Despite the foggy macroeconomic environment, the core challenge facing finance executives remains unchanged: how to find the critical balance between risk and reward.

To achieve this, finance executives may need to more calmly face the risk side of the equation. For example, Remote, a global payroll and HR platform, is investing in "where we think our customers will need us in three years," even though this future picture is not yet clear, its CFO Michiel Boere said. He added that this strategy includes releasing products early to test whether they "truly meet customer needs," and then adjusting accordingly.

Embracing uncertainty

Remote provides payroll and HR solutions for global employees and operates an AI-driven job platform. According to his LinkedIn profile, Boere, based in the Netherlands, joined the company as CFO in April 2023. Previously, he spent seven years at ride-hailing giant Uber, serving as Vice President of Finance and CFO of global delivery (Uber Eats), among other roles. His past experience also includes serving as CFO of Dutch greeting card company Greetz and various positions at consulting firm McKinsey.

At Remote, Boere is practicing what he calls a "risk appetite" strategy—a term that typically means "investing in things with uncertain outcomes." He cites his former employer Uber as an example: the company continuously invested in the Uber Eats product, "even when I joined, the business was still deeply loss-making."

According to his LinkedIn profile, Boere joined Uber in 2016 as Head of CRM and Marketing Analytics for EMEA, about a year before theUber Eats app launch. According to CFO Dive's sister publication Restaurant Dive at the time, Uber Eats' restaurant delivery business in the third quarter of 2021became profitable for the first time. And according to The Verge, Uber's overall business, after years of criticism over cash burn, achieved itsfirst annual profit in 2023。

Discussing the development of Uber Eats, Boere said: "We tolerated quite a lot of early losses and made significant investments; it wasn't the blind cash burning it appeared to be from the outside, because we knew the underlying business model was ultimately healthy." At Remote, Boere is putting Uber's lessons into practice, using the company's cash reserves to invest, carefully navigating the line between risk and reward. The company completed a$150 million Series B funding roundin 2022, with a valuation exceeding $1 billion, which means "we have the luxury of making long-term decisions and long-term investments," Boere said, "but in this environment you have to stay flexible, you have to be agile in responding to all changes."

As a global company, Remote is currently conducting scenario planning to assess the potential impact of ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty on areas such as hiring and interest rates, and taking measures to mitigate currency risk, Boere said.

The integration of strategy and operations

As macroeconomic conditions continue to fluctuate, the importance of maintaining the balance between risk and reward is increasingly prominent, and the CFO's role is becoming ever more critical. Boere believes that today's finance executives need to possess both "strategic vision and operational capability."

"The traditional image of a CFO is often extremely risk-averse and conservative," he said, "but I think that no longer fits the modern CFO. They must work side by side with the executive team and get deep into the front lines."

To chart the company's future expansion path, financial leaders also need to ensure their finance teams are well prepared for the upcoming turbulence. Boere noted that Remote, founded in 2019, has grown into a multinational company operating in over 100 countries and supporting 60 currencies. As a result, the finance team is facing significant operational complexity and is striving to manage it more efficiently amid continued expansion.

"The team has performed excellently in this regard, but we cannot underestimate the workload and complexity required to build a multinational company in such a short time," he said.

The company is also closely monitoring the impact of ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical changes on the labor market, as well as other trends that could affect the global talent pool, such as the return-to-office policies many companies are implementing.

"We see a large number of people working remotely around the world, and we believe this will continue regardless of the return-to-office trend," Boere said.

Another variable looming over the labor market is the impact of automation and artificial intelligence. Remote told CFO Dive via email that between April and June 2025, the number of job postings with "AI" in the title on its job platform doubled. However, Boere said that so far the company has not seen AI and automation have a significant impact on the labor market.

"I think the impact will eventually come, but what will be the speed and direction? There is no conclusion yet," he said.