In this special episode of CFO Thought Leader—the first of three produced in collaboration with The Suite, Shaun Sethna (General Counsel and GM for the L Suite) maps where CFOs and GCs misjudge contract risk and how to collaborate effectively. He spotlights “locked-in” deals that still enable termination via vague clauses or missing notice-and-cure. Start with strategy alignment, then cross-train—mini finance for lawyers, mini legal for CFOs—and empower teams to escalate wisely. He urges adopting AI to summarize agreements, surface obligations, and route risks. Looking ahead, he flags AI agents as SaaS “users,” which could upend seat-based pricing. He closes with an M&A example where mutual fluency let GC and CFO catch material misses.

• Align strategy first; contracts follow business intent.

• Cross-train teams to spot each other’s risks.

• Adopt AI to illuminate obligations and exposure.