The role of the CFO is shifting faster than ever, driven by the rapid adoption of digital tools, AI, and advanced analytics. To better understand how finance leaders are navigating this change, we conducted the ‘2025 CFO AI & Technology Insights Survey’, capturing the perspectives of 60 senior finance professionals across diverse industries, with particularly strong representation from Western Australia.

The findings highlight both the opportunities and challenges finance teams face, and provide a valuable benchmark for CFOs considering their next steps.

How Finance Teams are Using Data & AI

While the potential of data-driven decision-making is widely recognised, 64% of respondents indicated their organisations still have room for improvement in the way their organisation uses data. The top challenges for finance teams include:

  • Integrating multiple systems (63%)
  • Lack of data skills (37%)
  • Fragmented data (32%)

When it comes to AI adoption, mid-sized organisations are leading the way:

  • 80% are already using, experimenting with, or planning to adopt AI within the next 1–2 years.
  • The biggest barriers include privacy concerns (28%) and a lack of expertise (27%).
  • Interestingly, mining companies in WA were among the least likely to adopt, with 67% reporting no plans to implement AI.

For those already using AI, the main benefits are clear, to enhancing productivity (55%), and to generating insights (40%).

Technology Investment & Priorities

Investment in finance technology is strong and growing, with 89% of organisations expecting to increase their finance technology budgets in the coming year. The drivers behind this vary by business size:

  • Larger organisations are motivated by security concerns and external pressures (both at 50%).
  • Smaller organisations are focused on return on investment (53%) and the increasing ease of use of modern tools (33%).

When asked where automation is most likely to be applied, finance teams pointed to reporting and month-end processes (30%), and budgeting and forecasting (17%). Meanwhile, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting remains a developing focus, with 43% of respondents saying it is still not a priority.

Recommendations for CFOs

Based on these findings, there are clear steps CFOs can take to ensure they stay ahead:

  • Evaluate and adopt the right tools to improve productivity, provide a competitive advantage, and enhance decision-making.
  • Embrace AI in areas like forecasting, reporting, anomaly detection, and risk analysis.
  • Overcome perceived barriers such as privacy concerns and lack of skilled resources – solutions and external expertise are available.
  • Maintain a focus on ROI, but balance this with a long-term perspective to avoid falling behind.
  • Be proactive with ESG reporting – while it may not yet be mandatory for all, it will be a growing requirement in the near future.

Final Thoughts

The 2025 CFO AI & Technology Insights Survey highlights a clear message – CFOs must be proactive in leading digital adoption if they want to remain strategic, data-driven, and commercially focused leaders.

Digital transformation is not just about adopting technology, it’s about aligning investment, mindset, and execution with an organisation’s level of digital maturity.

To explore the findings in more detail, we invite you to download the free Executive Summary. For those seeking a deeper dive, the full report, interactive Power BI dashboard, and advisory services are also available.

Download the Executive Summary