AI: strategic imperative or strategic illusion for CFOs

According to our latest C-suite barometer released in January 2026, while AI takes the top spot for transformation priorities, investment and expected returns, other operational activities suggest many organisations are still either proceeding cautiously with AI or not aligning elements critical to the success of their plans. The gap between AI ambitions and commitment is narrowing, but unfortunately still remains large enough to impact competitive outcomes and potentially result in organisations falling behind.

From experimentation to expectation

AI is now cited as the external trend most likely to have the biggest impact on the success of technology transformation strategies. A majority of CFOs (96%) confirm it’s already having an impact and 80% have restructured teams to implement it – with a further 13% planning a restructure.

The shift is structural. AI, it seems, is no longer confined to pilots or one or two use cases. It is embedded in core decisions intended to reshape operations that can deliver competitive advantage and higher growth margins. Forecasting and planning lead the rationale for adoption, alongside improving customer experience, knowledge management and internal automation.

As a result, expectations have risen. The question is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how to align the commitment and integration of people and processes with the technology – only then will CFOs and their organisations be able to extract consistent and measurable value.

The right strategy – conflicting commitments

That shift in expectation makes the next finding more consequential. While AI is widely recognised as critical, only around four in ten CFOs prioritise it as a leading area of investment. Many organisations still allocate modest proportions of their budget to AI initiatives, with 40% spending less than 10%, limiting the potential for scale. The contrast is increasingly difficult to justify. AI ranks as the most impactful technology and the one most likely to determine transformation success. Yet it does not dominate capital allocation as only 38% are making it a priority investment.

AI is also driving significant workforce changes according to CFOs, with an additive effect. While 74% of CFOs say AI has already created new roles in their company, or will within the year, only 18% cite human-machine integration as a priority investment, despite 67% of them incorporating it into their transformation strategies. The misalignment is also particularly visible in customer-facing use cases. Customer experience ranks among the areas where AI is expected to have the greatest impact. Yet it features less prominently in investment priorities. This is a key risk. Organisations may optimise internal processes while underinvesting and deprioritising the aspects that will ultimately determine the success of transformation, differentiation and growth.

This potentially reflects caution but also a growing inconsistency of flawed long-term plans. CFOs are applying the same discipline to AI as elsewhere. Investment must be justified and sequenced. Yet, in this new era of revolutionary change, incremental funding is unlikely enough to achieve the transformation AI promises in a time of increasing uncertainty and competition when the legacy of businesses depend on it.

Confidence, but on CFO terms

There’s no hint of scepticism among finance leaders when it comes to AI. Again, we see AI come out on top as the transformation area with the highest confidence in its return on investment (48% of CFOs), ahead of other digital investments. Cyber security (39%) and data connectivity (34%) follow. They do need to recognise, however, that this confidence is conditional. It is tied to governance, data quality and risk control.

Ethical concerns remain widespread but, for the third year, have no real impact on appetite for the technology. Although, data protection, model transparency and regulatory compliance hold growing weight in investment decisions. Ultimately, CFOs are favouring control, sometimes at the expense of speed and most definitely at the expense of potential scale.

The strategic intent is clear overall but financial commitment remains selective and isolated between design, delivery and long-term operations.

An additive technology, not a reductive one

From the CFO perspective, AI is being used to enhance capability rather than reduce headcount, which raises the bar for sustained investment. This reflects a broader shift in the finance function, with implications for how value is created and measured. If AI is to support higher-value decision making, CFOs will need to invest, not only in tools, but also in the people and processes to truly maximise returns and the long-term effect on their operating models and ways of working.

The value of AI, in other words, depends on how far organisations are prepared to adapt around it, not simply deploy it and expect its magic to work – this cannot be the tech equivalent of greenwashing, especially if investment costs are being passed directly on to customers and clients.

A question of scale

This brings the argument back to capital. CFOs are approaching AI with the same discipline they apply to capital allocation more broadly. They prioritise near-term returns, embed governance and sequence investment carefully. AI is not a purely incremental technology and treating it as such risks diluting its impact. Full value depends on scale, integration and organisational redesign. Fragmented investment can deliver local efficiency gains but rarely translates into enterprise-wide advantage.

The risk is not that AI fails, but that it underdelivers against its own strategic promise.

For the next phase, CFOs need to lead the charge, moving beyond experimentation and committing confidently to long‑term change, rather than chasing the latest technology trend to appear innovative. CFOs will need to align funding decisions more closely with strategic intent, ensuring that investment is enough to deliver integration and scale. Those that do so will build enduring capability to withstand and thrive in uncertain times. Those that don’t risk falling behind.

AI may be inevitable but advantage is not. It will depend on whether organisations are willing to back their ambition with capital.