Nostalgia on Trial: What the Blockbuster Trademark Case Can Teach the C-Suite
13/04/2026 | 25 min
A visit to Blockbuster Video used to be the ultimate Friday night trip, but today, that blue and yellow ticket is a legal battleground for intangible assets. In this episode of The Pre-Read, we unearth the true drivers of company valuation, from nostalgic trademarks to proprietary AI. "The question isn't whether Blockbuster was famous. It's whether it's famous enough now for trademark law to care in the same way." —Ivan Moreno Guest spotlight: Ivan Moreno, senior reporter at Law360®, breaks down the Blockbuster trademark case against a Mississippi animal feed company. He discusses why heritage brands must fight to stay legally relevant even when they no longer lead the market. Then Alana Chartier, Sustainability Analyst at Workiva, explains the $81 trillion blind spot in global company valuation. She argues that a 21st-century economy cannot run on 20th-century reporting systems that classify human capital and AI as costs instead of assets. Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 03:30 The Blockbuster trademark case vs. Southern Seed and Feed 05:40 Dilution by blurring: Can you protect a legacy name? 08:30 Accounting for brand value: Acquisition vs. internal builds 11:00 Reputation as a corporate credit score 18:40 The orchard analogy: Why we only count the fruit 21:30 Integrated reporting: Connecting financial and non-financial data Subscribe to catch all upcoming episodes of The Pre-Read.
Sustainability in the C-Suite: Strategy over Compliance
30/03/2026 | 22 min
Don't let the political noise fool you: Green hushing is real, but green quitting is a myth. In this episode, we sit down with Grant Harrison, VP at Trellis Group, to bridge the narrative reality gap. We explore how the office of the CFO is taking the lead, shifting sustainability from a values-driven initiative to a finance-led sustainability strategy anchored in financial materiality. Learn how to build a data backbone that delivers assurance-ready sustainability data for global mandates like CSRD and ISSB. Key moments: 00:00 Introduction 02:15 Identifying the narrative reality gap in today's market 05:40 Green hushing vs. green quitting: What the data says 09:10 Why the controller's office is the new home for sustainability 12:50 Moving beyond a check-the-box compliance mindset 17:45 Using assurance-ready sustainability data to optimize the cost of capital "Companies getting it right treat the disclosure as a byproduct of good decision-making, not an output of something that was ... machine built to produce PDF outcome." —Grant Harrison, VP of Sustainable Finance and ESG at Trellis Group Find past conversations at workiva.com/podcast/the-pre-read #Sustainability #CFO #ESG #FinanceStrategy #Workiva
The Semi-Annual Trap: Why Less Reporting Might Mean More Work
16/03/2026 | 33 min
Is your reporting strategy ready for a six-month silence? #podcast The traditional quarterly cycle is under the microscope. We explore the potential shift to semi-annual reporting and why "less" disclosure often results in more work for finance, legal, and IR. What we cover: » The Capital Gap: Will investors penalize companies that choose to say less? » The 8-K Surge: Why voluntary filings might become the new 10-Q. » The Governance Risk: Navigating longer "dark periods" and insider trading exposure. » Decision-Grade Data: Why you can't afford to lose the discipline of a quarterly close. The Insight: "Never has an investor asked for less information." — Mike Rost,SVP & Chief Strategy Officer, Workiva Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 02:21 Highlights and Key Risks 04:23 IR Transparency Tradeoffs 07:39 Eight-K Takes Center Stage 10:43 Finance Governance and Data 13:54 Reg FD and Guidance Pressure 14:50 Insider Trading and Litigation 22:15 Final Takeaways and Readiness 26:06 Europe and UK Real-World Model
Workforce reimagination is here. In 2026, the office of the CFO is moving from AI as a tool to a coworker. Recorded in Davos, this episode digs into the human side of transformation. We sit down with global leaders to unpack why the human in the loop is being rewritten and why change management has become a core executive capability. Mandi McReynolds talks with Costi Perricos, Global GenAI Business Leader at Deloitte, Dennis Woodside, CEO of Freshworks, and Dr. Márcia Balisciano, Board Member Foundation for the UN Global Compact and CSO of RELX, about what they're seeing on the ground as roles evolve from task execution to AI orchestration. In this episode: 04:00 Costi Pericos on agentic collaboration and why HR and AI are converging 13:10 Dennis Woodside on the execution gap and changing daily work habits 15:30 Marcia Balisciano on CFO leadership and becoming "chief environmental champions" 19:00 Conclusion: Why CFOs must architect the agentic future "I often say you'll learn without AI first so that one day you can be the human in the loop, coordinating and governing AI." — Costi Pericos, Deloitte Enjoy this episode? Find more at workiva.com/podcast/the-pre-read
Davos Discussions: What is the ROI Heresy?
04/03/2026 | 11 min
Traditional finance models are hitting a wall. This episode highlights a panel at Davos that gets straight to the engine room of the enterprise. Jatin Dalal, Chief Financial Officer, Cognizant; Mike Rost, Chief Strategy Officer, Workiva; Jonathan Zanger, Chief Technology Officer, Check Point; and Jennifer Steinmann, Global Sustainability Business Leader, Deloitte gathered to talk about: The ROI heresy: Why waiting for a fixed ROI is like using an obsolete map for a moving target The 3x productivity jump: Why a 300% increase is the new starting point for AI Security risks: Understanding white font attacks and AI doppelgangers in HR systems Strategic insights: How predictive analytics and earth observation are changing risk valuation Timestamps: 00:00—Multiplying traditional productivity by three 02:15—The Davos panel: AI promise and peril 04:10—Why ROI is an irrelevant measure for AI 05:40—Security alerts: The white font attack 07:15—The $3.8 trillion insight at stake 08:20—The Monday morning mandate "Whatever you thought about traditional productivity multiplied by three at minimum, and that should be a starting point, not the end point." —Jatin Dalal, CFO of Cognizant Find past conversations at workiva.com/podcast/the-pre-read
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.
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