At last week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar noted a shift: AI is no longer considered a future experiment or a side conversation. Instead, world leaders discuss it along with geopolitics, energy, and security—as a core part of economic infrastructure.

But there is a problem. Most organizations are not really using AI to its full potential. Friar, who joined OpenAI in June 2024, kept hearing the same concern at Davos: a “capability overhang.” In simple terms, it’s a mismatch between what AI can do today and what companies are actually doing with it. The tools are powerful and ready, but they’re barely integrated into how most businesses work or make decisions. Companies are just wasting face.

There is also new research from OpenAI on overhang capabilities. You can read more here.

The tech giant was valued at nearly $500 billion in its most recently completed share sale, with revenue jumping to more than $20 billion in 2025 from $6 billion in 2024. In an interview with Fox’s Maria Bartiromo last week, Friar said, “An IPO is not on the table; it’s a question of when.”

OpenAI is now deepening its financial bank. friar Office has partnered yesterday that Ajmere Dale joined the company as chief accounting officer. Most recently, Ajmere was the fintech’s chief accounting officer Block for almost 10 years. And Cynthia Gaylor has been appointed corporate business finance officer, overseeing corporate finance, long-range planning, capital strategy, special situations and investor relations at OpenAI.

I had a chance interviews Gaylor in 2021 when he was CFO of DocuSign. Gaylor began his career as an investment banker in the technology sector for 18 years with companies including Morgan Stanley. He also served as head of corporate development at Twitter, and then started a practice as an advisor to CEOs, CFOs, and boards, on their most strategic needs. He went from advising the C-suite to being the CFO of two different companies. Gaylor was on the DocuSign board for several years before becoming chief financial officer.

“The financial organization is moving now,” Friar said in his LinkedIn post. “We build, ship, and operate at scale, and do so with intensity, speed, and a strong sense of ownership.”

cheryl Estrada
[email protected]

LeaderBoard-

Frank Sluis appointed CFO of In Holding AG (NYSE: ONON), a premium sportswear brand, effective May 1. Sluis succeeds Martin Hoffmann, who took on an expanded role as sole CEO last year, while continuing his CFO responsibilities. Sluis has more than 25 years of experience. Most recently, he served as CFO for Europe and Indonesia at Ahold Delhaize, a food retail group, a position he has held since 2021. Sluis also previously held finance leadership positions at Reckitt Benckiser and Unilever.

Sardar Abu Bakr appointed CFO of NetSol Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTWK), a software provider for the asset finance and leasing industry. Roger K. Almond, the company’s current CFO, will remain with NetSol as chief accounting officer, responsible for global accounting operations. Abubakr brings more than two decades of international leadership experience. Most recently, he served as VP of new businesses and M&A at Jazz, a subsidiary of VEON Group.

Great Deal

Amazon (No. 2 of the Fortune 500) Office has partnered on Tuesday that it will close its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go storefronts to refocus investment on growth areas. According to the company’s website, Amazon currently operates 14 Go stores and 58 Amazon Fresh stores. Most locations will close on February 1, although stores in California will remain open until mid-March due to state labor notification requirements. Amazon said it will concentrate on expanding the Whole Foods Market brand and grocery delivery services through Amazon.com.

The company did not disclose how many employees will be affected by the closings but said in the announcement that it is “working as hard as possible to help them find roles elsewhere at Amazon, including in our extensive network of operations.”

“Today’s announcement is an important step forward in Amazon’s broader strategy and should help the company gain more share in volatile categories where it has historically struggled,” Wedbush Securities analysts wrote in a note Tuesday. “The reason this announcement is so important is that Amazon has yet to displace incumbents in the grocery category, at least for perishables.”

deepened

“Gold rises as Trump talks dollar, feeding ‘US relative decline narrative,’ UBS fears” a luck article by Jim Edwards.

Edwards wrote: “The price of gold hit another new record yesterday, rising above $5,300. It’s up an astounding 3% this morning, as measured by the Comex forward contract. Gold has gained 22.31%, year-to-date. Read more here.

Heard

“While replacing entry-level workers with AI will boost profits in the short term, it will ultimately drain the talent pool and create real vulnerabilities in the long term.”

—Patrick E. Hopkins, dean of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, wrote in a luck opinion piece titled, “Coming soon: lost generation of employee talent?”