For finance leaders whose roles now include talent strategy, workforce development, AI adoption and operational performance, the lack of readiness among young professionals, along with a growing gender gap in AI usage, should be a key concern.
AI’s impact on corporate finance is being felt beyond automation and efficiency improvements. New data from OneStream shows that only slightly more than half (51%) of finance leaders believe new college grads are job-ready for a finance role. While concerns about Gen Z readiness are not new, the research highlights major discrepancies between genders regarding AI preparedness, compounding talent development challenges within corporate finance.
The AI gender gap
Among students surveyed, men were significantly more likely to be confident using AI, already use it and consider themselves prepared to use it in the future. Over two-thirds (68%) of male students said they expect to heavily rely on AI in their future roles, compared to just 12% of female students. Confidence in using AI in a professional capacity also skewed toward men, with 69% feeling prepared versus 56% of women.
Generally, men anticipate AI playing a larger role in their jobs. Ninety-one percent of male students expect to use AI in their careers, a sentiment shared by only 81% of women. When asked about experience, 93% of men said they have “enough” experience with AI, compared to 65% of women.
Expectations versus reality
The contrast between what professionals do and what students expect to do is stark for finance teams hiring early-career talent. More than half (58%) of finance professionals work more than 40 hours per week, while 79% of students expect to work less than 40 hours per week.
Perceptions of work-life balance also diverge. Only 15% of students believe a finance career involves long hours, and just 16% associate it with burnout. Among professionals, 57% report experiencing burnout. Respondents cited poor work-life balance (44%) and burnout (35%) as major contributors to turnover.
Motivators were consistent across respondents. Nearly two-thirds said job stability was a key factor, along with a high salary (57%) and a clear roadmap for career growth (55%).
AI use today
While two-thirds (66%) of finance leaders say they use AI at work, just 57% believe new hires should be required to have technology skills in addition to accounting knowledge. Although the age or tenure of those surveyed wasn’t specified, only 11% of finance leaders surveyed said they wish they had AI and machine learning skills when they started their careers.
More than half (57%) of finance professionals said a generational technology divide is a pain point at their organizations. Sixty-three percent of finance professionals with fewer than 10 years of experience say they have enough experience to use AI now, while just 57% of those with more than 10 years say the same. For CFOs and other leaders, this can create more duties than expected during the implementation process if their comfort with technology stems from a variety of uncontrollable factors.
The generational skills gap — potentially influenced more by gender than age among younger professionals — includes mismatched views on AI usage. Among all respondents who acknowledged the divide, the top contributing factors were the AI skills gap (44%), the pace of technology change (44%) and differing attitudes toward replacing tasks with AI (40%).
The findings are based on a OneStream survey of 2,504 respondents, including corporate finance professionals and college students studying finance in the U.S. and the U.K., and conducted between March 24 and April 21, 2025. Professional respondents were segmented by experience level, and student responses reflect workforce expectations.
