CFOs hope to ramp up AI investment
It’s beyond debate by now that CFOs see artificial intelligence technologies as an essential driver of finance transformation. In a new study of 400 senior finance leaders worldwide, 78% said they desire to increase their investment in AI over the next 12 to 18 months.
At the same time, finance chiefs aren’t infinitely patient that a new AI effort will pan out. About half (48%) of those polled said that if an AI investment does not deliver measurable ROI within a year, it would be difficult to justify further investment.
In the study, conducted by marketing and research firm FT Longitude and released by Basware, a provider of AI-powered accounts payable software, more than three-fourths (76%) of those surveyed said they’ve reduced operational costs since AI implementation.
In fact, finance leaders cited driving cost efficiencies as the top goal in transforming finance through investment in advanced technologies such as AI. More than half (55%) said that goal was among their top three for finance transformation, and 32% said it was their primary focus.
Next on the list was “driving AI innovation and exploiting emerging technologies,” selected as one of the top three goals by 45% of the survey respondents.
Seven in 10 finance leaders said their staff wants AI support for administrative tasks, while 75% reported that AI has enabled their workforce to focus on more strategic activities.
At the same time, however, many CFOs are confronted by obstacles in achieving their vision for AI success. Two in five (40%) worried that they don’t have the change management capabilities required to execute complex transformation projects, and 33% were concerned about a lack of capital.
Other common roadblocks include a lack of clear strategic vision for the future of the finance function, difficulty proving the ROI of transformation initiatives, legacy systems that no longer meet requirements and regulatory and compliance challenges.
Companies’ no-nonsense stance that they can’t justify continuing investment in an AI effort that doesn’t deliver initial ROI requires them to think hard about how to measure the financial impact of such investment.
The good news is finance leaders are experienced in understanding how to prioritize use cases for investment and to estimate costs and monitor returns from reduced costs, the survey report suggested. Once they have transparently proven ROI, building a case for further investment — potentially in more ambitious AI projects — will be less difficult, Basware wrote.
So far, ROI from AI initiatives is most proven in the areas of financial planning and analysis, accounts payable, and accounts receivable, according to Basware.
“There’s so much buzz around AI right now that people think it’s new, but it’s actually been around for years, with use cases built into software that can add value in many different ways,” said Basware CFO Jason Kurtz.
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