The M&A market is heating up, and AI is compressing deal timelines from weeks to days.

In this episode of The Pre-Read, guest host Josh Gertsch and Troy Hooper of Mergermarket provide a capital markets update that touches on the SpaceX IPO, the quiet M&A surge, and why quality assets with resilient cash flows are winning. Then, guest host Esther Toth talks with Latitude Financial Services CFO Guillaume Leger about leading finance teams through change, AI, and why sustainability reporting is a frontier CFOs can’t ignore.

0:00 What’s in this episode

1:56 Capital markets & M&A update with Josh and Troy

3:32 The IPO boom and M&A recovery

4:39 Trends driving M&A

13:18 Esther asks Guillaume about guiding finance teams through change

16:55 Upsides and downsides to AI in finance

19:48 The new frontier of financial reporting

Subscribe to The Pre-Read for weekly conversations at the intersection of finance, sustainability, audit, and risk.