Maximizing AI Strategy: Best Practices for CFOs

For CFOs, leveraging AI can transform how organizations operate, drive better decisions, and create efficiencies across multiple departments. To make the most of an AI strategy, CFOs must focus on a few core areas. First, understanding the business goals AI can support is critical. Whether it’s automating routine processes, improving forecasting accuracy, or enhancing customer insights, aligning AI investments with business outcomes ensures that the technology drives true value.

Investing wisely in AI involves more than just selecting the right tools; it’s about building the infrastructure that supports AI adoption. CFOs should ensure their teams have access to the necessary data, technology, and talent. This includes fostering collaboration between finance and IT, ensuring data integrity, and investing in ongoing education for team members who will manage and interpret AI outputs.

AI can also be used to drive automation, which is key to cost savings. Automating repetitive financial tasks such as reconciliations, payroll, or invoice processing allows teams to focus on more strategic activities. This not only reduces operational costs but also improves accuracy and speed, resulting in better decision-making.

Improving employee and executive experience is another vital aspect of AI. By integrating AI into everyday processes, employees can spend less time on manual tasks and more on value-driven work. For executives, AI tools can provide faster, more accurate financial reports and predictive analytics, allowing for more informed decision-making and better risk management.

Shareholders benefit from AI’s ability to improve transparency and enhance performance metrics, leading to stronger investor confidence. Suppliers and customers also see benefits as AI-driven insights improve supply chain management, customer experience, and operational efficiency. For example, predictive analytics can help CFOs identify trends in supplier performance or optimize pricing strategies for customers.

AI offers enormous potential for CFOs to transform operations, drive better decisions, and create cost efficiencies. To harness AI's power, CFOs need to adopt strategies that align with their business size and goals.

For CFOs at global companies, the top strategies often include investing heavily in AI-driven data analytics to enhance financial forecasting and decision-making. Leveraging AI to automate back-office operations, such as accounts payable and receivable, is another key practice. Global CFOs also prioritize AI tools that enhance fraud detection and cybersecurity, ensuring the protection of vast amounts of financial data. Integrating AI into ERP systems allows for more efficient enterprise-wide data management, while using AI-driven insights to guide M&A decisions ensures smarter investments in an increasingly competitive landscape.

For CFOs at smaller and mid-sized businesses, AI strategies are typically more focused on driving operational efficiency and cutting costs. They often adopt AI tools to automate routine financial tasks such as bookkeeping and payroll, enabling leaner teams to manage financial operations. Smaller firms leverage AI for cash flow forecasting and financial planning to ensure better liquidity management. Cost-effective AI tools are used to improve customer insights, helping SMBs tailor their services to client needs. In addition, they adopt cloud-based AI platforms to enhance scalability without the need for heavy upfront investments. Finally, AI solutions for enhancing employee productivity, such as automating routine HR processes, are also popular among SMB CFOs.

For any business size, CFOs that build AI into their strategies, invest in necessary talent, and focus on measurable outcomes are well-positioned to harness the power of AI for long-term success. By aligning AI investments with both current needs and future growth plans, CFOs can transform financial management into a data-driven powerhouse that supports every aspect of the business.

When it comes to adopting AI strategies, CFOs face a key decision: Should they enable their existing teams to learn AI capabilities, or should they hire outside consultants to accelerate the process?

Enabling the current team to build AI knowledge fosters long-term growth and keeps AI expertise in-house. It allows employees to become fluent in the tools and techniques that can be customized to the organization’s needs. This approach encourages ownership and a deeper integration of AI into existing workflows. However, it requires an upfront investment in training and may take time for the team to gain proficiency.

On the other hand, hiring external consultants can speed up AI adoption by leveraging experts who are already familiar with the tools and implementation processes. Consultants can offer a fast-track solution to setting up systems and driving immediate business outcomes. They bring experience from other companies, offering valuable insights and best practices. The downside is that this approach can be costly, and the knowledge may leave with the consultant when the project ends, requiring continued reliance on external resources.

A balanced approach is often the most effective. CFOs can use consultants to implement AI tools quickly while simultaneously training internal teams to manage and scale these systems in the future. This ensures that the organization benefits from expert guidance without becoming dependent on external parties for the long term. By empowering their teams with AI knowledge, CFOs can future-proof their organizations and continuously evolve their AI strategy.

Ultimately, a successful AI strategy helps CFOs drive value across the entire organization. By ensuring investments in AI align with business goals, leveraging automation for cost savings, and improving experiences for stakeholders, CFOs can turn AI from a buzzword into a powerful tool for sustained business success. The key lies in continuous optimization and adaptation, ensuring that the strategy evolves alongside the company’s growth and market changes.

‍