Beyond the buzz: What’s holding finance teams back from AI success?
As AI investment accelerates, all eyes are on the CFO to spearhead progress. So what’s holding them back, and how can unified data help them embrace their role as strategic growth drivers?
As the AI hype cycle reaches its peak, the world is watching with anticipation: will its transformative promise be fulfilled, or will the bubble burst?
A recent study by OneStream, developed by Man Bites Dog, reveals that business leaders and investors are hopeful, envisioning a future defined by tech-powered growth: a so-called Digital Utopia. And the CFO sits at the heart of this transformation.
The first campaign in OneStream’s Finance 2035 Initiative – Return to Investment – highlights the increasing importance of a strategic CFO to drive business transformation and growth. As AI investment accelerates and expectations rise, the finance function is under pressure to turn innovation into impact.
Why AI matters for finance
Making the move from financial stewardship to a strategic catalyst requires a mindset shift for the CFO. OneStream’s research reveals that 76% of CFOs believe it’s important that the finance function evolves to drive business forecasts and initiatives, over traditional record keeping.
AI has a crucial role to play here. Three-quarters of CFOs (74%) believe that AI and automation will have completely reshaped organisations’ finance functions by 2035. Used correctly, these tools have the power to bring new levels of precision, efficiency and predictive insight to the office of the CFO, helping them to steer their organisations into the future.
Traditionally, forecasting has relied on quarterly reports and historical data, which are often out of date by the time decisions are made. With AI-powered forecasting, the CFO has access to real-time sales data, market trends and external factors like supply chain disruption. This enables dynamic forecasting that adjusts instantly to changing conditions. As a result, finance teams can proactively guide pricing strategies, inventory decisions and investment planning.
Additional OneStream research reveals that more than half of CFOs (56%) report real productivity gains from AI deployments. But at the same time, 32% express concerns about ROI uncertainty. So, what’s driving this hesitancy?
Barriers to finance team transformation
Return to Investment revealed three key barriers standing in the way of CFOs taking on the role of tech-enabled, strategic growth drivers:
- A siloed approach: Finance leaders can’t plan for the future without a clear, connected view of the present. Yet many finance teams are still operating within fragmented systems, where critical information is siloed across departments. This misalignment slows decision-making, stifles innovation and reduces agility.
- Legacy tech: The finance function can often be slower to adopt new tools, simply because it can’t afford to take risks. Not only is legacy tech rigid and difficult to scale, but it often relies on time-consuming manual processes, which are prone to error. This inefficiency takes valuable time and resources away from strategic initiatives.
- The talent crunch: As a growing number of certified public accountants (CPAs) reach retirement and fewer students pursue finance degrees, the talent pool is shrinking. At the same time, many established finance teams lack the skills and confidence needed to embrace modern financial tools.
To overcome these barriers and get the most out of advanced tech, including AI, finance leaders need to lay the right foundations – and getting their data house is a critical first step.
The power of unified data for AI-driven finance
- Three-quarters of CFOs (74%) believe unified data and data-based decision-making are now the key determinants of organisational success. By bringing together financial and operational data, CFOs can set their teams up to unlock the full potential of AI.
- Accelerating AI deployment: Creating a single source of data truth eliminates the need to manually pull together fragmented datasets from different departments. This streamlines integration with AI platforms, allowing models to be trained and deployed faster.
- Improving AI accuracy and reliability: AI models are only as good as the data they’re fed. Unified data systems ensure consistency, completeness and quality across the organisation. This reduces the likelihood of errors and increases confidence in AI-driven decisions.
- Delivering scalable insights: AI insights based on unified data aren’t confined to one team or function; they can be scaled across departments, from operations to procurement and beyond. This creates a multiplier effect on productivity and supports strategic alignment.
- Strengthening governance and compliance: Unified data increases transparency, making it easier to meet regulatory requirements and maintain audit trails. This reduces compliance risk and builds trust with stakeholders, which is especially important when AI is used in financial reporting or decision-making.
- Driving measurable business outcomes: Ultimately, clean and connected data helps AI deliver tangible results. CFOs can better track how AI is contributing to key performance indicators, such as cost reduction, revenue growth and operational efficiency, and prove ROI to the board and investors.
In today’s tech-powered landscape, unified data is the launchpad that enables the CFO to lead with confidence, precision and strategic foresight. Explore the full Finance 2035 Initiative for further insights on building a future-ready finance function.
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Kir Nuthi
Kir Nuthi
Kir Nuthi is the Head of AI and Data at techUK.
She holds over seven years of Government Affairs and Tech Policy experience in the US and UK. Kir previously headed up the regulatory portfolio at a UK advocacy group for tech startups and held various public affairs in US tech policy. All involved policy research and campaigns on competition, artificial intelligence, access to data, and pro-innovation regulation.
Kir has an MSc in International Public Policy from University College London and a BA in both Political Science (International Relations) and Economics from the University of California San Diego.
Outside of techUK, you are likely to find her attempting studies at art galleries, attempting an elusive headstand at yoga, mending and binding books, or chasing her dog Maya around South London's many parks.
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Usman Ikhlaq
Usman Ikhlaq
Usman joined techUK in January 2024 as Programme Manager for Artificial Intelligence.
He leads techUK’s AI Adoption programme, supporting members of all sizes and sectors in adopting AI at scale. His work involves identifying barriers to adoption, exploring solutions, and helping to unlock AI’s transformative potential, particularly its benefits for people, the economy, society, and the planet. He is also committed to advancing the UK’s AI sector and ensuring the UK remains a global leader in AI by working closely with techUK members, the UK Government, regulators, and devolved and local authorities.
Since joining techUK, Usman has delivered a regular drumbeat of activity to engage members and advance techUK's AI programme. This has included two campaign weeks, the creation of the AI Adoption Hub (now the AI Hub), the AI Leader's Event Series, the Putting AI into Action webinar series and the Industrial AI sprint campaign.
Before joining techUK, Usman worked as a policy, regulatory and government/public affairs professional in the advertising sector. He has also worked in sales, marketing, and FinTech.
Usman holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), a GDL and LLB from BPP Law School, and a BA from Queen Mary University of London.
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Sue Daley OBE
Sue Daley OBE
Sue leads techUK's Technology and Innovation work.
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In 2025, Sue was honoured with an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the Technology Industry in the New Year Honours List.
She has been recognised as one of the most influential people in UK tech by Computer Weekly's UKtech50 Longlist and in 2021 was inducted into the Computer Weekly Most Influential Women in UK Tech Hall of Fame.
A key influencer in driving forward the data agenda in the UK, Sue was co-chair of the UK government's National Data Strategy Forum until July 2024. As well as being recognised in the UK's Big Data 100 and the Global Top 100 Data Visionaries for 2020 Sue has also been shortlisted for the Milton Keynes Women Leaders Awards and was a judge for the Loebner Prize in AI. In addition to being a regular industry speaker on issues including AI ethics, data protection and cyber security, Sue was recently a judge for the UK Tech 50 and is a regular judge of the annual UK Cloud Awards.
Prior to joining techUK in January 2015 Sue was responsible for Symantec's Government Relations in the UK and Ireland. She has spoken at events including the UK-China Internet Forum in Beijing, UN IGF and European RSA on issues ranging from data usage and privacy, cloud computing and online child safety. Before joining Symantec, Sue was senior policy advisor at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Sue has an BA degree on History and American Studies from Leeds University and a Masters Degree on International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Birmingham. Sue is a keen sportswoman and in 2016 achieved a lifelong ambition to swim the English Channel.
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