TLDR: A recent PYMNTS Intelligence report reveals that 97% of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) at billion-dollar U.S. enterprises place high or complete trust in generative AI (Gen AI) for risk management. This near-universal confidence extends across various critical business functions, driving significant ROI and planned future investments, despite some lingering concerns regarding data security and output integrity.
A new report from PYMNTS Intelligence highlights a remarkable level of confidence among Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in the capabilities of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) for managing enterprise risk. According to a December survey of 60 CFOs at U.S. enterprises with over $1 billion in annual revenue, a staggering 97% expressed high or complete trust in Gen AI’s output for risk management.
This profound trust is not isolated to risk management alone. The survey indicates that at least 91% of the surveyed CFOs reported high or complete trust in Gen AI across 10 core business areas. For strategic decision-making and financial reporting, this figure climbed to 98%. This widespread conviction in the technology’s reliability is a key factor enabling CFOs to integrate Gen AI into sensitive roles, transforming it into an indispensable tool within the corporate framework.
The adoption of Gen AI has accelerated dramatically, with nearly 9 in 10 CFOs now reporting a ‘very positive’ return on investment (ROI) from the technology. This represents a more than threefold increase since March 2024, underscoring the tangible value Gen AI is delivering. Companies are leveraging Gen AI for a diverse range of applications, including cybersecurity defense, customer service chatbots, AI-powered financial modeling, fraud detection, and spend analytics.
Despite the overwhelming optimism, some concerns persist. Nearly 30% of CFOs worried that Gen AI might produce less insightful results, while 22% pointed to potential issues with the integrity of its outputs. Data security also remains a notable concern, with 28% of CFOs fearing unauthorized access to sensitive information.
A significant driver of this trust, particularly for critical financial functions, is Gen AI’s ability to work with internal, homegrown data. CFOs are familiar with and confident in their internal data, which plays a crucial role in their conviction about the technology’s output. However, the report emphasizes that CFOs view AI as an assistant rather than a replacement for human oversight. Given their responsibilities for Securities and Exchange Commission filings, Sarbanes-Oxley regulations, and audit trails, CFOs understand that they, not the algorithms, are ultimately accountable for financial outcomes.
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The positive ROI and expanding applications of generative AI have prompted CFOs to plan for increased investments in this technology. The integration of Gen AI into enterprise operations has moved beyond experimental phases, now delivering measurable financial benefits and solidifying its role in the future of corporate decision-making.
