As CFOs continue to take a lead role in AI experimenting and cost-benefit analysis, particularly within the finance function, how they do so varies and may leave some organizations vulnerable to risk.
A new report from McKinsey highlights how most companies they surveyed are continuing to slowly adopt AI throughout their functions. However, the consulting firm notes that less than a third of respondents are doing so in a way it deems in line with all of its best practices.
The differentiating factor, according to the report, is the company size. Unsurprisingly, companies with more than half a billion dollars in annual revenue are beating out smaller ones in their ability to implement these tools within McKinsey’s recommendations.
AI guidance
Though McKinsey’s advice is ambitious given the slow adoption of AI, most recommendations are worth noting for CFOs who may feel AI implementation is another huge project on their to-do list.
About half (52%) of companies with more than $500 million in annual revenue have established a dedicated team to drive generative AI adoption, while less than a quarter (23%) of smaller ones report they have done the same. Other large discrepancies include having regular internal communications about the value created by generative AI solutions (42% for companies with more than $500 million in revenue and 30% for smaller ones).
The only category in which smaller companies outpace larger ones is employee incentives that reinforce AI adoption, a tactic CFO advisers from Big Four accounting firms have recommended as part of a larger effort to create psychological safety around implementation of any tool that supplements labor.
Employee reskilling
Among all respondents, reskilling efforts for employees are in place, but what’s happening currently versus future plans varies greatly. More than four in 10 (44%) respondents say they are reskilling up to 5% of their workforce. Significantly fewer are doing so at a higher level, with nearly a fifth (18%) who say they are reskilling between 6% and 10% of employees and 9% who are reskilling more than half.
Over the next three years, respondents hope to widen the scale of these opportunities. While the fewest respondents indicated plans to reskill their employees immediately, nearly a fifth (19%) expect to increase that number by 2028. This represents the most commonly chosen category when discussing future workforce development plans.
The McKinsey Global Survey on AI was conducted from July 16 to July 31, 2024, and published on March 12, 2025. It had 1,491 participants across 101 countries. Fifty-eight percent of respondents were from companies with <$500M in annual revenue and the remaining 42% were from organizations exceeding that mark.
