CFOs leaning hard into automation

The vast majority of CFOs recognize that artificial intelligence holds much potential for their companies, according to a recent survey, and more than half are taking active measures to implement it for themselves.

The survey by Vic.ai, an AI platform for autonomous accounting, found that 81% of CFOs see the potential of automation to optimize processes and resources and capture data insights across the finance function, with 58% planning to increase their investment in automation over the next 12 months, and nearly half expecting to achieve their goals within the next two years. In fact, the study further revealed that 45% say they've already started to automate their payroll and invoice management processes, and a quarter say they have fully done so.

Regarding motivations, while the most common reason for pursuing AI is more efficiency and productivity, over half say they also want it to generate more insights, with 81% saying they want to optimize processes and resources from said insights.

“This report revealed that finance leaders are ready to capitalize on the opportunities offered by AI and automation,” said Vic.ai CEO Alexander Hagerup in a statement. “Enterprise finance is at an inflection point, driven in part by the maturity and reliability of automation technologies. With rising operational costs and specialized talent becoming increasingly difficult to hire, the benefits of automation are clear — and the pressure to adopt intelligent, insightful technology is mounting. Those finance leaders who are now on a path to full automation will be able to soon break away from the pack and position themselves to win.”

What seems to be standing in the way of these ambitions is the lack of integration with other systems, cited by 61% of respondents as the main challenge to implementing AI improvements. Legacy systems that don't connect with new AI programs, said the report, are holding back advancements.

The survey used a sample of 145 U.S. CFOs and finance leaders, conducted in partnership between StrategicCFO360 and Vic.ai in  May 2022.