Chief financial officers (CFOs) have fundamentally shifted their approach to artificial intelligence (AI), according to new research from Salesforce, moving from cautious spenders to strategic investors who are betting on AI not just for cost-cutting, but as a crucial engine for long-term revenue growth.
A striking 70% of the 261 global CFOs surveyed reported having a conservative AI strategy in 2020. Fast forward to today, and that number has plummeted to a mere 4%. This rapid transformation highlights a widespread recognition among financial leaders that AI is no longer just an emerging technology, but a crucial tool for enhancing efficiency, optimising operations and, critically, driving long-term growth.
CFOs’ fundamental rethinking of tech investment ROI, according to the data, explains this transformation. More than half (61%) of CFOs say AI agents – digital labour capable of performing tasks autonomously – are changing how they evaluate ROI, measuring the success of technology investments beyond traditional metrics to encompass a broader range of business outcomes.
“The introduction of digital labour isn’t just a technical upgrade, it represents a decisive and strategic shift for CFOs,” says Robin Washington, president and chief operational and financial officer at Salesforce. “With AI agents, we’re not merely transforming business models; we’re fundamentally reshaping the entire scope of the CFO function. This demands a new mindset as we expand beyond financial stewards to also become architects of agentic enterprise value.”
Last year, in fact, 65% of CFOs faced pressure to accelerate tech investment ROI. Today, they recognise the value of AI isn’t just about short-term cost-cutting, but also long-term business outcomes like revenue generation, productivity gains, and improved decision-making – things AI agents are uniquely suited to improve.
“The ROI of older technology often depends on immediate, measurable results,” said one CFO survey respondent. “While AI’s returns may accrue over the long term through an ongoing process and new business models.”
Linda Saunders, Salesforce country manager and senior director: solution engineering for Africa, says: “The latest Salesforce CFO research provides African CFOs with a valuable, data-driven framework for adopting AI in their organisations. As global trends shift from cautious approaches to aggressive AI investment, the research highlights key opportunities to accelerate initiatives across the continent.
“With compelling statistics – such as 74% of CFOs believing AI agents will drive revenue and anticipating this will lead to a projected 20% increase in revenue – this report informs African CFOs to make strategic cases for AI adoption while addressing concerns around extended ROI timelines. It also identifies high-impact areas like risk assessments, financial forecasting, and expense management, offering CFOs a practical starting point with proven success instead of navigating uncharted territory.
“The research also underscores how AI is changing the finance function by freeing CFOs and their teams from routine tasks, enabling them to focus on more strategic, value-creating work,” Saunders continues. “This shift positions African CFOs as critical strategic partners in driving business growth and innovation. Importantly, the report also tackles core concerns such as security and privacy threats, as well as the time required to evaluate ROI, encouraging a thoughtful and risk-aware approach to AI implementation. This balanced guidance is essential for CFOs navigating the complexities of a rapidly evolving business landscape.”
Highlights from the report include:
More CFOs shift from conservative to aggressive AI strategies:
- Five years ago, 70% of CFOs adhered to a conservative AI strategy. As recently as two years ago, that number was 34%.
- Now, just 4% of CFOs maintain a conservative AI strategy, and a third have officially adopted an aggressive approach.
CFOs are dedicating a quarter of their AI budget to agentic AI, and it is fundamentally reshaping their spending perspectives:
- As recently as January 2025, CFOs were undecided about AI’s cost compared to its risk – focusing on moderate investments/risks. Now, that has changed.
- On average, CFOs report dedicating 25% of their current, total AI budget on AI agents.
- 61% of CFOs say AI agents/digital labour are critical, and will continue to be critical, to compete in the current economic environment.
- 64% of CFOs say AI agents/digital labour are changing their perspective on how their business spends money.
- Over a third (35%) say AI requires them to have a riskier mindset around technology investments.
CFOs report AI agents both reduce costs and boost revenue by taking on routine and strategic tasks:
- 74% of CFOs believe that AI agents will not only cut costs, but drive revenue.
- CFOs implementing AI agents expect agents will increase company revenue by almost 20%.
- 72% of CFOs say AI agents will transform their business model.
- 55% of CFOs think AI agents will take on more strategic work than routine tasks.
CFOs embrace AI as a strategic partner:
- 78% of CFOs are increasingly using AI to make business decisions.
- The top three tasks CFOs are delegating to AI agents are risk assessments (74%), financial forecasting (58%), and expense management (54%).
Agentic AI is changing how CFOs evaluate ROI – moving beyond traditional metrics to encompass a wider range of business outcomes:
- 61% of CFOs say AI agents change how they evaluate ROI. “Traditional technology investments mainly focus on immediate financial returns that can be easily visible, but AI benefits are a mix of long- and short-term duration. KPIs are focused based on business outcomes.” – CFO survey respondent
- With the introduction of agents, top factors to evaluate AI ROI are now more expansive, encompassing things like direct savings and near-term benefits:
- Cost savings, risk and compliance improvements, and revenue growth (tied #1)
- Productivity or efficiency improvements (#2)
- Improved decision-making (#3)
- CFOs also view AI as a valuable way to ensure ROI through better financial control. “AI provides realtime budget tracking, which improves forecasting accuracy and helps protect ROI from overspending through better financial control.” – CFO survey respondent
- For CFOs, redefining ROI requires a mindset shift from valuing short-term to long-term success. The two main concerns keeping CFOs up at night regarding their AI strategy are security or privacy threats (66%) and the long time to ROI (56%). “Other technology does not typically involve the ethical risks AI does, if AI goes wrong, the reputational cost affects ROI in ways regular tools never would.” – CFO survey respondent.