86% of Finance Teams are Adopting AI, According to Wolters Kluwer Survey

Wolters Kluwer, a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services, today released

A new survey exploring the current state of artificial intelligence adoption among corporate finance functions in North America has found that 86% of North American finance leaders report that their organizations are either beginning to explore AI use cases (53%), or are piloting AI in select areas (33%). Six percent say AI is already scaled or embedded across their finance functions, underscoring a significant, untapped opportunity for AI to drive digital transformation within finance.

The data was gathered by technology and information solution provider Wolters Kluwer during its regional North America CCH Tagetik inTouch25 conference. It shows that, while interest in AI continues to grow, most North American finance teams remain in the early stages of adoption.

According to the survey,

“Finance leaders are clearly recognizing the potential of AI, but the journey from exploration to scaled deployment is complex,” said Madhur Aggarwal, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Corporate Performance Management at Wolters Kluwer. “At Wolters Kluwer, we’re helping organizations bridge that gap, through customer-driven innovation, industry-best technology, and expert support. Our award-winning CCH Tagetik Intelligent Platform with Ask AI is designed to meet this moment. By embedding AI into familiar workflows, we’re empowering finance teams to accelerate AI exploration and adoption in ways that are digitally transforming the efficiency, accuracy, and strategic ability of the Office of the CFO.” 

Additional survey findings from the CCH Tagetik North America inTouch 25 conference include:

Top AI use case for driving time savings in Finance: Variance analysis + insights

When asked which AI use case would be most helpful in freeing up their finance team’s time for more strategic work, 31% of respondents pointed to variance analysis and insights as the top choice.

Automating routine reporting and automating predictive forecasting were each selected by 25%. Notably, 51% of respondents also said that access to proven AI use cases and success stories would give them more confidence in deploying agentic AI more broadly.

These findings not only highlight the value of targeted AI applications in freeing up finance team time to focus on more strategic initiatives, but also the critical need for organizations to develop and share finance-specific AI use cases to accelerate adoption and impact.

Methods for evaluating ROI for AI investments within finance vary widely

North American finance leaders are taking diverse approaches to evaluating their return on AI investments within the finance function: 25% measure ROI through cost savings, while 23% focus on time saved on manual processes.

However, 22% admitted they don’t currently measure AI ROI, and 15% were not sure how their finance organizations measure the AI ROI.

Notably, 37% of respondents also said that the top barrier to scaling AI across their finance function was unclear ROI or business case for doing so, underscoring the need for standardized models for evaluating AI’s impact. 

Finance leaders indicate mixed comfort levels with degree of AI investment

Survey respondents expressed varied levels of comfort with their organization’s current financial investment in deploying AI to digitally transform finance.

While 14% said they are very comfortable with their organization’s level of AI investment, a larger number (38%) reported being somewhat comfortable.

Notably, 17% felt the investment is too low, and a significant 28% were not sure, highlighting the need for more clarity around AI budgeting decisions.

Leadership alignment on AI strategy remains a work in progress

Only 24% of respondents said their finance leadership is fully aligned on the strategic role of AI. A larger portion (43%) reported partial alignment, with engagement varying across leaders.

Meanwhile, 9% said leadership is misaligned, 8% noted no alignment, and 16% were not sure of the level of alignment, highlighting the need for finance leaders to develop and clearly communicate a unified vision on how they expect AI to shape their finance operations.

“The breadth of compelling AI use cases showcased at CCH Tagetik North America InTouch was impressive,” said Jennifer Buchanan, Partner at CFO Solutions. “It’s exciting to see finance teams not only exploring AI but already leveraging it to accelerate insights and enhance decision-making. The event underscored a pivotal shift: AI is no longer theoretical, it’s being actively implemented with measurable impact.”