Andersen Alumni Association Newsletter Apr. 2026 • Vol. 19 • No. 2

• Editorial
  By Warren Turner • Editor
  Who Packed Your Parachute? Last Friday night, watching the Artemis parachutes deploy, I was taken back to growing up in Huntsville, aka the Rocket City, during Apollo’s heyday. Back then, space wasn’t abstract. It was personal. Ordinary people doing extraordinary work behind the scenes.
• Alumni on the Move
  By Andersen Alumni Association • Admin
  Congratulations to the Following Alumni and Best Wishes in your new roles.
• Just Released “85,000” the Podcast
  By Larry R. Katzen • Former Managing Partner for the St. Louis office and Great Plains region and author of the book, “And You Thought Accountants Were Boring”
  You lived through it. Or you knew someone who did. Twenty years in the making, on April 7th 2026 we released 85,000 the Podcast, the real story of Arthur Andersen’s demise - that has never been told before. Along with the full Production team at SLAP Studios LA, we could not be prouder to bring this story, our story, to light.
• Alumni Reflections: HON Marc E. Andersen Assistant Secretary of the US Army
  By Brendan Giuseppe • Andersen Alumnus and Founder of BGS Consulting, a proud sponsor of the Andersen Alumni Newsletter
  Andersen Alumni Association, working with its sponsor, BGS Consulting, has begun an going series “Alumni Reflections” highlighting members’ reflections. We would like to thank Alumnus and Former Managing Partner, Marc E. Andersen, for sharing his reflections in this issue of our newsletter. Today Marc serves as the Assistant Secretary of the US Army, Financial Management and Comptroller.
• The Origin of “Skunk Works”
  By Louis Gump • Andersen Alumnus, Author and partner in the Executive Operations practice at TechCXO
  “We’re treating this as a Skunk Works project.” I’ve heard this term many times, even led a few projects of this sort. Within our Andersen world, many of us have worked on transformational projects and initiatives, and some of them have involved projects of this sort.
• Cyber Risk: The Six Questions Most Leaders Can’t Answer
  By Warren R. Turner • Former Arhtur Andersen Enterprise Group Manager, Founder of Andersen Alumni Association and Partner Cardinal Points Group
  Most CFOs and business leaders believe they have cybersecurity under control. Then they’re asked six simple questions and the confidence disappears. How much would a cyberattack cost your business? If operations stopped for 25 days, would you be out of business? If an attacker has been inside your network for six months, would you even know?
• Relationships That Bring Smiles
  By Ralph Schonenbach • Former Consultant Andersen Business Consulting, Founder and CEO of Meerkat, Inc.
  In times that often feel heavy to me, it’s more important than ever to intentionally seek out and cherish the moments and people that bring a genuine smile to my face. For me, focusing on these bright spots helps to balance the scales, ensuring that my smiles far outweigh the frowns.
• Stop Saying
  By Todd Dewett • Andersen Alumnus, author and speaker
  Stop saying you want change. Stop saying we are family. Stop saying my voice matters. Fill in the blank however you’d like. The point is that we think we should say and do certain things that make the organization and its leadership team look thoughtful, progressive, and caring – but what happens in practice is often quite different. Some organizations truly embody the ideals they espouse. Most are a mixed bag – depends on the department and manager. Some are very disconnected from the stated ideals.
• Is Your Profitable Business Quietly Bleeding Cash
  By Robb Thomas • Former Arthur Andersen Bankruptcy/ Turnaround Consultant
  Many business owners are running profitable companies that are quietly bleeding cash. Revenue is coming in, payroll is covered, and by most measures’ things look fine. But when you move past the P&L and look at the actual cash picture, a different reality often emerges. Revenue and cash are not the same thing. And the gap between them is where businesses can get into trouble, often without seeing it coming.
• The Questions That Found Me, On becoming a student of honest doubt after thirty years
  By John Blumberg • Andersen Alumnus and author of Return On Integrity
  Recently, someone in his early thirties sat across from me and asked a question I wasn't expecting: What's so great about wonder? He wasn't being dismissive. He was being honest. And curious. He has a career he's building, a family that needs him, a calendar that answers the question "how are you?" before he can. And in the middle of all that, I'm over here talking about wonder and wholeness and integrity as if those words should mean something to a person whose Tuesday is already spoken for before it starts.
• A look at the Talent Market Heading into the Second Quarter of 2026
  By J. James O'Malley • Former Andersen National Director of Experience Recruiting, Jim is Managing Director at Kensington International Executive Search
  Here are some focused market insights as Q1 2026 closes. Note that our audience typically is for C-Suite and HR leaders along with Private Equity backed environments. Our current point of view with our clients is that execution risk sits with talent.
• Alumni Book Release: Vietnam Stories I Never Told
  By Herb Jansen • Former Andersen Partner and Author
  “Forty years after leaving Vietnam, I found a box of letters I had written to my parents from Vietnam. Suddenly, I was interested in telling the stories I never told - the stories never told in the letters or otherwise - and started writing. On the 57th anniversary of the start of my tour in Vietnam, March 11, 1968, my book was published.”
• Alumni Book Release: Sick CRM: Thinking More and Buying Smart
  By Michael Hudlow • Andersen Alumnus
  There is a sad reality that needs to be realized: most companies are unhappy with their CRM within a few years. Not because the software is bad, but because someone skipped the hard parts. They bought more than they needed, customized before they understood the basics, or chased features instead of focusing on what would actually get used. They skipped the hard questions and paid for it later.
• Seven AI Questions Used by Leading Boards
  By Johnny Lee • Andersen Alumnus and Partner Risk Advisory Services Grant Thornton Advisors LLC
  Boards are feeling the pull of AI from every direction at once. Strategy, risk, compliance, talent and technology are converging in ways that stretch traditional governance models. The challenge is maintaining clear accountability and confidence without impeding execution or slowing the organization’s momentum.
• Balancing Risk & Reward: A Perfect Dance to the Tune of Changing Times
  By Jim DeLoach • Former Andersen Partner and Founding Managing Director at Protiviti. He is the author of several books and a frequent Forbes and NACD contributor.
  As former CEO Jack Welch once said, “If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.” Jim DeLoach of Protiviti shares insights from 1,540 global leaders showing that organizations are prioritizing customer experience, cybersecurity and AI deployments in their long-term strategies, indicating a shift toward integrated decision-making that encompasses immediate and future opportunities and risks.
• The C-Suite Transition Fallacy, Why Strong Leaders Stall at The Top
  By Jennifer Eggers • Andersen Alumnus and Founder & President of LeaderShift Insights®
  Most C-suite transitions don’t fail because leaders lose their edge. They stall because the job quietly changes from specialist to enterprise steward—and everyone assumes that shift will happen on its own.
• The Signers (Part II)
  By Ed Maier • Former Andersen Partner
  A few years ago, around our annual celebration of one of the most important holidays of the year – Independence Day – the 4th of July, I wrote a piece about our founders. On July 4, 1776, 56 delegates to the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. The signing gave birth to the first real democratic republic in world history—founded by the people and for the people. Most of us can probably name no more than a few of the signers. And those would be the most well-known, e.g., Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Hancock, etc. These were the ones we learned about in our American history classes. This year we are celebrating our 250th anniversary. I felt it appropriate to honor another five of the lesser-known signers. In response to my earlier piece, a few of you realized there was some connection you had with one of these founders. Let me know if that happens again.
• The Coach: How Each of Us Benefit from Accountability and Motivation
  By Gary Thomson • Andersen Alumnus and currently a Managing Director at Thomson Consulting
  In NCAA sports, the evolving role of the coach is essential in a fast-changing NIL environment. In today's dynamic business environment, leadership is not just about managing; it's about evolving with both challenges and opportunities. Leadership coaching can hold transformative power to build better leaders and enhance their effectiveness within firms.
• M&A and Private Debt Market: 2025 Recap & 2026 Outlook
  By Don Bravaldo • Andersen Alumnus and Founder and President Bravaldo Capital Advisors
  Bravaldo Capital Advisors has just released its M&A and Private Debt Market Observations 2025 Recap and 2026 Outlook. Below are key highlights that Andersen Alumni and middle‑market business owners may find especially relevant.