Finance is adopting AI faster than it can measure it

Finance teams are adopting AI quickly and measuring it slowly. 

Protiviti’s 2026 Global Finance Trends Survey found that AI use for financial forecasting climbed from 58% to 76% in a year, while only 35% of finance organizations say they’re effective at measuring AI ROI.

Financial forecasting is the biggest use case among the 77% of finance organizations employing AI, ahead of risk assessment and management and process automation. Teams are putting AI to work on larger data sets, more scenario planning, and faster insights for leadership.

Only 14% of finance groups are deploying AI against a defined strategy, so while nearly everyone’s adopting it, far fewer have a governance model or a way to show the board what the money bought.

Security and privacy of data ranked as finance’s top priority for the third year running, ahead of financial planning, analytics, and AI itself. It stays on top because AI pulls in data from both inside and outside the organization. The more data feeding the AI, the more exposure risk that comes with it. 

“Organizations cannot scale AI without confidence in the quality, security and governance of their data,” says Christopher Wright, global leader of Protiviti’s CFO Solutions and Business Performance Improvement practice. “That is the major reason why cybersecurity and data governance remain finance’s top priorities.”

Economic and trade volatility is pulling finance’s attention, reshaping priorities. The survey found 83% of CFOs rank cash management among their top three priorities, with financial services (61%) and manufacturing and distribution (55%) placing the greatest emphasis on it.

The survey is global, but the bind is the same everywhere. Finance is leaning into AI, but can’t yet prove what it’s worth. 

Today’s challenge is to use AI to make more informed business decisions and prove that it is delivering measurable value,” said Christopher Wright, global leader of Protiviti’s CFO Solutions and Business Performance Improvement practice. “Organizations that pair strong data governance with clear business objectives are better positioned to navigate economic uncertainty, shifting market conditions and rising expectations for finance transformation.”

Final Shots

• Adoption keeps outrunning control, as 77% of finance teams use AI, 35% can measure its return, and just 14% run it against a defined strategy.
• Data security has outranked AI itself on finance’s priority list three years running, even as AI spread through forecasting and planning.
• Finance reached for the practical use first, putting AI into forecasting at 76% adoption, ahead of risk assessment at 67% and process automation at 56%.