Assuming a strategic role in optimizing AI and other technology investments requires CFOs to bring their “A game” to the table.
Why it matters: AI is reshaping how organizations create value, and CFOs are uniquely positioned to guide these investments toward ROI, resilience and responsible use.
AI’s impact: 90% of S&P companies published AI-related information in their SEC Form 10-Ks and 72% disclosed AI as a risk factor, according to the Center for Audit Quality.
Bottom line: The innovation decision-making table is arguably the most important table in the enterprise. CFOs who bring clarity on ROI, governance and strategy to the conversation won’t just have a seat — they will shape the agenda.
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Innovation is the lifeblood of every successful organization, making it a priority in the C-suite and boardroom. It is presumed that finance leaders have a seat at the innovation table. But have they found their voice? Or is their voice strong enough? For in today’s optics, assuming a strategic role in optimizing artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology investments is a shift that requires CFOs to bring their “A game” to the table.
AI is reshaping organizational strategy, business models and operational risk while determining marketplace winners and losers. If you need evidence of AI’s game-changing impact, consider that 90% of S&P companies published AI-related information in their SEC Form 10-Ks and 72% disclosed AI as a risk factor, according to the Center for Audit Quality.
The ongoing Executive Perspectives on Top Risks survey my firm conducts with the ERM Initiative at NC State University indicates that CFOs’ AI-related work is strategic in nature (keeping pace with competitors), value-oriented (maximizing the returns on AI investments) and risk-focused (mitigating AI-related data privacy and cybersecurity risks). That perspective underpins a strong voice at the innovation table.
Many of the CFO’s table-stakes competencies, including an unwavering focus on ROI and value creation, are well-suited to leading the way on enterprise AI investments. Following a sprint to integrate AI into business processes, the initial returns on many of these investments remain uncertain. Boards want ROI clarity from their CEOs and CFOs. At the same time, many boards encourage C-suites to accelerate AI investments and deployments without letting “perfect” get in the way of “good.” A fear of losing ground to competitors that move faster on AI-enablement holds increasing sway in boardrooms, particularly as it relates to customer-facing processes. This environment elevates the value of applying the CFO’s acumen to AI-driven innovations and investments.
Three Innovation Hurdles
Before taking on a larger innovation role, finance leaders must clear some formidable hurdles.
First, many CFOs have been consumed with their responses to tariffs and the cost changes they drive. The response to this dynamic involves cost identification and optimization throughout operations and the back office, and it often collides with the growing appetite for AI investments. AI solutions can be expensive to buy or develop, but they should, if they work as intended, also create efficiencies and value in ways that improve margins.
Second, global trade volatility, geopolitical confrontations, economic uncertainty and other external disruptions are sparking more fires that finance groups must quickly extinguish. These risks force finance leaders to toggle back and forth constantly between strategic imperatives (investments in AI and workforce upskilling) and pressing tactical responses (re-forecasts, earnings revisions and supply chain work-arounds).
Third, operating as a bona fide innovation advocate requires CFOs to adjust mindsets—with respect to their teams, in the C-suite and in their own heads. Finance leaders can face pressure and headwinds from other organizational leaders who advocate for the status quo. They can also be resistant, or unable, to win over, or move to the side, finance managers and other executives who are reluctant to change. Innovation advocacy does not allow for marriage to the past. What worked yesterday (offshoring) requires rethinking (repatriating processes to domestic, AI-enabled FTEs) today.
Five CFO Innovation Differentiators
CFOs can ply their fundamental skill sets to navigate those obstacles.
By engaging in cross-functional conversations, CFOs equip business leaders with cost optimization and rationalization methodologies and guidance (including assessing the ROI from AI investments) that strengthen tariff-related adjustments. Pricing adjustments and cash flow improvements emanating from those activities are also on the CFO’s plate. Addressing AI-related governance fosters stakeholder trust; improves the company’s ability to refine, scale or sunset AI tools quickly, based on their value contributed; and maximizes returns on AI investments. Aligning technology investments with business strategy also bolsters relevance and ROI.
These core competencies, along with the management of financial risks, also lay the groundwork for five emerging roles that enable CFOs to differentiate themselves as stewards of the organization’s AI and technology investments:
- Champion of data-driven decision making: As they demonstrated in their agile response to the pandemic earlier this decade, CFOs now operate as the purveyors of financial and business data. The finance group’s data-driven insights enable the enterprise to pursue revenue growth, ecosystem development, geographic expansion and other strategic activities. Fulfilling this role requires real-time data systems and a methodical, risk-intelligent approach to sourcing and using data. This involves addressing: Which data are needed? Where is it located? How can it be organized for usage and scalability? What governance and security procedures are deployed to protect the data?
- Developer of talent: CFOs can create more time for innovation, AI investments and other strategic endeavors by delegating more. Successful delegation requires having the right team and skills in place. This explains why CFOs are beginning to hire real-time financial data engineers, “cognitive accountants” and AI governance and risks specialists. It also explains why more CFOs are laying the groundwork for the finance group of the future by developing human-in-the-loop decision-making skills and investing in AI, data analytics and low-code/no-code development upskilling. At the enterprise level, innovation-minded CFOs are shaping enterprise workforce strategies; assessing the future implications of current decisions affecting talent management, leadership development and organizational culture; and assessing the economics of “build, buy, borrow or bot” decisions.
- Innovation advocate: Advocacy often (and best) starts at home. Innovative finance leaders deploy AI and machine learning solutions to generate value in order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, record-to-report and financial planning and analysis (FP&A) activities. My firm recently helped a company integrate AI into its record-to-report process to shorten close cycles, trim costs (to the tune of 30%) and reduce errors (by 94%). Yet the most valuable benefit of the deployment was a substantial cycle-time reduction; this helped the finance group shift its focus from hindsight to foresight by leveraging predictive close analytics, AI-driven dashboards that identify variance drivers, and the natural-language querying of financial data.
- Proactive engager of external stakeholders: Engaging with ERP vendors helps CFOs understand how AI-driven transformation of those systems can accelerate AI adoption in the finance group and the rest of the organization. Applying a vendor’s AI innovation and tooling is often faster, easier and less costly than building a similar tool in-house. CFOs should also engage with regulators, directly or through industry groups, to influence policymaking. As “audit whisperers,” CFOs are positioned to get external auditors comfortable with AI tools and agents, particularly when that work intersects with the general ledger. Customer engagement is also crucial. AI tools can give organizations far more detailed understandings of customer behaviors and customer value, but the process, pricing and product changes those insights drive can affect the customer experience. Running a promotion the Friday before Christmas combined with dynamic pricing may generate a 20% sales boost, but customers may have reservations about price fluctuations.
- Partner with the CEO in communicating the value of technology investments: As technology enablement and AI integration efforts expand, CEOs and CFOs must keep the rest of the organization focused on ROI and value generation. And these outcomes—quantified in dollars—should be shared with the workforce, the board, investors and other stakeholders. These numbers carry the most weight coming from CFOs.
It is difficult to think of a more important decision-making table than the one addressing innovation. It is a table where CFOs should ensure that their voices resonate.
This article originally appeared on Forbes CFO Network.
