CFOs expect AI to boost high-value tasks, study says

AI will take care of the finance team’s busy work, so they can focus on more high-value tasks, goes the common refrain.

But that’s not where CFOs see the biggest impacts of the technology in their departments over the coming years, according to a new survey from software developer Wolters Kluwer.

The survey of nearly 1,700 CFOs and finance leaders globally, conducted in Q4 2025, found that respondents expect AI will have the biggest impact on “functions that shape enterprise strategy” in the next three years. Translation: AI will reshape not just finance’s manual tasks, “but those with strategic value.”

Roughly three-fifths of respondents said “major transformational change” will happen in each of the following activities: financial modeling, financial reporting, capital allocation, FP&A, and scenario planning.

What we’re hearing: In a recent interview with CFO Brew, Roman Telerman, CFO of application security firm Black Duck, predicted that entry-level accounting tasks are “going to be broadly used and probably available from the ERP providers” in the next three years. Variance analysis is something else AI “could be great for,” he added.

“It doesn’t do the thinking for you, but it prompts thought,” Telerman told us. “To adapt within the team, I heard this a couple years ago, and it rings very true: AI won’t replace your job, but somebody that knows how to use AI will replace you. And so, you have to adopt it.”

CFOs recently shared the ways they deployed AI in their strategic and tactical work last year. Dominique Highfield, CFO of flower delivery firm Bloom & Wild, said her organization used AI for horizon scanning and risk identification as it expanded its product offerings. Leanna Rossmann, CFO at South by Southwest, said she and her team used AI to research sales tax codes and analyze macroeconomic trends.

Metamorphosis complete: The CFO’s evolution to strategic partner has been another common point of discussion for some time. The Wolters Kluwer survey cements those discussions.

“Strategy is now fully embedded in the finance role, with expectations continuing to rise,” the firm noted in the report. More than half (52%) of survey respondents said the CFO oversees digital finance transformation. Approximately two in five respondents said CFOs are also in charge of capital allocation (41%) and risk management (39%).

“As they operate in an environment shaped by AI‑powered decision making, CFOs are taking on a central role in how their businesses plan, predict, and act with greater precision,” Maria Montenegro, CEO of Wolters Kluwer corporate performance and ESG, said in a statement.