In 2025, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) dramatically changed his approach to AI (AI) in 2025, according to a study from Salesforce, which has been a major in Agent AI since the Dreamforce Conference in September 2025.
According to Salesforce researchers, the CFO has shifted from cautious spenders to strategic investors who are betting on AI as a key engine for long-term revenue growth, not just cost reductions.
Nevertheless, long periods of security or privacy threats and return on investment (ROI) remain bugbear at 66% and 56% of CFOs, respectively.
One respondent said: “Other technologies typically do not involve ethical risks that AI does. If AI fails, the cost of reputation affects ROI in ways that are not a regular tool.” Another said, “The ongoing investment required to retrain, monitor and improve AI models makes ROI more fluid than fixed-functional tools.”
The study was conducted in parallel with online research firm Morning Consult by the Salesforce Research team, between 261 CFOs from 24 North American countries, EMEA and the Asia-Pacific region.
According to the survey, 70% of the 261 global CFOs surveyed reported that they had a conservative AI strategy in 2020, with that number now at 4%.
Approximately 61% of CFOs said AI agents that function autonomously and can perform specific tasks independently without the need for human intervention are changing the way ROI is assessing. The CFO said the researchers have not traditionally focused on a wide range of business outcomes, rather than on narrow indicators.
Salesforce defines autonomous agents as “digital labor.” the Digital Labor Trend Surveyreleased earlier this year, 78% of UK organizations have already used agent AI, in contrast to the generation AI that requires human promotion.
“We're committed to providing a range of services to our customers,” said Robin Washington, President, CEO and Financial Officer of Salesforce.
The introduction of digital labor is not just a technical upgrade, but a critical and strategic change for CFOs.
Robin Washington, Salesforce
“Using AI agents not only transforms your business model, it fundamentally reshapes the entire scope of your CFO functions. This requires a new mindset to become an architect of agent enterprise values beyond financial stewards.”
One of the CFOs surveyed said, “While ROIs in older technologies often rely on immediate, measurable results, AI returns can occur over the long term through ongoing processes and new business models.”
Another respondent stated: “While traditional technology investments focus primarily on immediate financial returns that seem easy, the benefits of AI are a mix of long-term and short-term periods. Key performance metrics focus on business outcomes.”
The survey found that CFOs allocate a quarter of their AI budget to agent AI, especially.
Re-adjusting risk and rewards
In support of that view, Salesforce cited data from the Financial Education and Research Foundation (FERF). Financial Executive Priority Report for 2025 It said that four in 10 (38%) financial chiefs are still undecided on the risks and benefits of AI investments for their finance business in 2025. The survey said in August 2025, 61% of CFOs said AI agents/digital labor was important and remains important to compete in the current economic environment.
Approximately 64% said that AI agents/digital labor is changing their perspective on how businesses spend money, while 35% said that AI demands a risky mindset when it comes to technology investments.
The study shows that CFOs view AI as a means of sales and reduction. It reduces costs.
The top three tasks that CFOs delegate to AI agents are risk assessment (74%), financial forecasting (58%), and expense management (54%). Approximately 55% believe that AI agents will take on more strategic tasks than routine tasks, while 72% say that AI agents will transform their business models.
One respondent said: “AI offers real-time budget tracking, which helps improve forecasting accuracy and helps ROI maintain spending through better financial management.”
