\u201cMany CFOs are prioritizing AI use cases focused on productivity and efficiency,\u201d said Shankar Keshav, Principal Analyst in the Gartner Finance practice<\/a>, \u201cHowever, boards place greater emphasis on investments that drive growth, improve decision-making and deliver competitive advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n Source: Gartner (July 2026)<\/i><\/p>\n Finance AI portfolios are frequently concentrated on use cases that enhance individual productivity or streamline transactional processes. While these investments can deliver measurable efficiencies in the finance function, there is a ceiling to the benefits they return for most organizations. Once a task becomes faster or lighter touch, the benefit often plateaus unless that efficiency changes a broader business decision or allows finance to operate in a meaningfully different way.<\/p>\n \u201cThis imbalance can lead to a perception gap, where finance leaders report progress on AI adoption, but boards see limited strategic impact,\u201d said Keshav. \u201cAs a result, even well-executed AI initiatives may fall short of expectations when they fail to address the outcomes most valued at the enterprise level.\u201d<\/p>\n Notably, the survey found that those functions that invested in \u201cUpend\u201d AI initiatives \u2013 those which create new value propositions, products or markets \u2013 were more than twice as likely to report high realized value from AI.<\/p>\n To better align with board expectations, CFOs should take a portfolio approach to AI investments<\/a>, ensuring a good mix of initiatives that contributes to enterprise outcomes rather than just internal efficiency.<\/p>\n \u201cCFOs need to shift more investment toward AI use cases that improve decision-making, enable scenario analysis, identify growth opportunities and build reusable assets such as data, models and knowledge,\u201d said Keshav.<\/p>\n This will require a shift in how AI initiatives are measured, focusing more on enterprise impact rather than just the number of pilots or hours saved.<\/p>\n \u201cCFOs must spell out and communicate what finance AI success looks like with clear metrics that are tied to enterprise objectives, including both near-term benefits and long-term strategic value,\u201d said Keshav. \u201cAnd this will be a moving target, requiring reassessment and rebalancing as business needs and expectations evolve.\u201d<\/p>\n Gartner clients can read more in the research report \u201cWhat Actually Drives Value in Finance AI Investments<\/a>.\u201d Nonclients can read The CFO Report<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Gartner is an indispensable partner to C-Level executives and technology providers as they implement AI strategies to achieve their mission-critical priorities. The independence and objectivity of Gartner insights provide clients with the confidence to make informed decisions and unlock the full potential of AI. Clients across the C-Level are using Gartner\u2019s proprietary AskGartner<\/a> AI tool to determine how to leverage AI in their business. With more than 2,500 business and technology experts, 6,000 written insights, as well as more than 4,000 AI use cases and case studies, Gartner is the world authority on AI. More information can be found here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The Gartner Finance practice helps senior finance executives meet their top priorities. Gartner offers a unique breadth and depth of content to support clients\u2019 individual success and deliver on key initiatives that cut across finance functions to drive business impact<\/span>. Learn more<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Gartner (NYSE: IT)<\/em> delivers actionable, objective insight that drives smarter decisions and stronger performance on an organization\u2019s mission-critical priorities. To learn more, visit www.gartner.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Source: Gartner<\/i><\/p>\n Tags: Artificial Intelligence (AI)<\/a>, Gartner<\/a>, technology investment<\/a>, trends<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CFOs must rebalance AI portfolios toward enterprise value to meet board expectations: Gartner survey shows 45% of CFOs say their AI investments lean toward productivity, while 20% say these investments lean toward decision quality...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1],"class_list":["post-25292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25292\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Figure 1. Share of AI Investment Outcomes in Finance<\/h4>\n
![](\"https:\/\/insurance-canada.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/gartner-cfo-survey-ai-productivity-202608.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nCFOs Must Rebalance Finance AI Investments Toward Enterprise Outcomes<\/h4>\n
Additional Insights Available<\/h4>\n
Gartner is the World Authority on AI<\/strong><\/h4>\n
About Gartner for Finance Leaders<\/h4>\n
About Gartner<\/b><\/h4>\n