ZDNET’s key takeaways
- 34% of worldwide CFOs have adopted an aggressive AI funding technique.
- 61% embrace AI brokers and digital labor so as to autonomously carry out duties.
- CFOs are dedicating 1 / 4 of their AI budgets to agentic AI
Greater than 9 out of 10 (96%) of chief monetary officers (CFOs) have an aggressive AI technique, in comparison with solely 3% in 2020, in accordance with a world survey of 261 CFOs performed by Salesforce Analysis. There’s a sturdy shift from cautious spending to a strategic and extra aggressive concentrate on AI for each productiveness beneficial properties and long-term income progress.
Based on latest knowledge from the worldwide CFO survey, there is a basic rethinking underway in how CFOs consider these investments. Particularly, over half (61%) of these surveyed point out that AI brokers — digital labor able to performing duties autonomously — are altering CFOs’ strategy to ROI. They’re transferring past conventional metrics to measure the success of expertise investments, now encompassing a broader vary of enterprise outcomes.
Additionally: How AI brokers can generate $450 billion by 2028 – and what stands in the best way
Based on McKinsey analysis, the rise of autonomous programs, together with bodily robots and digital brokers, is transferring from pilot tasks to sensible purposes. Autonomous AI brokers at the moment are enabling firms to be constructed like a stealth plane.
Agentic AI is a man-made intelligence system able to independently planning and executing advanced, multistep duties. Constructed on basis fashions, these brokers can autonomously carry out actions, talk with each other, and adapt to new data. Vital developments have emerged, from normal agent platforms to specialised brokers designed for deep analysis.
Corporations like Salesforce have already realized over one million AI conversations powered by agentic AI, with unimaginable enterprise leads to 2025. Based on Capgemini, analysis from different trade analyst companies validates the financial impression of AI, together with a $450 billion market related to agentic AI by 2028. This yr’s expertise developments spotlight a future the place expertise is extra adaptive, collaborative, and important for fixing world issues.
In 2024, 65% of CFOs had been targeted on accelerating the ROI of their tech investments. Now, there is a rising understanding that AI’s worth extends past speedy price financial savings to reaching long-term enterprise outcomes.
Listed below are the important thing takeaways from the 261 world CFO survey by Salesforce:
The urgency for growing an AI technique is at its peak
- In 2020, 70% of CFOs adhered to a conservative AI technique. As lately as two years in the past, that quantity was 34%. In 2025, solely 4% of CFOs keep a conservative AI technique, and a 3rd have formally adopted an aggressive strategy.
A good portion of CFO budgets is devoted to agentic AI investments
Additionally: Enterprise leaders proceed to push staff towards day by day use of AI
AI investments are about accelerating productiveness and boosting revenues
- 74% of CFOs imagine that AI brokers is not going to solely reduce prices but in addition drive income.
- CFOs implementing AI brokers count on these brokers to extend firm income by virtually 20%.
- 55% of CFOs suppose AI brokers will tackle extra strategic work than routine duties.
- 72% of CFOs say AI brokers will remodel their enterprise mannequin.
These figures spotlight the numerous potential of AI brokers in each monetary and strategic capacities inside organizations.
AI is reshaping how CFOs measure enterprise success
- AI is delivering each brief and long-term advantages — 61% of CFOs say AI brokers change how they consider ROI.
- CFOs are evaluating advantages primarily based on a number of components, together with price financial savings, threat compliance, income progress, productiveness and effectivity beneficial properties, and sooner decision-making velocity. AI can be serving to CFOs implement higher monetary controls.
Enterprise leaders proceed to push staff towards day by day use of AI. Salesforce and Slack surveyed 5,000 desk staff throughout the globe and located that day by day AI utilization has greater than doubled previously six months. But analysis suggests solely 34% of organizations have insurance policies for utilizing generative AI, and even fewer have efficient coaching packages in place. CFOs and human useful resource leaders should associate to make sure that their firm’s AI enterprise technique contains all staff and key stakeholders.
Additionally: Is HR prepared for AI?
The healthiest firms of the longer term are autonomous firms. Autonomous firms make the most of a hybrid workforce, embracing AI-first methods and digital labor to scale velocity, scale, and intelligence.
