Good morning, CFOs. Thanks to AI, OpenAI and Anthropic striking deals with consultants; oil prices surge past $100; plus, Andrew Ferguson has brought the Federal Trade Commission unusually close to the White House.

Despite all the promise of AI, tech laggards in the working world may be presenting an opportunity for some businesses.

Among nearly 2,000 employees surveyed by McKinsey last summer, about two-thirds said their organizations hadn’t started scaling AI across the enterprise. More than half of nearly 4,500 chief executives polled by PricewaterhouseCoopers late last year said they had seen no significant financial benefit from AI so far.

So OpenAI and Anthropic have been striking deals with consultants to help promote the use of their technology, Allison Pohle reports.

AI work has increased demand for consultancies, says Tom Rodenhauser, managing partner of K2 Consulting Research, which tracks the industry.

Some key stats:

• Global consulting grew 5.5% in 2025, double the rate of the prior year, according to K2 Consulting Research
• Accenture disclosed $2.2 billion in new AI bookings in the most recent quarter, a $400 million increase from bookings in the prior quarter

So human expertise may still be valuable after all.

Join the conversation. What human skills will become more important for consultants to possess as AI takes on a larger role? Weigh in at the end of the story or by replying to this newsletter.

Monday

Earnings: Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Casey’s General Stores and Vail Resorts

Tuesday

Earnings: Oracle and BioNTech

The National Federation of Independent Business releases its Small Business Optimism Index for February.

Wednesday

Earnings: Campbell’s and UiPath

The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the consumer price index for February.

Thursday

Earnings: Adobe, Dollar General, Ulta Beauty, Lennar and Dick’s Sporting Goods

Friday

The Bureau of Economic Analysis releases the personal consumption expenditures price index for January.

Geopolitical risk and Iran. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has ground to a virtual halt, unleashing the most severe energy crisis since the 1970s and threatening the global economy.

Oil prices top $100. Iranian state media said Mojtaba Khamenei would succeed his father, a choice President Trump had called ‘unacceptable.’ Oil prices surged into triple digits.

Epstein files fallout continues. The WSJ catalogs 40 famous names and other high-profile exits in the business world and beyond.

Andrew Ferguson has found the formula for antitrust enforcement in the MAGA era: Mix a series of mainstream cases against big business with warning shots at liberal interests and critics of President Trump’s agenda, reports Dave Michaels and Emily Glazer.

In his first year as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Ferguson has steered it closer than ever to the rhythms of the White House, referring to his agency regularly as the “Trump-Vance FTC.”

It is a marriage that never worked for his counterpart at the Justice Department, former Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, who recently quit after clashing with superiors who take a more lenient view on enforcement.

📰 Other headlines 

• Exclusive: Activist Starboard Takes Big Stake in French-Fry Maker Lamb Weston
• ‘Hoppers’ Scores Pixar’s Biggest Original Animated Opening in Years
• The Ultimate Fashion Crime for Finance Bros? Dressing Better Than the Boss
• A New Generation of Mall Rats Has Arrived
• Women Wanted: Kalshi Pushes to Expand Far Beyond Sport Bets
• Trump Sons Back New Drone Company Targeting Pentagon Sales
• Is Inflation Cooling or Stubbornly High? Both Can Be True.

This March 23–24, financial leaders will gather in Palo Alto for The WSJ CFO Council Summit to examine how CFOs are navigating market volatility, evolving trade and regulatory policy and the growing impact of AI on the future of the enterprise. Join the CFO Council and be part of the conversations shaping the future of finance and corporate leadership.

Request Invitation.

GXO Logistics, the Greenwich, Conn.-based contract-logistics provider, has hired Mark Suchinski as the company 's new chief financial officer, effective April 1. GXO said Suchinski joins the company from prison operator GEO Group, which late Thursday announced his planned resignation as finance chief. Suchinski, 59 years old, will receive an annual base salary of $650,000 and an annual bonus with a target of 125% of his base pay, the company said. GXO last year said Baris Oran, who has been CFO since the company's spinoff from XPO in 2021, would be leaving the company this month.

FTAI Aviation's top finance executive, Eun Nam, is leaving the aerospace lessor and engine-maintenance company to pursue another opportunity outside the aviation industry. FTAI on Friday said Nicholas McAleese, senior vice president of financial planning and analysis, succeeds Nam as chief financial officer of the New York company effective immediately, while Michael Hazan, senior vice president and controller, succeeds her as chief accounting officer. McAleese, 36 years old, joined FTAI in 2022 and Hazan joined in 2024.

—Colin Kellaher contributed to today’s Ledger.

The Wall Street Journal's CFO Journal offers corporate leaders and professionals CFO analysis, advice and commentary to make informed decisions. We cover topics including corporate tax, accounting, regulation, capital markets, management and strategy.

Follow us on X @WSJCFO. The WSJ CFO Journal Team comprises reporters Kristin Broughton, Mark Maurer and Jennifer Williams, and Bureau Chief Walden Siew.

You can reach us by replying to any newsletter, or email Walden at walden.siew@wsj.com.