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Companies are already facing major pressure to scrap or change their DEI programs. Now further guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) is encouraging employees to join in on the fight by investigating DEI policies at their own companies. 

On Wednesday, the agencies released two documents entitled “What You Should Know About DEI-Related Discrimination at Work” and “What To Do If You Experience Discrimination Related to DEI at Work.” These new resources describe what counts as “DEI-related discrimination,” and how to report it to the EEOC. Perhaps most important though, they encourage the public to speak up if they can provide “a fact-specific basis” around why they believe certain policies or practices related to DEI violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. 

“These technical assistance documents will help employees know their rights and help employers take action to avoid unlawful DEI-related discrimination,” EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas wrote in a statement about the new guidance. The move follows similar recent anti-DEI efforts from Lucas. On Monday, she sent letters to 20 law firms requesting information about their diversity, equity, and inclusion-related employment practices. 

What do the new DOJ and EEOC employee guidelines mean for workplaces around the U.S.? They add to the heightened culture of fear for employers who are already nervous about trying to preserve their DEI policies in a tough political climate, says David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at New York University

“Employers are already very nervous, and feeling threatened with civil compliance investigations,” he says. “This latest guidance is pouring fuel on an already raging anti-DEI fire.”

But while these documents seem daunting at first glance, he notes that they don’t change any current laws. And he says that the bar for claiming DEI-related discrimination is very high. 

“I think guidance like this could make people unnecessarily worried about, ‘Oh no, what if our DEI trainings are creating a hostile work environment?’ When 99.9% of trainings don’t actually do that,” he says. 

In short, companies should make sure that their programs are bulletproof, but avoid scrapping them altogether, says Nonnie L. Shivers, attorney and office managing shareholder at legal firm Ogletree Deakins. She says many court cases have supported an employer’s right to train their employees, and create an equal opportunity workplace. 

“Employers should continue to conduct privileged assessments of their DEI programs and evaluate risk, leaning into existing civil rights law for what is legal as the law has not changed,” she says.

Brit Morse
brit.morse@fortune.com

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Good morning. CFOs and chief information officers (CIOs) steer technology to meet business needs. That also means justifying large AI investments. But when it comes to measuring the benefits of AI investments, the two C-suite leaders are not on the same page.  

A new report by KPMG reveals that more than a third (39%) of CFOs and 49% of CIOs consider the definition of technology ROI to be a contentious area. The findings are based on a survey of 102 CFOs and CIOs and their direct reports. 

Not only do they disagree on ROI, but also about who holds primary responsibility for AI and technology investments. Fifty-nine percent of CFOs claim this responsibility, while 61% of CIOs see it as their prerogative—a recipe for a potential power struggle.

The leaders also have different perspectives on whether collaboration works. About 57% of CFOs think collaboration can significantly improve operational efficiency, compared to 37% of CIOs. And just over half of CFOs believe collaboration can enhance risk management, while only 29% of CIOs agree.

“CFOs and CIOs need to collaborate to execute strategy and achieve goals,” Marcus Murph, KPMG U.S. head of technology consulting, said in a statement. 

There are some CIOs who do see the value of collaboration. For example, my colleague John Kell recently talked with Kim Anstett, the CIO at Trellix, who said she met with every department at the cybersecurity provider to discuss possible uses for AI agents. 

They came up with a massive list—over 100. But Anstett played a role in paring down the list and has begun a few pilots of the technology. “From a strategy perspective, initially we will limit the number of add-ons we purchase,” Anstett told Kell. “We’re looking at it from a cost perspective.” 

However, CEOs and boards are placing CFOs at the center of strategic AI investments, especially if it’s big and costly. Also, many companies are seeking tech-savvy finance talent. Of the 1,000 job listings for CFOs in January 2025, 27% included AI in the job description, research by software company Datarails finds. 

The ongoing debate over the ownership of business transformation continues, according to Sanjay Sehgal, KPMG U.S. advisory head of markets. “CIOs are focused on building and securing technology, and CFOs on leveraging the infrastructure to refine processes,” Sehgal said in a statement. “Yet, both see themselves as responsible for driving business transformation.”

Open communication, developing a unified strategy, and establishing a common framework and clear definitions of how to measure ROI, are among KPMG’s suggestions for CFOs and CIOs to see eye to eye.

What’s your perspective on the CFO-CIO dynamic? Send me an email and let me know.

Have a good weekend.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Germany’s move to unlock hundreds of billions of euros in debt-financed defense and infrastructure spending passed its final legislative hurdle on Friday when lawmakers in the upper house of parliament in Berlin approved the measures.

An alliance of Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz’s conservatives, the Social Democrats and the Greens rammed the unprecedented investment package through the lower house on Tuesday and together controlled enough votes in the Bundesrat, where Germany’s 16 federal states are represented, to ensure its backing there too.

The bill passed with 53 votes in favor, more than the required two-thirds majority of 46 and paving the way for President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to sign it and submit it for publication in the Federal Law Gazette.

Investors have been closely watching the passage of the measures, which end decades of German austerity and usher in a new period of deficit spending designed to boost Europe’s biggest economy and modernize creaking infrastructure.

The armed forces is also a focus, with Merz and the Social Democrats — his prospective partners in the next government — committed to a massive military buildup after years of neglect, as well as continued backing for Ukraine.

Merz said this week that wherever possible defense contracts should go to European manufacturers. Contractors ranging from Thyssenkrupp AG to BAE Systems Plc and smaller drone makers stand to gain the most, Bloomberg reported Monday.

Merz and the SPD have been forced to act after President Donald Trump pulled back from US commitments to European security, laying bare the increased threat to the region from President Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Meanwhile, Germany’s economy has stagnated for two years and Merz has pledged to tackle structural problems including high energy costs and tangled bureaucracy.

Markets have generally reacted positively to the fiscal shift, which Bloomberg economists say should help bolster growth across the euro region.

“If you look at Germany from the outside, what we’re hearing in Europe and from countries beyond Europe is an overwhelmingly positive assessment of what we have agreed,” Merz said earlier Friday at a FAZ newspaper forum in Berlin.

Germany’s Spending Package:

• Defense spending in excess of 1% of gross domestic product will be released from constitutional borrowing restrictions
• Special, off-budget infrastructure fund will be empowered to borrow as much as €500 billion ($542 billion) over 12 years
• Of that amount €100 billion will be transferred to the Climate and Transition Fund and states will receive €100 billion for regional projects
• Germany’s 16 states will have leeway to borrow as much as 0.35% of GDP, or the equivalent of around €16 billion, instead of having to run balanced budgets

After the passage of the spending bill, attention turns to the coalition talks. Merz’s conservatives and the Social Democrats aim to have an agreement in place by Easter at the latest, though there have been rumblings in recent days that the negotiations could drag on longer.

A coalition deal would pave the way for Merz to secure Bundestag approval to take over as chancellor from Scholz, who has been running the government in a caretaker capacity since the CDU/CSU’s February election victory.

“The next German government must put the economy back on a growth path — and this also requires unpopular decisions,” Tanja Gönner, head of the BDI industry lobby, said Thursday.

“There can and must be no way around bold structural reforms, efficient use of budget funds and clear priorities for investments,” she added.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com