FinPod

In this episode of What’s New at CFI, Meeyeon sits down with Ryan Spendelow, VP of Content and Curriculum, to break down CFI’s latest practice lab: AI Prompting for Financial Analysis. This short, focused course is designed to help finance professionals use AI more effectively in real-world workflows, from research and analysis to building presentations. 
The key challenge is not the AI tool itself. It is how analysts use it. AI can generate confident answers even when prompts are vague or assumptions are weak, which creates real risk in financial analysis. This episode explores how poor prompting can lead to flawed insights, bad decisions, and costly outcomes, and how to avoid those pitfalls. 
At the center of the discussion is CFI’s CAP-AJ framework, which stands for Context, Assumption, Prompt, Assess, and Judge. This structured approach helps analysts think critically before using AI, design better prompts, evaluate outputs, and apply professional judgment to every result. The goal is simple. Keep the analyst in control while using AI as a thinking partner, not a replacement. 
You will also hear how this framework applies across different areas of finance, including FP&A, investment banking, and capital markets. The practice lab uses real financial scenarios to teach how to identify assumptions behind numbers, stress test them with AI, and improve the quality of analysis.
A major takeaway from this episode is the mindset shift required when using AI. Strong analysts do not rush to answers. They ask better questions first. AI can enhance productivity and surface insights, but it cannot replace core finance skills like financial modeling, valuation, and critical thinking.
If you want to improve how you use AI in finance, build better prompts, and strengthen your analytical thinking, this episode is a great place to start.

In this episode of Corporate Finance Explained, we dive into one of the most critical but overlooked foundations of finance: internal controls and fraud prevention. What starts as a simple reconciliation issue quickly becomes a much bigger question about trust, accuracy, and the systems that keep businesses running. 
Internal controls are often misunderstood as bureaucratic red tape, but in reality, they function as the immune system of a company. They are the invisible guardrails that ensure financial data is accurate, operations run efficiently, and organizations remain compliant with regulations. Without them, even the largest companies can collapse under the weight of errors or fraud.
We break down the three core types of internal controls, preventive, detective, and corrective, and explain how they work together to protect a company’s financial integrity. From segregation of duties and access controls to reconciliations and internal audits, you will learn how finance teams design systems that catch issues before they become catastrophic.
This episode also explores real-world case studies that show both success and failure. We look at how companies like Microsoft and Procter and Gamble build robust control environments through automation and culture, and contrast that with major breakdowns like Enron and Wirecard, where weak oversight and lack of verification led to massive financial scandals.
We also unpack the role of regulation, including the impact of the Sarbanes Oxley Act, and what corporate finance and compliance teams actually do day to day to maintain trust in financial reporting.
Ultimately, this conversation reframes internal controls as more than just compliance. They are systems designed to engineer trust, reduce risk, and protect the credibility of financial information in global markets.

If you work in finance, analyze companies, or want to understand how businesses prevent fraud and ensure accuracy behind the scenes, this episode will fundamentally change how you think about financial systems.

In this episode of What’s New at CFI, Meeyeon Park speaks with Joseph Yeates about the refreshed SQL Fundamentals course and what has changed in the updated version.
They discuss who the course is designed for, what learners will focus on in the new version, and why SQL remains a practical skill for finance, business intelligence, and data analytics professionals.
Joseph explains how the course has been streamlined to focus on the most applicable content for a wide range of learners. He also shares how SQL helps professionals read data from databases, structure information more efficiently, and answer business questions faster when Excel is not the right tool.

What should a company do with billions in cash? Reinvest in growth, pay down debt, or return it to shareholders?
In this episode of Corporate Finance Explained on FinPod, we break down one of the most important decisions in corporate finance: dividend strategy. Using real-world case studies and corporate finance frameworks, we explore how companies decide whether to pay dividends and what that decision actually signals to investors.
At first glance, dividends seem simple. But once a company commits to a recurring payout, it creates a long-term obligation that fundamentally changes how the market values the business. This episode unpacks how dividends act as a powerful financial signal, shaping investor expectations around stability, growth, and future cash flow.
We dive into the core mechanics behind dividend sustainability, including payout ratios and free cash flow, and explain why profits on paper don’t always translate into real cash available for distribution. You’ll learn how disciplined companies like Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble maintain decades of consistent dividend growth, while others struggle under the weight of poor capital allocation decisions.
The episode also explores more complex scenarios, including how cyclical companies like ExxonMobil maintain dividends through volatile market conditions, and what happens when things go wrong. Using AT&T as a cautionary case study, we examine how excessive debt and misaligned strategy can force companies to cut dividends and trigger significant market backlash.
Ultimately, this conversation reframes dividends as more than just a shareholder reward. They are a binding financial commitment that reflects a company’s confidence in its long-term cash generation, operational discipline, and strategic priorities.
If you want to better understand how companies allocate capital and what dividend decisions reveal about financial health, this episode will change how you analyze stocks and corporate strategy.

Are you solving the right problem or just solving it quickly?
In today’s fast-moving world of AI, shifting markets, and constant complexity, the biggest risk in finance and business isn’t slow decision-making. It’s solving the wrong problem entirely. In this episode of What’s New at CFI, Meeyeon sits down with Timothy Tiryaki, co-author of CFI’s new course Strategic Problem Solving, to unpack how top professionals approach complex decisions more effectively.
This conversation explores why traditional problem-solving methods are breaking down in today’s “flux” environment, where speed, uncertainty, and constant change redefine how decisions are made. Instead of rushing to solutions, strong strategists take a step back to define the problem clearly. The discussion introduces the double diamond model, a powerful framework that separates problem definition from solution development and emphasizes the balance between divergent and convergent thinking.
Tim explains why modern challenges are often not simple problems but complex dilemmas, requiring deeper analysis and better framing. You’ll learn how shifting from reactive thinking to structured questioning can dramatically improve decision quality, whether you’re working in FP&A, investment banking, corporate strategy, or any analytical role.
The episode also highlights practical techniques you can apply immediately, including how to turn problems into better questions, how to avoid common decision-making traps, and why strategic thinking is no longer reserved for senior leadership. In a world shaped by AI and rapid change, the ability to think critically and strategically is becoming a core skill for every finance professional.
If you’re making decisions where the stakes matter, this episode will change how you approach problem solving.