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Backing up views on generative AI held by board members, corporate finance executives likewise report that usage of the technology remains in the fledgling stage.

Only 4% of finance leaders surveyed by The Hackett Group said their companies were “maturing and scaling” their use of generative AI. More than a third said they either were “not doing anything” (22%) or were “waiting for the market to mature” (13%) before considering investments in the area. Most (61%) of the polled finance leaders indicated they were only in the initial stages of exploring generative AI.

However, executives across business functions overwhelmingly characterized their companies as at least moving forward. About 9 in 10 (89%) of the broader sample said their generative AI initiatives were “advancing.” That result portrayed a massive change from a Hackett survey conducted a year ago, when just 16% of executives cited business transformation through generative AI as a high priority.

(A Hackett official declined to disclose the survey sample size or a breakdown of participants’ titles, beyond stating that “it’s a statistically significant sample size for global 2000 organizations.”)

In its survey report, Hackett — a longtime executive advisory firm that is additionally positioning itself as a generative AI consultancy — criticized companies that are slow to assimilate AI into their operations. “Early adopters of AI are redefining finance’s role in driving business performance,” the firm wrote. “Organizations that fail to embrace AI risk falling behind their competitors in agility, efficiency and strategic impact.”

Despite the urgency, the report noted, confidence in AI remains low, with a host of concerns influencing finance executives to proceed cautiously. Interestingly, while 35% of them cited lack of implementation skills and experience as a “major concern,” only 4% said the same about staff training and education.

To address such concerns and accelerate the impact of AI, Hackett recommended that finance leaders:

• Develop a targeted generative AI strategy aligned with enterprise-wide AI goals.

• Prioritize AI use cases that drive tangible business value.

• Set realistic expectations for benefits and value potential.

• Build and refine a data ecosystem that enables cross-enterprise, AI-driven insights.

• Simplify complex processes and eliminate manual inefficiencies.

• Invest in upskilling finance teams to ensure AI readiness.