June 2008. What a time to take over as editor-in-chief of Treasury & Risk. The global credit crisis was in full swing, Lehman Brothers and AIG were about to implode, the U.S. economy teetered on a cliff, and an unprecedented $780 billion federal bailout and a global recession waited in the wings. For a journalist, heady days.

Treasurers and CFOs were in the hot seat as capital preservation and liquidity became paramount. Risk was the new four-letter word, and the "new normal" became a catchphrase, for what came next nobody knew. CFOs became strategic partners not only in navigating the company through the financial crisis but creating value for the business going forward. Treasury and finance executives were asked to create new, streamlined and flexible infrastructures with the best technology available, capable of adapting to rapid and unexpected change.

The last four years have been marked by global economic volatility, a sputtering recovery and a global groundswell of regulatory reform, not to mention natural disasters and the European debt crisis. Political risk, cyber risk, supply chain risk and contingency planning have joined a conversation dominated by liquidity management and cash forecasting, while new technology, always a game changer, has picked up the pace with mobile apps, the cloud and social media.