Every CEO wants a faster organization. Faster decisions. Faster innovation. Faster customer response. Faster execution.
Technology has made all of those possible, yet it has also introduced an uncomfortable reality: The faster an organization moves, the faster a mistake, or a well-executed fraud, can move with it.
Increasingly, the question facing leadership is no longer, “How do we move faster?” but rather, “How do we move faster without increasing our exposure?”
The threat is no longer theoretical.
Just last week, an artificial intelligence (AI) developer I work with opened an invoice from Amazon Web Services totaling $235,672,099,383.83. The amount was so absurd that it was immediately recognized as an error. The more important question is: What if it had been $235,000 or even $12,350? Many organizations might have paid it without hesitation.
I witnessed the consequences firsthand while advising an international manufacturer. A chief financial officer received confidential emails directing more than $21 million to be transferred from U.S. accounts as part of what appeared to be a highly confidential acquisition. The instructions emphasized absolute secrecy and directed the CFO not to discuss the transaction.
The emails were fraudulent.
Three separate wire transfers were completed before anyone questioned the transactions.
Boards should also recognize another emerging trend. Cyber insurance premiums continue climbing while errors and omissions and other commercial policies are quietly evolving to narrow coverage for AI-related losses. Increasingly, insurers are rewarding organizations that demonstrate disciplined governance, authenticated approvals and documented internal controls. In the future, strong governance may lower premiums as much as it lowers risk.
Augmented Approvals
A new generation of enterprise security is emerging that focuses less on simply protecting passwords and networks and more on protecting authority itself. Instead of assuming that anyone with the correct login credentials should be able to authorize a significant transaction, these systems require multiple layers of verified approval before consequential actions can occur.
Imagine a seven-figure wire transfer, a banking change, a new vendor payment or the release of sensitive intellectual property. Rather than relying on a single executive clicking “Approve,” organizations can establish configurable approval thresholds requiring two or more authorized leaders to independently validate the transaction. More importantly, each approval is confirmed through a dedicated cryptographic hardware device that verifies the individual’s identity, not merely a password, text message or email account that could potentially be compromised.
Every approval is authenticated, permanently recorded and traceable, creating an immutable audit trail that satisfies both governance requirements and regulatory scrutiny. The result is a process that is actually faster because executives can approve securely from anywhere while making unauthorized transactions difficult, even if an attacker gains access to email systems or credentials or convincingly impersonates an executive through AI-generated voice or video.
This represents a fundamental shift in thinking. Instead of asking, “How do we stop every cyberattack?” organizations begin asking, “How do we make it virtually impossible for an attacker to complete a high-consequence action, even if they penetrate part of our systems?”
As companies continue adopting AI, automation and increasingly autonomous digital workflows, those creating the greatest competitive advantage will not necessarily be those deploying the most technology. They will be those that redesign decision-making itself, combining innovation with authenticated human authority, hardware-backed identity verification and intelligent approval structures that dramatically reduce risk while allowing routine business to move faster.
The next decade will not belong simply to the fastest organizations; it will belong to those that earn and protect trust at the speed of business.
5 Governance Standards Every Company Should Have by 2027
- Multiperson approval thresholds based on dollar amount and risk
- Hardware-backed identity verification for consequential approvals
- AI governance policies defining what AI may and may not authorize
- Independent verification for banking, vendor and payment changes
- Quarterly executive “fraud simulation” exercises and governance audits
Mark Faust (513-621-8000, mark@em1990.com) works with owners, CEOs and sales managers who want to grow their businesses. You can schedule a free profit improvement session with Mark by visiting calendly.com/markfaust. Read more ideas from him here.
