Rich Hornstein
CFO & General Counsel of Candova
Rich is a CPA and an attorney with more than 25 years in finance and law at high-growth technology companies. He led Quotient Technology (formerly Coupons.com) through its roughly billion-dollar IPO as both CFO and General Counsel, and held finance and legal leadership roles at companies including McAfee and LogLogic before joining Study.com and Candova.
Sitting at the intersection of the CFO and General Counsel roles, he sees AI the way a budget owner and a risk owner both have to: what does it actually cost, what is the return, where is the liability, and what policy keeps people safe. He has led dozens of acquisitions over his career, so he is comfortable putting hard numbers and clear governance around fast-moving technology.
He writes here from that CFO and GC lens: how to measure AI ROI honestly, how to manage AI cost and risk, how to set an AI policy and meet new obligations like the EU AI Act, and how to build the business case before you spend.
Latest from Rich
A simple AI policy for your small business
You don't need a legal team to write a small business AI policy. The usable version is one page: approved tools, data redlines, who to ask, and a human on client-facing work.
June 26, 2026 · 5 min read
AI transformationSmall business AI ROI: where it actually pays off
The return is real at the small end, and the data shows it. But small business AI ROI only shows up when owners put AI on real recurring work, not when they just buy tools.
June 25, 2026 · 6 min read
Leading AI adoptionAI governance: what every company needs in place
Shadow AI is already inside your company. AI governance is the set of rules and roles that let people use it without leaking data or shipping work nobody checked.
June 24, 2026 · 5 min read
AI transformationHow to prove AI ROI to a skeptical board
Boards aren't anti-AI. They're anti-unfalsifiable-number. To prove AI ROI, run a controlled before-and-after on one workflow and bring back a single defensible figure.
June 23, 2026 · 5 min read
AI transformationThe real AI cost, beyond the sticker price
Per-seat licenses and token fees are the small, falling part of AI cost. The real AI cost is idle seats, rework, and untrained people. Here's the full math.
June 22, 2026 · 5 min read
AI transformationHow to find the AI use cases that actually pay off
Most AI projects don't fail on the model. They fail on use-case selection. Here's how to find the work where AI returns real money, before you invest.
June 21, 2026 · 6 min read
Leading AI adoptionHow to manage AI agent risk without banning agents
AI agents can take real actions, which means they can cause real damage. Managing AI agent risk takes guardrails, human checkpoints, and owners trained to set and read both; a lockdown just relocates the risk.
June 20, 2026 · 5 min read
AI transformationHard vs soft AI ROI: what actually counts
Soft AI ROI like time saved and morale is real, but finance rarely funds it. The move that matters isn't arguing whether soft counts. It's converting it into a hard number.
June 19, 2026 · 5 min read
AI transformationThe hidden reasons your AI ROI doesn't show up
Most companies that can't prove AI ROI aren't failing to create value. They're failing to capture and attribute it. Here are the places it hides, and how to surface it.
June 18, 2026 · 6 min read
Leading AI adoptionWhat the EU AI Act's AI literacy rule asks of your team
The EU AI Act made AI literacy a legal obligation, not a nice-to-have, and it reaches non-EU companies too. Here's what Article 4 actually requires, and why a checkbox course is the expensive way to comply.
June 17, 2026 · 6 min read
Leading AI adoptionHow to set an AI policy that levels people up
Most company AI policies are either a scary ban that drives use underground or a vague memo nobody reads. A good one is short, says yes more than no, and comes with training.
June 16, 2026 · 5 min read
AI transformationHow to build an AI business case before the ROI exists
The strongest AI business case is a capability-spend request rather than another tool-spend request, and the trick is making the capability claim a hard number your CFO can approve.
June 15, 2026 · 6 min read
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