Artificial intelligence was certainly a top priority for chief financial officers this year. AI-powered transformation and ROI are important topics of discussion among CFOs, boards of directors, the broader C-suite, and other stakeholders.
As 2025 draws to a close, it's time to predict what will happen in the new year. luck We asked over a dozen CFOs from prominent companies, “How do you think AI will continue to shape finance in 2026?”
Finance leaders widely expect AI, including agent AI, to move from experimentation to proven enterprise-wide impact and transform the finance function. At the same time, they emphasize that success depends on factors such as strong governance, clean and reliable data, modernized architecture, and human judgment. Collectively, they see AI not just as an efficiency tool, but as a catalyst for reinventing finance as a proactive and strategic driver of business.
Below are CFO's predictions for 2026.
said Gina Mastantuono, President and CFO of ServiceNow. “In 2026, AI will be measured by demonstration rather than promise. Businesses will continue to expect measurable improvements in speed, resiliency, and decision quality, not pilots and prototypes. That level of impact will require reliable data, clear accountability, and leaders willing to redesign how decisions are made. AI will not replace human experience and judgment, but it will soon expose vision where it is lacking. Reward organizations that connect AI-powered execution at scale. ”
Marie Myers, EVP and CFO, Hewlett Packard Enterprise:AI is not just around the corner. here it is. By 2026, AI will move beyond experimentation and become a core part of financial operations. For HPE, this means intelligent agents automate quarterly closes, forecasts, and analytics, providing real-time insights and actionable predictions. Success depends on strong governance, human oversight, ROI discipline, and building digital acumen to empower talent and improve expertise in this age of AI. In 2026, CFOs will need to move from financial gatekeepers to architects of change who drive strategy and shape decision-making. ”
Zane Lowe, CFO, Workday: “There has never been a more exciting time for CFOs as AI unlocks new value creation opportunities through unprecedented data and insights. While much of the focus in the past has been on experimentation and discovering the art of the possible, this year leaders will shift from thinking, “What can we do with AI?” to “How do we build the foundation for scale?” They manage a more nuanced AI portfolio that balances pilot launches and deployments of proven solutions, prioritizing unglamorous but important tasks like data governance, process redesign, and maintenance of new technology. Success in 2026 will depend on how you mature your AI strategy to ensure it's both agile, durable, and enterprise-grade. ”
Mandy Fields, CFO, Elf Beauty: “From where the CFO sits, AI can simultaneously help us widen our horizons and get a better macro picture, and help us focus more clearly on very specific points of interest. Elf Beauty is growing globally and AI has visibility across that. Looking ahead to next year, we're looking forward to using AI in finance. This is very similar to our approach to our high-performance teamwork culture, where we encourage our teams to explore what they do best and grow: build expertise, continually learn, and move forward at the speed of elves.”
Scott Grossman, CFO of Ensono, Managed IT Services Company: “Historically, AI has struggled with the complexity of financial data, but 2026 marks a tipping point. Advances in generative AI and predictive analytics will enable finance teams to move beyond automation to real-time insights and scenario modeling. helps you predict risk, optimize capital allocation, and improve decision-making with unprecedented speed and accuracy. The future of finance is not just about crunching numbers, but rather about transforming data into strategic data. ”
Joy Mbanugo, CFO, CXApp Inc. AI-powered enterprise workplace experience platform: “By taking full advantage of AI, finance teams can run hundreds or even thousands of M&A scenarios before the first board discussion, predict customer churn before it impacts revenue, and stress test capital allocation decisions across dozens of macroeconomic environments. The real key is for finance to move from reporting what happened to shaping what happens next. If AI is only being used to do the same thing faster, its value is being undermined.''The real power comes from strategic work that creates different tasks and outcomes, not just efficiency. It's not just a transformation. ”
Mike Weiner, CFO of GenpactBusiness services and technology company says, “In 2026, AI will no longer be a futuristic concept in finance; it will become a business necessity. Leaders must move beyond pilots and start treating AI and agent systems as actual team members who take on the work and drive results. At Genpact, we're already seeing this change. Our agent accounts payable solution is powered by more accurate, autonomous data. Success as Client Zero requires us to continue to reimagine our processes, data, people, and ways of working to enable better capture, better touchless processing, greater cash visibility, and stronger supplier relationships while reducing costs for both our clients and ourselves.”
Michael Burke, Convera CFO“AI will further shape finance in 2026 by helping leaders operate in a high-cost, high-volatility world. With cheap capital still not an option, CFOs will rely on AI to optimize liquidity, manage debt, and prioritize narrow-margin spending. AI-driven models will be essential to monitor currency exposures and adjust strategies in real-time as this becomes a baseline for early 2020. Increasingly driven by government rather than consumer spending, finance teams will use AI to assess policy impacts and sector-specific risks. Most importantly, AI will support scenario planning and allow CFOs to make multiple forecasts and remain flexible amid uncertainty.
Evan Goldstein, Chief Financial Officer, Seismic; AI-powered sales and revenue platforms: “AI will continue to force finance leaders to instill more discipline in how they evaluate and measure technology investments. Simply put, the days of buying AI for AI’s sake are over. There is no universal metric for AI ROI, as success depends on the functionality and the problem it solves. Whether it's reducing administrative time or increasing sales conversion rates, financial industry leaders will increasingly seek proof of clear operational value before scaling up their AI spend.
Jason Godley, CFO of Xactly, said: Intelligence Revenue Platform: “2026 will be the year that the lines around different software applications truly blur. Traditionally, software systems have typically served a single leader, such as the CFO or CMO, rather than a broader range of business stakeholders. Because the CFO's mission is to help run the business, not just the budget, core finance and accounting systems provide end-to-end connectivity, visibility, flexibility, and the ability to support all business operations across departments. The use of generative AI to orchestrate these systems, data, and workflows will help enhance end-to-end visibility and cross-functional scenario analysis, planning, and reporting.”
John Schwab, CFO, Vertex Inc. Indirect tax software provider: “In 2026, AI will move finance from retrospective reporting to real-time decision-making. Agent AI built into ERP accelerates close, increases forecasting and cash visibility, automates controls and compliance, and reduces manual work while improving auditability. The real differentiator will be staying on top of human information and using AI A managed data and operating model that connects pilots to measurable outcomes and risk metrics. Modernizing architecture and skills transforms pilots into durable pilots that deliver increased productivity, reduced cycle time, and increased profits. ”
Kevin Rhodes, Extreme Networks CFO AI-powered cloud networking: “For CFOs and finance leaders, having a level of AI literacy and the ability to identify use cases will be critical to improving the productivity of their organizations. It's not just knowing how to use AI, it's understanding how to evaluate potential investments in AI platforms, lead team adoption, and evaluate areas that will be impacted by AI adoption. Having that background is key as we move towards a future where AI is involved. It's key to success at every level, but especially for leaders, given the projected future of AI, AI-naive leaders are likely to disappear in the coming years.”
Conor Tieney, CFO, AEye, Inc. LIDAR and intelligent recognition software provider: “Many CFOs are holding back on widespread AI adoption because the market is currently saturated with overlapping tools and unclear value propositions. Integration must occur before widespread adoption. In 2026, AI will continue to disrupt low-value transactional activities, freeing teams to focus on higher-value strategic work. But success will depend on fixing the underlying systems. Predictive analytics and competitive benchmarking will be essential, and CFOs will need to anticipate market changes and optimize decisions quickly and accurately, and companies that adopt streamlined, integrated AI solutions will gain a distinct competitive advantage.”
