Finance Teams lag Behind in AI Adoption

Gartner’s research shows that CFO sentiment towards AI in general is largely positive, with 85% of finance leaders expressing optimism about using it within the finance function, according to Steecker. Yet, when it comes to adoption, most finance departments are taking their time compared with other teams, the study found.

However, this may change in coming years, according to the survey. Four out of five finance leaders said they expected to devote more money and effort into deploying AI over the next two years.

In the meantime, the most frequently reason cited by finance leaders for not using AI was “other priorities” (76%).

“It kind of shows a misunderstanding of how to think about AI,” Steecker said. “Those finance leaders who are citing other priorities are maybe misunderstanding or not seeing the full picture when it comes to AI,” which has the potential to support many of the same priorities, he said.

Other barriers included: lack of technical capabilities (58%), low-quality data within the organization (35%), and insufficient use cases (32%).

Issues such as cost and data security ranked as lower concerns. Only 11% of finance leaders said the technology is too expensive. Sixteen percent said that data security and ethics concerns were a frequent challenge to their AI efforts. Read the full article at CFO Dive here.