Good morning, CFOs. How Rubrik’s CEO Bipul Sinha sees the CEO-CFO partnership, the cyber threat from Iran, and other highlights from the WSJ CFO Council Summit (including CFO takeaways); plus, Trump rejects exit ramp in TSA standoff.

The CFO Journal team spends most of our time focused on what CFOs think and say, but one CEO’s comments struck me most during day one of our WSJ CFO Council Summit on Monday.

“My idea for business has always been, do not go where the cool kids are going," advised Rubrik CEO Bipul Sinha, a co-founder of the cybersecurity and cloud data management company. Sinha, who also has experience as a venture capitalist, spoke with WSJ Leadership Institute President Alan Murray about the beginnings of the company, when Rubrik was doing backup and recovery work for businesses—at a time when that wasn’t such popular work. 

Back in 2013, when he was thinking about Rubrik, everyone was focused on mobile and other businesses. “And I said what is the most boring part of IT, of the enterprise IT. And I saw this market, backup and recovery, that is a $20, $30 billion market dominated by four companies seeking rent and not doing any innovation.”

Today Rubrik is now a publicly traded company of about 4,000 employees and $10 billion in market capitalization, he said, after he took that early bet.

A second comment struck me too, on the topic of the Iran war, and what impact that conflict may have on cybersecurity. Murray noted that Iran has been willing to use a network of hackers to wreak cyber havoc as a weapon, noting one CEO who cited a tripling of cyberattacks from Iran.

What is Sinha seeing, or how would he gauge that threat?

“I would say, you ain't seen nothing yet,” Sinha said. “Because in a world of AI-accelerated technology, who will adopt AI faster? Not you and I, because we have compliance and regulation and governance, making sure that the data is regulated and private.”

On the CFO and CEO partnership?

“CFOs manage the risk of the business. And as a founder/CEO, you are at the farthest corner trying to accelerate the business, and as with everything, the truth is somewhere in the middle, where you take a little bit of the intellectual view of the business, you take a real view of the business as the founder, and then you come to the middle to really build the long-term business.”

And does the CFO ever say no to him as CEO?

“100 percent of the time,” Sinha said. “And then I convince him.”

Read on below for other summit highlights and some key CFO takeaways.

📆 Earnings

• GameStop
• KB Home

📈 Economic Indicators

ADP releases its National Employment report for the four weeks ending March 7.

S&P Global releases both its Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index and Services Purchasing Managers’ Index for March.

Also, the WSJ CFO Council Summit, Day Two.

After the CFO Council Summit reception and dinner on Monday, top company CFOs also noted main takeaways from their table discussions. Some highlights included:

Freeport-McMoRan CFO Maree Robertson, on use of AI and bots:

"We've been through offshoring, we've been through automating bots, we've been through centralization, we've been through functional models. But I think we came to the conclusion this is actually fundamentally different, just through the rate of change. It's just exponential to what we've experienced in the past."

Palo Alto Networks CFO Dipak Golechha, on how to talk to investors about the existential threat of AI:

"The prevailing wisdom across the board was together, with all of your different functions, treat it like it's a communications crisis and make sure that everybody across the company understands exactly how to talk about the AI strategy."

—Mark Maurer contributed to today’s Ledger.

• Rubrik CEO on Balancing AI Growth and Cybersecurity
• Why Global Hackers Are Outpacing Corporate Defense
• Using Athletic Performance to Build Executive Resilience
• How Extreme Physical Challenges Forge Better Leaders

For all the video highlights, click here.

Estée Lauder is in talks to acquire Spanish beauty group Puig Brands, a deal that would combine two of the world’s biggest beauty companies, Lauren Thomas reports.

Here are the details. Estée Lauder confirmed the discussions Monday, following a report by The Wall Street Journal. The talks are continuing, and there is no guarantee an agreement will be reached, the company said.

The companies have discussed a combination involving a mix of cash and stock, people familiar with the matter said. Puig is based in Barcelona and has a market value of about $10 billion. The company went public in 2024 and its shares have significantly underperformed since then, in part because of sluggish fragrance demand.

📰 Other headlines

• How Nvidia Keeps Its Iron Grip on the AI Boom
• America’s Chief Financial Officers Say AI Is Coming for Admin Jobs
• Big Banks Are Playing Both Sides of the Private Credit Meltdown
• Senators Close In on Deal to End DHS Shutdown, Fund TSA
• Trump’s Deportation Push Takes an Economic Toll on Mixed-Status Families
• LaGuardia Airport Reopens Hours After Deadly Runway Collision
• ICE Agents—Many Unmasked—Deploy to Airports Amid Long TSA Security Lines
• Hyundai SUV Seat Defect Leads To Recall After One Child’s Death, Four Injuries
• The Chinese Billionaire Who Says America’s EV Market Is Doomed Without Him

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.

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