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AI Is Already Influencing 
Your Financials.
Are You 
In Control?

Root Idea helps CFOs and finance executives establish visibility and governance over AI-influenced decisions before they show up as problems on the financial statements.

Clyde Calhoun
Root Idea

Why AI Is Creating Financial Risk 
Faster Than Most Companies Realize

Root Idea

Only 1 in 5 AI initiatives deliver sustained financial impact. Most executives assume the biggest challenge with AI is the technology. It isn't.

The real gap is decision governance. AI is already influencing pricing, forecasts, and capital allocation at most companies, often without anyone defining where a human needs to be in the loop or what the guardrails should be. By the time the problem surfaces, it's already on the financial statements.

The executives who get ahead of it ask the hard questions before they invest. That's what we help you do.

How We Help You Implement AI That Works

Executive Enablement

AI DECISION EXPOSURE SCAN

A 4-week diagnostic that maps where AI is already influencing your financial decisions, identifies control gaps, and delivers a clear action plan for establishing accountability.

AI STRATEGY

We work with your team to identify where AI creates the greatest impact, prioritize the initiatives worth funding, and build a focused roadmap that protects your capital.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

We guide your organization through the people side of AI adoption, turning resistance into buy-in and ensuring your AI investments actually get used.

DECISION GOVERNANCE

We help you establish clear ownership, escalation rules, and override protocols over AI-influenced decisions before they create problems on the financial statements.

AI SKILLS BUILDING

We design and deliver function-specific AI training that gives your teams the knowledge and confidence to use AI effectively in their daily work.

TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT

We implement AI where it counts, from workflow automation to AI agent buildouts, with the governance and oversight frameworks built in from the start.

Our Engagement Approach:
Three Simple Steps

1

Clarity Call

One 30-minute conversation to assess your situation and show you what's possible. Even if we're not the right fit, you'll walk away with clarity on your next move.

2

Engagement Design Session

We map your specific situation and design the exact scope, timeline, and investment… together. You know what you're getting before signing anything.

3

Guided Implementation

We work alongside your team to execute the plan—no handoffs, no surprises, just measurable results that show up where it matters.

Root Idea
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Clyde Calhoun

Meet Clyde Calhoun

FOUNDER • CEO • ENTERPRISE AI ADVISOR

Clyde Calhoun spent more than 30 years leading enterprise transformations at Lockheed Martin, GE, and Owens Corning across R&D, operations, supply chain, sales, marketing, and HR where the only results that mattered were the ones that showed up in the financials.

 

That cross-functional experience matters because AI is an enterprise challenge, not a departmental one. The decisions AI influences in pricing affect operations. The assumptions it makes in forecasting ripple into capital allocation. Clyde understands how those connections work and where the exposure hides.

 

He founded Root Idea to help finance executives establish visibility and control over AI-influenced decisions before they become board-level problems.

THE MOMENTS EXECUTIVES CALL US

Root Idea

SOUND FAMILIAR?

Root Idea

When your board asks how much a business-critical decision was influenced by AI, and you don't have a clear answer.

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When a project team has started scaling an AI pilot, and no one has defined decision ownership or financial controls.

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When you need to isolate which AI initiatives are actually moving the numbers from those just creating activity.

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When your largest customer asks how you're managing AI risk, and you don't have a credible answer.

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When a key forecast misses shortly after AI was introduced, and no one can tell you why.

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When your leadership team is aligned that AI is a priority but no one can agree on where to focus first.

Root Idea

In Their Own Words

Root Idea

Clyde has a rare ability to cut through the noise and help leaders focus on what really matters.  His Insights around AI and strategy have helped me think differently about how to drive results in my business.  Root Idea brings a practical, ROI-driven approach that's too often missing from the AI conversation.

Justin Murry, VP Consumer Lending, TransUnion

Root Idea

Practical Support for AI Decision Makers

Get access to articles, frameworks, videos, and templates designed to help you lead more confidently. Whether you’re building your AI strategy, managing change, or making the business case to your leadership team, our resources are here to support you at every stage.

Join our Monthly Virtual Conversation

Each month, we host a virtual conversation with leaders across industries to share lessons, challenges, and strategies for implementing AI in the real world. These are candid, insightful discussions with peers facing challenges like yours. Register to join the next session!

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Feeling uncertain about your AI strategy?

Most executives we work with start with more questions than answers. Schedule a clarity call to discuss where you are, what you’re trying to accomplish, and whether we’re the right fit.

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