The most consequential spending decisions in tech right now are being made by CFOs—and at five of the giant hyperscalers funding the AI build-out, plus Nvidia, those CFOs are women.
That’s among the topics in my new article, released alongside the 2026 Fortune Most Powerful Women list. Meta’s Susan Li, Microsoft’s Amy Hood, Alphabet’s Anat Ashkenazi, Oracle’s Hilary Maxson, OpenAI’s Sarah Friar, and Nvidia’s Colette Kress are steering their companies through one of the largest infrastructure expansions in corporate history, and the capital commitments are staggering. For example, Microsoft is targeting roughly $190 billion in 2026 capex, a 61% jump from the prior year.
In the AI boom, compute isn’t just a technology expense—it’s a strategic asset. Access to chips, data centers, power, and long-term cloud capacity can determine how quickly companies develop, deploy, and profit from AI. That shift has elevated the CFO role.
The finance chiefs steering this race are largely women, and each interprets what that means on her own terms: a milestone, a coincidence, a sign of new kinds of power, or a reminder of the CEO chairs they still don’t occupy. Jenna Fisher, co-head of Russell Reynolds Associates’ Global Financial Officers Practice, says these leaders are cutting against the “glass cliff,” the pattern of women only landing big jobs in moments of crisis. These CFOs, she notes, are arriving at a moment of scale and ambition, not collapse.
You can read the full story here.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Leaderboard
William W. Harkins was promoted to EVP and CFO of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE: ROL), a global consumer and commercial services company, effective June 15. Harkins will succeed Kenneth D. Krause, who is resigning to join another company. Krause will advise the company during a transition period. Harkins has over 20 years of financial and accounting leadership experience. He joined Rollins in 2025 as chief accounting officer. He was previously chief accounting officer and corporate controller at Mohawk Industries, Inc. He also held leadership positions with Mars, Incorporated and The Coca-Cola Company.
Ash Walia was appointed CFO of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: FUN), North America’s largest regional amusement park operator, effective June 17. Walia has more than 20 years of experience. He has served as CFO of Hot Topic since 2021. Before Hot Topic, Walia was CFO of 99 Cents Only Stores. He has also held various senior leadership roles at Starbucks Corporation, including SVP of corporate finance. Earlier in his career, he spent seven years in supply chain financial roles at Kellogg’s, eventually serving as VP of finance, global supply chain.
Big Deal
Older workers are reshaping the U.S. labor market, according to a new analysis from MyPerfectResume. Nearly one in four workers are now age 55 or older.
The Workforce Aging Report ranks the oldest occupations in America, the fastest-aging occupations, and the jobs most at risk of "aging out" as retirement pressures accelerate across industries. It draws on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Population Survey.
Among the key findings: the older workforce is growing faster than the workforce overall. The number of workers over 55 grew 17.3%, versus 11.7% for the total workforce. The number of workers aged 65 and older increased by more than 40%.
Retirement exposure is also widespread. Some occupations already have between 30% and 50% of workers nearing retirement.
Going deeper
Over the last several years, the U.S. economy has faced wave after wave of supply shocks. "Conventional central bank wisdom is to let those waves pass," Tom Barkin, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, wrote recently on LinkedIn. "But could we be entering an era with more frequent shocks? If so, will we have the same luxury?"
In a May 21 speech on navigating supply shocks, Barkin laid out the stakes: "Looking forward, it's easy to imagine more challenging conditions: heightened geopolitical tensions, trade fragmentation, more frequent severe weather events, rising government debt, cyber risk, slowing workforce growth and more. Supply chains could face increased risk. If that occurs, does the Fed have the luxury of riding out all the waves that come our way? For me, it comes down to how much businesses, consumers, and inflation expectations can take."
Overheard
"Here’s something most executives responsible for risk assessment won’t say out loud: when it comes to governance, the instinct to treat AI like every other emerging technology—observe, assess, and move cautiously—is one of the most dangerous things we can do."
—Brandi Thomas, a seasoned operational risk and audit executive, writes in a Fortune opinion piece. She has served as VP and chief audit executive at Uber Technologies, General Motors, General Electric, and Delta Air Lines.
