CFO Survey: AI becomes a strategic asset to finance leaders

Even by the rapid transformation standards of the AI era, the past 12 months have been a turning point for CFOs and their teams. Adoption of AI tools in finance departments has grown significantly across every use case, from forecasting and planning to board presentations, according to our latest CFO survey. The technology is transforming not just how teams operate but also redefining what CFOs do and how they do it, much like it has redefined other C-suite functions.

“AI is enabling CFOs to make better, faster decisions,” says Mark Agne, executive managing partner of SoftBank Investment Advisers. “It’s making finance more strategic than ever and shaping the role of the CFO.”

Here’s a closer look at how CFOs view the ongoing transformation of corporate finance. Explore the full survey results, segmented by region, sector, and stage, on Sōzō Pulse.

Usage of AI tools in corporate finance jumped dramatically in the past year, as CFOs increasingly rely on the technology across workstreams. Finance professionals no longer see AI as a tool that simply speeds up administrative functions but as a strategic asset that can accelerate and improve mission-critical tasks.

“AI is not a replacement for the judgment and wisdom of the CFO, but it is enhancing that judgment,” says Jack McCullough, founder and president of the CFO Leadership Council, an industry group. AI is transforming finance much like data analytics transformed the management of baseball teams. “It’s like Moneyball,” he says, in reference to the book and movie about Billy Beane, the baseball manager who brought data analytics to the sport. “Data science did not replace managers. But old-school managers who did not embrace those tools were replaced by those who did. As CFO, you have to be using AI in some important ways or you’re going to become a dinosaur relatively quickly.” 

CFOs of high-growth companies appear to be heeding these lessons. Nine in 10 (90%) now use AI tools to automate finance processes, up from 72% last year. Meanwhile, 79% said they are using AI tools to draft board presentations, key internal reports, and/or earnings announcements, up from 47% last year, and 76% said they are using AI tools to drive data analytics, up from 72% last year.

Supporting core finance functions with AI

Perhaps more importantly, AI has emerged as an essential strategic tool to most CFOs, as usage for critical functions like forecasting and planning surged. In all, 74% of CFOs said they are using AI tools to develop or refine financial forecasts, up from 49% last year, while 57% said they are using them to support risk management and scenario planning, up from 39% last year.

McCullough says the reliance on these tools is certain to increase the accuracy of forecasts and scenarios. “What used to take days or weeks or months can be done quickly now,” he says. For example, to advise on a decision whether to expand operations to a new region, a CFO might have been asked to weigh some 300 variables and propose three scenarios describing risks and opportunities. “That process would take a long time,” McCullough says. “A CFO can now do that in a few keystrokes and evaluate 100 different scenarios.” The upshot, McCullough says, is that “fewer mistakes are going to be made.”

The percentage of CFOs who said investments in AI tools have already paid for themselves jumped to 46%, up from 31% a year ago. Meanwhile, 24% said those investments will turn positive by the end of the year, up from 22% a year ago. Despite those gains, some finance leaders are still struggling to deploy AI profitably. The percentage who said it would take two years or more for AI investments to pay off increased to 12%, from 8% a year ago.

As payoff from AI investments increases significantly, the technology’s impact on the workforce remains a source of uncertainty. While people leaders told us recently that AI is reshaping, but not reducing, the workforce, finance leaders caution not to overreact one way or the other about headcount: 58% said the biggest mistake companies are making is cutting jobs too soon, while 30% said it’s hiring too fast. 

“Some people thought they would be able to use AI to eliminate every task that could be automated,” McCullough says. “We are not there yet. And in many cases, those who cut too soon are regretting those decisions.”

Retraining, not reducing

A small number of CFOs identified a series of other mistakes companies make when it comes to AI. These include: overestimating what AI can do in the near term; not moving fast enough to embrace new tools; not focusing enough on training, development, and culture; and ignoring privacy and confidentiality.

Despite the efficiency gains from AI deployments and other measures, many companies are still struggling to fill positions within their ranks, McCullough says. “Instead of thinking about eliminating jobs, CFOs should focus on retraining workers, empowering them to use AI to perform higher-level tasks,” he adds.