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Coupa Research Shows CFOs Embrace AI as Antidote to Economic Volatility and Growth Enabler

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Third annual Strategic CFO Study finds 40% of CFOs rank AI as top growth investment area; 90% look to mastering spend management as key to success in tumultuous times

FOSTER CITY, Calif., May 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Amidst global economic uncertainty, rising inflation, and volatile trade, AI investment ranked as the top strategy for growth across all global CFOs surveyed by Coupa – a potential panacea to the volatility they are facing.

The Strategic CFO Report: Turning Global Market Uncertainty into Opportunity, released today by Coupa, the leading AI-native total spend management platform, reveals that almost half (46%) of CFOs see prominent external threats – geopolitics and supply chain disruption – as the greatest risk to business, dampening optimism from the start of 2025. Most notably, the introduction of new tariffs has created an additional challenge for 42% of CFOs, with more than a quarter (28%) of US CFOs planning to or already increasing inventory levels in preparation.

“Today’s finance leaders are facing an alarming set of external pressures and are navigating an ever changing set of risks which challenges their decision making. Despite these dynamic forces, they are driving cost discipline in order to fuel growth, building more resilient supply chains, and scaling their use of AI to fuel more efficient organizations,” said Michael Agresta, Coupa’s CFO. “A unified spend management platform and strategy is proving to be mission-critical in these times to create the agility, visibility, and resilience leaders need to fuel sustainable growth. Coupa’s AI-driven total spend management platform is uniquely built to help our customers navigate uncertainty, and offers CFOs the cloud and AI-native tools to drive margin improvements in any economic environment, making it a critical component for a strategic CFO’s tech stack.”

Tariffs Spur Margin Erosion Concerns
With 69% of CFOs concerned about meeting year-end goals, and 40% reporting extreme concern, it’s clear that much of the financial optimism at the start of the year has dissipated. Most recently, new tariffs and the fear of global trade wars have driven CFOs to act urgently – including increasing inventory levels (22%), automating processes to reduce operating expenses (21%), engaging in hedging strategies (19%), increasing product pricing (19%), and restructuring supply chain (18%). When surveyed on the greatest external threats to business, U.S. CFOs reported slightly lower concern levels (40%) on tariffs compared to their European counterparts, with German CFOs (48%) indicating the highest concern of all countries surveyed.

CFOs Looking to AI to Fuel Growth and Confidence
Despite the uncertain state of the economy, CFOs are asking themselves how best to respond. For today’s finance leaders, this means not over-reacting to every market fluctuation and instead providing thoughtful and inspired leadership – moving away from short-term fixes and prioritizing durable, sustainable growth strategies. A majority (74%) of CFOs are growing increasingly confident in AI, ranking it as the top growth investment area (40% of all CFOs) and AI implementation confidence concerns dropped 23% year-over-year.

“CFOs, including myself, are increasingly championing AI use within their organizations, but to do so effectively they must create a governance structure that is capable of quantifying the performance and financial benefits of AI. Nearly a quarter (23%) of CFOs we surveyed identified this as one of the major obstacles they will face in the next year,” said Agresta. “Beyond the numbers, CFOs need to strategically consider how to prioritize the deployment of new AI strategies and tools across their organizations to identify the highest value use cases but also need to empower employees to think AI first in order to get enterprise-wide adoption.” 

Drowning in Data, Struggling in Silos
In case the state of the economy and trade turmoil wasn’t challenging enough, risk management continues to increase organizational complexity, as 1 in 4 CFOs cited cybersecurity threats, data breaches, and fraud as the largest obstacle they will face this year. CFOs have immense amounts of data at their fingertips – but only 28% of CFOs can access their spend data within a single system and nearly half (41%) struggle to react quickly to cut costs as part of this roadblock. Some organizations are modernizing their data management, but few (33%) have unified processes to manage spend comprehensively. Nearly 1 in 5 CFOs cited outdated systems and data silos as the main hurdles to digital transformation, highlighting the need for increased modern tech adoption to effectively manage data and decrease risk.

Read the full Coupa Clarity Report, The Strategic CFO: Turning Global Market Uncertainty into Opportunity here.

To learn more about Coupa’s leading total spend management platform can help during these turbulent times, visit coupa.com.

Methodology
Coupa Clarity reports provide unique data and insights to help business leaders make smarter decisions to fuel growth, drive efficiency and productivity, and improve performance. This survey was conducted among 500 CFOs and finance leaders across the US, UK, Ireland, France and Germany. The survey was carried out online with an email invitation between November and December 2024 by Wakefield Research on behalf of Coupa.

About Coupa
Coupa is the leader in AI-native total spend management. Using its trusted, community-generated, $8 trillion dataset, Coupa brings autonomous AI agents, a network of 10M+ buyers and suppliers, and leading apps together on one unified platform to seamlessly automate the buying process and connect to customers in a whole new way. With Coupa, you’ll make margins multiply™. Learn more at coupa.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X (Twitter).

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Zetrix AI and China Academy of Information and Communications Technology Unveil Know Your Agent (KYA) Service to Bring Trust and Accountability to AI Agents

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Cross-border pilot across the Middle East, Africa, China and ASEAN with results to be submitted for consideration in ongoing discussions on establishing global AI identity and accountability standards

WUZHEN, China, Nov. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Zetrix AI Berhad (“Zetrix AI”), in collaboration with the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (“CAICT”), announced the launch of a Know Your Agent (KYA) service, to bring greater trust, transparency and accountability to the rapidly expanding world of AI agents.

Announced simultaneously at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, China, and the ICT Development Forum 2026 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the KYA service introduces a framework that enables AI agents to possess verifiable digital identities linked to businesses or personal users.

The KYA service is designed to allow businesses, governments and digital service providers to verify not only the identity of an AI agent, but also who it represents, what it is authorised to do and whether its actions fall within approved limits.

As AI agents increasingly access online services and execute transactions, organisations need a reliable way to distinguish authorised activity from rogue or unauthorised actions. The KYA service addresses this trust gap by combining verifiable credentials with explicit delegated permissions and checks before protected actions proceed.

“AI is entering a new era where intelligent agents will increasingly make decisions, interact with businesses and execute transactions independently. Greater autonomy must come with greater accountability. The question is no longer just what AI can do, but who is responsible for what it does. Through Zetrix AI’s KYA service, we are working towards a future where every AI agent can be identified, every permission can be verified and every action can be traced to an accountable owner. This is fundamental to building the confidence needed for AI to operate at scale across businesses, governments and borders,” said TS Wong, Group Managing Director of Zetrix AI.

The launch includes a planned cross-border pilot involving organisations in the Middle East, Africa, China and ASEAN. The pilot will evaluate how agent identity and authorisation can be recognised across jurisdictions while preserving local control over identity systems and trust decisions. The results of the pilot will then be submitted to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), IEEE and other Standard Development Organizations (SDOs) for consideration in the ongoing work and conversations on establishing global AI identity and accountability standards.

With AI agents becoming more deeply integrated into everyday digital activities, the ability to establish trusted identities and verifiable authority could become an essential foundation for their widespread adoption.

“As Agentic AI assumes greater responsibilities, the need for KYA services will continue to rise. It is our expectation that this joint service with Zetrix AI will help foster a cross-border trusted network enabling interoperable Agentic AI around the world,” said Xiaoyu YOU, Head of International Department, ASTRON network, CAICT.

Through the KYA service, Zetrix AI and CAICT aim to help lay the groundwork for a future in which AI agents can operate with greater independence, while remaining identifiable, accountable and trusted across borders.

Building Trust in an AI-Driven World

AI agents are increasingly being built today to perform tasks that previously required direct human involvement, from managing digital services and accessing business information to facilitating payments and interacting with other AI systems. While these capabilities promise significant improvements in productivity and efficiency, they also introduce new risks.

Without reliable identity verification and clearly defined authority, organisations may struggle to distinguish legitimate AI agents from unauthorised systems, determine the limits of an agent’s permissions or establish accountability when something goes wrong.

Zetrix AI’s KYA service seeks to address these challenges by introducing a verifiable identity and authorisation framework for AI agents, creating a foundation for more secure and responsible autonomous interactions.

Unlike conventional digital identity systems that primarily verify human users, KYA extends identity verification to AI agents themselves, linking each agent to a verified owner and establishing clear boundaries around its activities.

The KYA service builds on W3C Verifiable Credentials and incorporates AvatarLabs’ Agentic Wallet technology to manage digital credentials, verify delegated permissions and maintain evidence of agent activity.

Giving AI Agents an Identity and Clear Boundaries

At the heart of the KYA service is a simple but effective principle that AI agents should be able to act independently, but never without clearly defined authority and accountability. The KYA service will assign each participating AI agent a verifiable digital identity linked to an authenticated individual or organisation.

Owners can establish specific permissions governing what an agent is allowed to do, including which services it can access, what information it can use, who it can transact with and how much it is permitted to spend. For example, a business could authorise an AI agent to process payments to approved suppliers within a specified spending limit, while requiring human approval for transactions exceeding that amount.

Similarly, an AI agent accessing government or enterprise digital services could be required to demonstrate its identity and authorisation before gaining access to protected information.

The KYA service is also designed to ensure that when an AI agent delegates tasks to another agent, the delegated authority cannot exceed the permissions originally granted. Permissions can be revoked, while signed records of agent activity provide an auditable trail to support accountability.

By combining identity verification, permission controls and cryptographic evidence, the KYA service aims to enable organisations to embrace the benefits of autonomous AI without compromising security, privacy or oversight.

Taking AI Trust Beyond Borders

Recognising that AI agents will increasingly operate across international markets, Zetrix AI and CAICT are also planning a cross-border pilot to test how verifiable AI identities and permissions can be recognised across different jurisdictions. The proposed pilot will involve participating organisations from the Middle East, Africa, China and ASEAN, subject to confirmation.

It will explore practical applications in areas such as cross-border trade, digital payments, government services and interactions between autonomous AI agents. A key objective is to demonstrate how AI agents can operate across different national identity ecosystems while respecting local regulatory requirements, data protection considerations and jurisdictional control.

The pilot will evaluate the effectiveness of identity verification, permission enforcement, revocation mechanisms, privacy safeguards and accountability records in real-world cross-border environments. By testing these capabilities across multiple jurisdictions, the initiative seeks to establish practical foundations for greater interoperability and trust in the global AI ecosystem.

Contributing to the Future of International AI Standards

Beyond the immediate launch, the initiative is also intended to contribute to international efforts to develop common approaches to identity, trust and accountability for autonomous AI.

Zetrix AI and CAICT plan to jointly submit findings from the cross-border pilot to the International Telecommunication Union’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector Study Group 17 (ITU-T SG17), through its Focus Group on Trust and Identity for Humans and Agentic AI (FG-TIDA).

The submissions are expected to include implementation findings, cross-border use cases and recommendations relating to agent identity verification, delegated authority and accountability. These contributions are intended to support ongoing international technical discussions and pre-standardisation efforts, subject to the applicable ITU processes.

Organisations interested in participating in the pilot can contact agentid@avatarlabs.si.

About Zetrix AI Berhad

Zetrix AI Berhad (“Zetrix AI”), formerly known as MY E.G. Services Berhad, is leading the way in the deployment of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence in powering the public and private sectors across ASEAN. Headquartered in Malaysia, Zetrix AI started operations in 2000 as a pioneer in the provision of electronic government services and complementary commercial offerings in its home country. Today, it has advanced to the forefront of technology transformation in the broader region, leveraging its Layer-1 blockchain platform Zetrix and embracing the convergence of Web3, AI and robotics to enable optimally-efficient, intelligent and secure cross-border transactions, digital identity interoperability and automation solutions that seamlessly connect people, businesses and governments.

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KuCoin Shares Insights on Career Development and Building a Lasting Competitive Edge at Hong Kong FinTech Week’s Web3 Career Connect

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HONG KONG, Nov. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As digital assets converge with traditional finance and AI, talent needs are changing. Employers increasingly value professional depth and cross-disciplinary capabilities, while new technologies and business models are opening career opportunities.

Against this backdrop, KuCoin’s Head of Talent Acquisition Karina Li shared insights on Web3 talent development at Web3 Career Connect, an official community event of Hong Kong FinTech Week x StartmeupHK 2026.

During the panel “Inside Web3: Building Businesses, Teams & Careers,” Karina described how industry priorities are broadening talent needs, combining technology and crypto experience with traditional finance capabilities in risk management, compliance and governance. AI’s integration with Web3 is also changing skill requirements and opening career opportunities to people from diverse professional backgrounds.

She highlighted the growing importance of structured talent development, with practical responsibilities, mentoring and feedback helping graduates develop independent judgement and ownership.

“Building services that users can trust requires sustained investment in people,” Karina said. “Professional depth and continuous learning help young talent contribute as the industry evolves.”

In a separate presentation, “How to Make the Right Career Choices in the Crypto Era,” Karina offered university students and recent graduates interested in Web3 a framework for evaluating industries, companies and roles. She encouraged them to assess long-term demand, business fundamentals and opportunities to build transferable skills, while seeking experienced colleagues, meaningful responsibilities and room to grow.

Her advice was to establish expertise in a core discipline before expanding across functions, using internships and practical projects to explore their strengths.

About KuCoin

Founded in 2017, KuCoin is a leading global crypto platform built on trust and security, serving over 45 million users across 200+ countries and regions. Known for its reliability and user-first approach, the platform builds trust into every layer of the user experience, combining advanced technology, deep liquidity, and strong security safeguards to deliver a seamless trading experience. KuCoin provides access to 1,000+ digital assets through a broad product suite and remains committed to building a secure, transparent, compliant, and user-centric ecosystem for the future of finance, backed by SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO/IEC 27701:2019, ISO 22301:2019 and ISO/IEC 42001:2023 certifications. In recent years, KuCoin has continued to strengthen its global compliance foundation, marked by key milestones including AUSTRAC registration in Australia, a MiCA license in Europe, and regulatory progress in other markets.

Learn more at www.kucoin.com.

Disclaimer

This announcement is for general informational and corporate news reporting purposes only and does not constitute an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to engage in any digital asset transactions or services in Hong Kong. The event described herein was strictly educational and non-commercial in nature.

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NTT Deepens Financial AI Engagement as Official FinTech Partner of Hong Kong FinTech Week 2026

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NTT and Cyberport convene financial services leaders to explore the pathway from AI sandbox to production

HONG KONG, Nov. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — NTT Com Asia (NTT), part of the NTT Group, a leading global technology company, is an official FinTech Partner of Hong Kong FinTech Week 2026, reinforcing its commitment to Hong Kong’s financial services and technology ecosystem and supporting industry dialogue around the next stage of AI adoption.

As part of its participation, NTT collaborated with Cyberport to host “Beyond the Sandbox: What It Takes to Move Financial AI from Sandbox to Production,” a closed-door leadership luncheon on 3 November 2026. The discussion brought together senior representatives from financial institutions and the wider financial technology ecosystem.

As financial institutions advance AI initiatives from experimentation towards real-world deployment, building on the momentum of the HKMA Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenA.I.) Sandbox, the luncheon examined the practical conditions required to be in place for financial AI to move from experimentation towards production. Conversations addressed governance and compliance, data and security, infrastructure and scalability, and operating responsibility, while providing a forum for leaders to exchange perspectives on the barriers and priorities shaping financial AI adoption.

Through its collaboration with Cyberport and participation in Hong Kong FinTech Week 2026, NTT aims to deepen engagement with the financial services community and contribute its technology and infrastructure perspective to the evolving discussion around production-ready AI in financial services.

About NTT Com Asia

As part of the NTT Group, a leading global technology company, NTT Com Asia is committed to building a smart and sustainable world through innovation. We empower businesses to accelerate their digital and AI journeys by unlocking the full potential of data.

From smart digital infrastructure, technology services to leading-edge AI solutions, we enable organizations to navigate the evolving challenges of a data-centric world.

For more information, please visit: www.ntt.com.hk

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SOURCE NTT Com Asia

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