Finance leaders — especially chief financial officers — are feeling increasing pressure from boards and executive leadership to adopt and implement artificial intelligence across their operations, but many are struggling to keep pace with expectations. According to a new report from Basware, nearly half of CFOs say demands from company leadership to “do something with AI” are intensifying, yet translating that pressure into concrete, high‑impact outcomes remains challenging.
A key issue for finance chiefs is the gap between expectations and execution. While boards often expect rapid transformation, many finance functions are still in early or mid‑stage adoption of AI tools and workflows that deliver measurable business value — such as automation of routine tasks, forecasting, and real‑time decision support — rather than just experimentation. This mirrors broader industry research showing that while most finance teams are exploring AI, only a small share have fully scaled it across core operations.
Another challenge lies in skills, data and integration. Finance departments frequently lack the internal talent with both financial domain knowledge and AI expertise to lead large‑scale AI initiatives. Fragmented systems, legacy data infrastructure, and difficulties embedding AI into end‑to‑end processes can slow progress and undercut confidence in projected returns. Research across finance functions highlights that many organizations are still grappling with strategy, governance, and technical alignment well before tangible AI gains emerge.
Despite these hurdles, the broader trend within the finance industry indicates that AI adoption is rapidly becoming a strategic priority rather than a side project. In financial services globally, nearly all institutions now use AI in some capacity — with only a tiny fraction reporting no AI activity at all — and investment in AI capabilities continues to grow, particularly around areas like security, compliance, customer engagement, and automation of routine processes.
