The study of 350+ CFOs cites that 97% say their boards expect a regular readout on AI investment, yet 32% of CFOs express concerns about ROI uncertainty of AI projects
BIRMINGHAM, Mich., Oct. 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — OneStream, the leading enterprise finance management platform that modernizes the Office of the CFO by unifying core finance and operational functions – including financial close, consolidation, reporting, planning and forecasting – today released the results of a new study examining how CFOs are prioritizing, adopting and investing in AI. The study, which polled 350+ full-time CFOs across the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, reveals that CFOs are facing mounting pressure from boards and investors to turn AI from promise into performance, while also navigating significant barriers.
“Boards and CEOs are looking to CFOs to lead the enterprise through the AI era,” said Tom Shea, CEO and President at OneStream. “Finance sits at the intersection of data and decision-making, positioning CFOs as the natural architects of AI-driven performance. The challenge now is how to break through the AI hype so CFOs can build a trusted, secure AI strategy that solves real pain points across the business.”
Key findings from the study include:
AI Investment Surges as CFOs Lead AI Strategy Across Enterprise
AI spending is set to soar in 2026 as CFOs step into a central role in shaping enterprise AI strategy. 83% of CFOs expect AI investment to rise across their organizations next year – and 80% anticipate increased spending specifically within finance.
Growth is widespread: nearly four in five (78%) forecast budget increases of up to 50% across the organization, while one in five (22%) expect more than a 50% rise. Finance teams mirror this trajectory as 79% of CFOs predict that their finance team will increase their 2026 AI investments by up to 50%, and 21% expect increases of more than 50%.
The study finds CFOs increasingly steering this agenda. Three out of four CFOs (75%) say they now lead their organization’s AI strategy – compared to just 42% of CTOs/CIOs, 40% of Chief Data/AI Officers and just 27% of CEOs. Yet confidence often outpaces readiness: while 67% of CFOs believe their AI strategy is ahead of the curve, only 35% report an excellent understanding of AI, and just one in three (33%) say they’ve successfully deployed AI at scale.
At the same time, CFOs aren’t working in silos. AI is driving deeper collaboration across the C-suite, with half of CFOs (50%) reporting that their relationship with the CTO/CIO is becoming more strategic and a third (33%) describing it as more collaborative. This alignment is shaping long-term AI priorities and value. Looking ahead, 57% of CFOs anticipate greater cross-functional collaboration, including tighter integration with IT, operations, and data science teams, as AI adoption within finance accelerates.
Boards Want to See ROI – But CFOs Have Their Doubts
Boards are largely united on AI, while CFOs remain divided on how to measure its value. Fifty-four percent of boards strongly support AI and another 40% are cautiously optimistic. Whether cautious or confident, boards agree that ROI is important.
Meanwhile, the pressure is steady as nearly all (97%) CFOs say their boards expect a regular readout on AI investment and progress, with a focus on cost savings (66%), ROI (65%) and productivity gains (63%) as top reported metrics. CFOs, however, see a more complicated picture.
Ninety-three percent of CFOs reported that their organization understands the ROI of their current AI investments, but they are split on their own view of the value of AI investments. Encouragingly, AI is already delivering early wins. More than half of CFOs (56%) report real productivity gains from AI deployments. But uncertainty lingers as 32% of CFOs express concerns about ROI uncertainty and 53% cite cost optimization as a future focus.
Barriers Persist as CFOs Build AI Readiness and ROI
Despite the momentum, CFOs are still navigating the path to enterprise-wide scale. The current application of AI is still fragmented – concentrated in core areas such as financial close (66%), forecasting and planning (62%), compliance (54%), and reporting (45%).
Few have advanced beyond these foundational use cases: 49% say they are experimenting with generative AI, while 33% are focused on more advanced cognitive use cases. This signals a lack of broad, end-to-end application of AI across the finance workflow.
In the near term, most finance teams are prioritizing foundational use cases over the next 12-24 months: financial close and consolidation (62%), forecasting and planning (58%), and risk and compliance (53%). While these applications are driving measurable efficiency gains, they indicate incremental – not yet transformational – adoption.
Longer-term ambitions are more strategic. More than half (61%) of CFOs plan to apply AI to advanced decision-making tools for scenario modeling and financial forecasting – showing a clear vision for the future, yet limited AI talent, inconsistent data quality, and integration challenges continue to slow progress, leaving CFOs striving to connect rising budgets with measurable business outcomes.
Introducing The Finance AI Academy: OneStream has launched a monthly video series to help CFOs navigate AI applications for Finance. To learn more about the Finance AI research, and to watch the Finance AI Academy, visit www.onestream.com/finance-ai-academy.
About the Research
The research was conducted online in the U.S., the U.K, and Australia by The Harris Poll on behalf of Highwire PR among 353 adults aged 25 years or older, living in the U.S, the U.K. or Australia, who are employed full-time in a CFO role at a business with 100+ employees and $50m+ revenue, and who are adopting or interested in adopting AI at their firm. The survey was conducted between the 18th and 26th of August 2025.
Data are weighted where necessary by employee-size categories to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within ± 6.1 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “targets,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the results of the Finance AI research examining how CFOs are prioritizing, adopting and investing in AI. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors. Some of these risks are described in greater detail in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2025, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 7, 2025. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. These factors may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied by our forward-looking statements. Furthermore, if our forward-looking statements prove to be inaccurate, the inaccuracy may be material. In light of the significant uncertainties in these forward-looking statements, you should not rely on these statements or regard these statements as a representation or warranty by us or any other person that we will achieve our objectives and plans in any specified timeframe, or at all. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
About OneStream
OneStream is how today’s Finance teams can go beyond just reporting on the past and Take Finance Further™ by steering the business to the future. It’s the leading enterprise Finance platform that unifies financial and operational data, embeds AI for better decisions and productivity, and empowers the CFO to become a critical driver of business strategy and execution.
We deliver a comprehensive cloud-based platform to modernize the Office of the CFO. Our Digital Finance Cloud unifies core financial and broader operational data and processes and embeds AI for better planning and forecasting, with an extensible architecture, so customers can adopt and develop new solutions, achieving greater value as their business needs evolve.
With over 1,600 customers, including 17% of the Fortune 500, a strong ecosystem of go-to-market, implementation, and development partners and over 1,500 employees, our vision is to be the operating system for modern Finance. To learn more, visit onestream.com.
CONTACT
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Jaclyn Proctor
Media Relations Contact
OneStream
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