New beginnings

Welcome to our first edition of 2025!

We kick off the year with our annual feature exploring the issues you are most focused on in the year ahead and observe budgetary pressures and the uncertain macroeconomic outlook front-of-mind. But treasury teams are also leaning into emerging technologies and building technical skills within their teams to increase efficiency and resilience.

Fittingly, this edition’s technology focus is AI, repeatedly touted as transformative when it comes to working capital management, risk mitigation, and the treasury forecasting and analytics that is essential in a challenging world. We find that as the hype around AI grows increasingly frenzied, identifying a practical use case for the technology is a crucial first step.

For all the encouraging noises from the new US president, digital asset managers, crypto treasury service providers and even some corporate treasurers, Bitcoin has yet to win over those who question its value as an inflation hedge.

Will the IPO market open up? Our funding feature predicts most activity from the US and India in contrast to moribund listing activity in Europe, South America and Asia where sleepy stock exchanges report challenges like the abundance of private capital, regulation and uncertainties around the Trump administration crimping corporate appetite to go public.

The growing treasury function at India’s leading corporates is also captured in our Question Answered where Tata Communications’ Nishith Agarwal and APAR Industries’ Sanjay Rohit share their stories on treasury growth and prowess in the region.

Finally, this edition’s Corporate View features Henrik Fries, Group Treasurer for Ingka Group. In a timely read, testimony to the steady hand of treasury in tumultuous times, Fries describes his helmsmanship during the company’s exit from Russia and turmoil during the pandemic. His many career milestones include overseeing a treasury transformation that incorporated new asset management capability and an in-house bank. He is now integrating AI in the company’s celebrated treasury function.

Read our January/February 2025 issue now - Treasury Today January/February 2025 | Treasury Today