the 5% or 10% rules and toward a crisp, digestible MD&A.  Tariff Refund Opportunity: Evaluating accounting models for potential recoveries following a Supreme Court ruling.  The Deal Accelerator: How AI is cutting weeks and months off due diligence and registration drafting.  The Rule of 40: Why investors are prioritizing companies where combined revenue growth and profit margin exceed 40%.  Timestamp Highlights: 0:00 - Intro  01:50 – Moving away from quantitative materiality thresholds  02:20 – The Supreme Court and tariff refund opportunities  03:55 – Why risk factors have become a "CYA" exercise  17:00 – The IPO quality bar and the return of the rule of 40  19:30 – Leveraging technology and AI in the deal cycle  24:40 – The shift in readiness strategy for private companies

    Regulatory Reprieve? SEC Simplification and 2026 Capital Market Updates
See All (179)

Trailer

4.8
out of 5
39 Ratings

About

Just like the slides you get before a big meeting, The Pre-Read prepares CFOs and senior leaders for the decisions ahead. This is the global podcast for the modern office of the CFO, focused on how finance leaders drive performance, resilience, and long-term value in a constantly shifting environment. Designed for executives operating at scale, the show features candid conversations with CFOs, board advisors, regulators, and business leaders shaping how companies compete, comply, and grow. Hosts Alyssa Zucker and Steve Soter connect financial performance, data integrity, regulation, and technology to the real questions CFOs are being asked by boards, investors, and stakeholders. From AI adoption and enterprise data trust to evolving disclosure expectations and global regulatory pressure, The Pre-Read focuses on what matters now and what's coming next. Each episode cuts through noise to surface practical insight, strategic perspective, and the signals CFOs need to lead with clarity. If you're responsible for stewarding capital, managing risk, and creating value over time, you're in the right place.

Information

  • Creator
    Workiva
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    179
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 690350
  • Show Website
    The Pre-Read

You Might Also Like