COP30: progress and pitfalls in Belém
As the world began to gather for COP30 in Belém, Brazil last week, the stakes could not have been higher. The two-week summit convenes against a backdrop of an intensifying climate crisis and mounting frustration over the slow pace of progress.
The opening sessions have already exposed the widening gap between ambition and action. Yet amid the rhetoric, there are concrete signs of momentum. The question now is whether COP30 can transform pledges into real delivery. As the second week begins, Sam Birchall asks which themes stand out and where might the summit be headed? Read more.
AI on the balance sheet: how CFOs are navigating hype and hard numbers
AI may be dominating boardroom agendas, but its financial impact is proving harder to pin down. Nearly eight in ten companies report using generative AI, yet just as many report no significant bottom line impact, according to research published by McKinsey. Another study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that 95% of organisations that have integrated AI into their operations have seen zero return.
For CFOs, this creates a growing tension: how do you reconcile modest, sometimes disappointing, early results with the sweeping predictions about what today’s systems are supposed to become at scale? Many organisations are grappling with a familiar pattern: pilot projects that never graduate, promised savings that never materialise and dashboards that look impressive but fail to influence a single decision.
Are the tools still too immature to deliver? Or are early reports missing the quiet ways employees are already using AI to boost productivity? Here, three CFOs share how they are navigating this messy middle – and what a realistic path to AI ROI looks like. Read more.
Is it time to remove job titles?
For as long as work has existed, so have job titles, stitched on to uniforms, engraved on office doors and printed beneath names on business cards. But rather than signalling genuine seniority or expertise, job titles have become viewed by many as meaningless descriptors.
A recent study of US workers revealed that most (92%) believe companies use inflated titles to create the illusion of career progress without offering corresponding increases in pay or responsibility. A further 34% felt “title trapped”, stuck with a flashy title but no real path forward.
In response, some companies are ditching job titles for more skill-based structure. Could dismantling old hierarchies be the answer? And what does it takes to lead a title-less business? Read more.
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