Philip Wiser on financial management
From Adapting at Scale through the Lens of a Tech Pioneer - Phil Wiser, Paramount · · KPMG US
“When a big technical decision is going to fall to the CFO giving a green light, I'm doomed. It's never going to work right. So I have to be in the driver's seat when it comes to the finances and where we're making our investments.”
On , Philip Wiser, Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer at Paramount Global Class B, spoke about financial management during Adapting at Scale through the Lens of a Tech Pioneer - Phil Wiser, Paramount on KPMG US.
About Philip Wiser
Phil Wiser, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Paramount Global, has discussed the company's approach to generative AI and other emerging technologies in recent appearances. In a March 2024 SXSW session, Wiser described Paramount as a content company rather than a technology company, with technology teams serving creative output. He stated that Paramount moved its entire company to a cloud-based model and partnered with Adobe to create a proprietary "franchise model" AI system based on the company's intellectual property. Wiser said he does not aim to "win the gen AI arms race" but intends to stay close to those who do, and described generative AI as a "creative assistant" rather than a tool for generating finished content at scale from a single prompt. In an August 2025 interview, Wiser addressed AI copyright and licensing, stating that Paramount is "trying to be very thoughtful" about the issue and will "hold on to all of our rights as much as we can" while engaging with technology companies. He noted that litigation occurs when tech companies are "recalcitrant" and unwilling to have meaningful conversations. Wiser also discussed the rapid pace of AI development, comparing the trajectory to cloud and mobile technology, and said that humans' ability to absorb and adopt the technology may be the limiting factor. He emphasized that he keeps himself involved in financial decisions related to technology investments, saying that if a "big technical decision" falls to the CFO for approval, "it's never going to work right."