CFOs Struggle to Prove AI Value as Adoption Hits 77 Percent

Finance departments are increasingly relying on AI for core functions, with adoption for financial forecasting surging from 58% to 76% year over year. Despite this rapid deployment, the survey indicates that only 14% of groups utilize the technology under a defined, strategic roadmap. Current efforts remain largely siloed within risk assessment and process automation, leaving broader, scalable transformation largely untapped.

Christopher Wright, global leader of Protiviti’s CFO Solutions, noted that the industry has moved past the initial question of whether to adopt AI, shifting instead to the challenge of proving its tangible impact. Data governance and cybersecurity remain the primary hurdles to scaling these tools. For the third consecutive year, finance executives have identified data security as their top priority, as the reliance on expansive internal and third-party datasets grows.

Simultaneously, economic and trade policy volatility has forced a renewed focus on liquidity. 83% of CFOs now rank cash management among their top three operational priorities. Organizations are pivoting toward real-time cash flow forecasting and liquidity reporting to maintain resilience, with the financial services and manufacturing sectors leading the charge in tightening these fiscal controls.