While CFOs want to see clear evidence that their investments create the expected value, most are still waiting for substantial ROI from their spending on AI tools, according to a new study.
Only 14% of 200 U.S. finance chiefs surveyed by professional services firm RGP said they’ve seen a clear, measurable impact from their AI investments to date.
At the same time, though, two-thirds (66%) of those polled said they expect to see an impact within just two years.
The finance chiefs, surveyed in October and November, were all from companies in the technology, healthcare, financial services and retail/CPG sectors with $500 million to $10 billion-plus in annual revenue.
However, a large majority (86%) of the respondents said legacy tools that can’t support modern AI tools present a significant or moderate barrier to enterprise AI adoption and limit AI readiness.
The report noted that ERP modernization is widely underway, but investment levels vary, with most CFOs allocating between 6% and 15% of their technology budgets to ERP upgrades intended to enable AI.
Just as telling, 35% of the survey participants identified data trust and reliability as their top barrier to AI ROI, yet just 10% said they fully trust their enterprise data.
“CFOs are right to be optimistic, but ROI will not materialize through ambition alone,” RGP wrote in its study report. “Until the foundations of AI are strengthened, organizations will continue to face a gap between investment and outcome.”
Bridging the gap will require not only clean, trusted data and scalable digital infrastructure, but also a workforce that understands how to operationalize AI, according to RGP.
Indeed, 68% of the surveyed finance chiefs ranked AI skills and capabilities among the most significant challenges to ROI. However, today’s skills gaps are very different from those CFOs expect to need in the next two years.
The report identified the current gaps as those related to data quality, governance and integration; AI/machine learning fluency and use-case design; and cross-functional and domain knowledge integration.
But in two years, the main gaps will be in advanced analytics, scenario modeling and forecasting; risk, bias and ethical AI oversight; and interpretability, explainability and trust.
Meanwhile, almost half (48%) of the surveyed CFOs said they are ultimately responsible for ensuring that AI delivers measurable value.
“The message for 2026 is clear: CFOs who lead boldly, modernize intentionally and build the cross-functional muscle for AI adoption will define the next decade of enterprise performance,” said Scott Rottman, president of consulting services at RGP, in a press release.
“AI readiness,” he added, is the “new blueprint for finance leadership.”
