The Future of Finance is Here—But Are Leaders Ready for What's Coming Next?

Greetings! Ever wonder how today's finance executives are gearing up their organizations to navigate unprecedented complexity while simultaneously laying the groundwork for tomorrow's opportunities?

A groundbreaking study from Deloitte—their very first Finance Trends report (https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/leadership/finance-trends-leadership.html)—offers fascinating insights. The research captures perspectives from 1,326 finance executives worldwide, predominantly CFOs and those next in line for the top finance role, representing organizations generating over $1 billion in annual revenue. Additionally, the study incorporates candid conversations with nine senior finance leaders from across the globe.

Beyond presenting comprehensive survey analytics, the report identifies five critical trends that will define the finance function through 2026, as highlighted by both survey participants and interview subjects:

Embracing Scenario Planning and Nimble Governance:

Today's finance executives face a delicate balancing act: maintaining cost discipline while simultaneously funding growth initiatives. Supply chain instability continues to generate significant unpredictability and expense pressures. Here's what's eye-opening: approximately three-quarters of survey participants indicate their organizations are operating with inadequate resources for strategic investments. What's more, their top priorities are remarkably evenly distributed—preparing for external disruptions, implementing emerging technologies, and driving cost reductions all received nearly identical rankings at the top of the list. This clustering suggests finance leaders are being pulled in multiple directions simultaneously, with no clear winner among competing demands.

Finance Leaders Have Evolved Into Strategic Architects

A majority of respondents—57% to be exact—now identify themselves as primary strategic influencers within their organizations, not merely financial stewards. But here's where it gets controversial: Many are amplifying their strategic impact by leveraging technology and artificial intelligence, fundamentally redefining finance from a support function into a proactive business partner that drives enterprise direction. Nearly half (48%) of these strategic leaders utilize cloud-based solutions to optimize expenditures, compared with just 33% of those who remain in traditional support capacities. This gap raises an important question: Are those not embracing technology being left behind in influence and impact?

Consider HPE as a compelling example. CFO Marie Myers (https://fortune.com/2025/07/11/how-hpe-cfo-marie-myers-uses-agentic-shape-finance-her-daily-life/) shared with Deloitte: "We are harnessing AI to enable our teams to function as strategic partners, utilizing data and technology to generate value across the entire enterprise. We've completely reimagined what finance means, transitioning from conventional stewardship responsibilities to proactive leadership powered by digital transformation." This represents a fundamental shift in how finance operates at the executive table.

Courtesy of Deloitte

Finance-Driven Cost Management Produces Tangible Results

Finance leaders who take ownership of cost management initiatives—and who emphasize both accountability and the deployment of effective tools—demonstrate significantly higher success rates in achieving or surpassing savings objectives. Thirty-six percent of surveyed finance leaders overall (rising to 42% among CFOs specifically) hold primary responsibility for cost management activities. Among this group, 47% consistently achieve their cost-reduction targets, compared with only 39% of those in supporting or secondary roles. This performance gap suggests that ownership and authority matter significantly when it comes to delivering financial results. And this is the part most people miss: it's not just about having the right strategy, but about having the authority and accountability to execute it.

Finance Teams Are Adopting AI, Yet Struggling With AI Agent Integration

Virtually every finance organization is now experimenting with artificial intelligence in some capacity. In fact, 63% have already completed full deployment and are actively utilizing AI solutions within their finance operations. However, among these early adopters, only 21% believe their AI investments have generated clear, quantifiable value to date. Even more striking, a mere 14% have achieved the next critical milestone: fully integrating AI agents—autonomous systems that can perform tasks independently—directly into their finance workflows. This gap may underscore the significant challenge of transitioning from AI pilot programs and proof-of-concept projects to embedding AI capabilities into everyday finance operations. It also reveals that many sectors remain in the nascent stages of deploying AI agents for specialized tasks—a relatively unexplored frontier in the field, according to Deloitte's analysis (https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/leadership/finance-trends-leadership.html).

Forty-one percent of organizations in early AI adoption stages cite legacy technology infrastructure as a significant obstacle to AI implementation, compared with 31% of "AI leaders"—those respondents who have successfully deployed AI solutions, demonstrated measurable value from those implementations, and have already woven AI agents into their finance function.

The research also uncovered that 30% of finance leaders in preliminary AI adoption phases face difficulties justifying return on investment, versus 21% of those more advanced in their AI journey. Deloitte advises that finance executives adopt a comprehensive perspective on AI's value proposition, incorporating factors like organizational trust and employee sentiment—not exclusively financial metrics—to ensure transformation initiatives achieve lasting success. But here's a question worth debating: Is the focus on immediate ROI actually holding back AI adoption, or is it a necessary discipline to prevent wasteful spending?

Integrating Technical Talent Into Finance Functions

Many finance departments now view technology as a critical solution when skilled talent is scarce, and discovering the optimal combination of both human expertise and technological capability has become an increasingly urgent priority. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (64%) intend to incorporate more technical competencies into their teams by 2026, with emphasis on AI capabilities, automation expertise, data analytics proficiency, and technology integration skills. For tax specialists and finance professionals alike, AI literacy is progressively viewed as a fundamental requirement rather than a nice-to-have skill. This raises a thought-provoking question: Will traditional finance professionals who don't upskill in technology find themselves obsolete?

So here's what I want to know: How are you preparing your teams for this seismic transformation sweeping through finance? Are you investing in AI and technology, or taking a more cautious approach? Email me to share your perspective and experiences.

SherylEstrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

Leadership Appointments

Anthony Coletta has been named CFO of Sprinklr (https://investors.sprinklr.com/news/press-releases/detail/238/sprinklr-announces-anthony-coletta-as-chief-financial) (NYSE: CXM), a platform specializing in customer experience management. Coletta brings over two decades of professional experience to the role. In his most recent position, he served as chief investor relations officer at SAP SE. Prior to that appointment, Coletta held the CFO position for SAP North America. His career at SAP also included numerous other senior leadership positions, such as CFO for SAP's Latin American and Caribbean operations, CFO of Market Units, and chief controlling officer overseeing Global Sales and Global Customer Operations. Before joining SAP, Coletta accumulated diverse experience in finance and strategy roles at both Siemens and ThyssenKrupp.

Gibb Witham has been appointed to the dual role of president and CFO at Hack The Box (HTB) (https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hackthebox.com%2F&esheet=54334853&newsitemid=20251007391548&lan=en-US&anchor=Hack+The+Box+%28HTB%29&index=1&md5=d6614695c2d017837de87e7e1a2c6fa5), a platform focused on cybersecurity training and professional development. Witham contributes twenty years of experience operating at the convergence of finance, strategic planning, and cybersecurity. He arrives at HTB from Paladin Capital Group, an investment firm specializing in cybersecurity that was also an early-stage investor in HTB. During his tenure at Paladin, Witham spearheaded investments in rapidly expanding cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and enterprise infrastructure software companies throughout the United States and Europe. In his new capacity, he will oversee HTB's worldwide financial operations and spearhead growth strategy initiatives.

Major Transaction Activity

Data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence through September 30 reveals that U.S. banking merger and acquisition activity climbed to a four-year peak in Q3 2025, with 52 transactions announced during the quarter. This represents the highest quarterly deal count since Q3 2021. The analysis indicates that total deal value for the quarter reached $16.63 billion, marking the largest quarterly figure since Q4 2021, when disclosed deals totaled $25.26 billion.

Three of 2025's twenty largest transactions were unveiled last month alone. PNC Financial's $4.04 billion acquisition of FirstBank represented 79% of September's $5.11 billion combined deal value. With a deal value-to-tangible common equity ratio of 234.2%, it stands as the most expensive U.S. bank M&A transaction since 2021, according to the report (https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/articles/2025/10/us-bank-m-a-activity-surges-to-4-year-high-in-q3-93446075). This aggressive pricing raises eyebrows: Are acquirers paying too much, or does this reflect genuine confidence in future value creation?

Deeper Dive

"How Nonlinear Pricing Flips the Script on Markups and Efficiency" is a newly published report in Wharton's business journal (https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-nonlinear-pricing-flips-the-script-on-markups-and-efficiency/) that clarifies how nonlinear pricing diverges from linear pricing models, where unit price remains constant regardless of purchase quantity. By contrast, nonlinear pricing—which is prevalent in real-world commerce—means the per-unit price fluctuates based on the volume you purchase. Think of bulk discounts or tiered pricing structures. Most macroeconomic models ignore this reality and operate under the assumption that firms establish a single, uniform price point. This concept receives thorough exploration in the recent academic paper "Nonlinear Pricing and Misallocation (https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fmvx5d9nit9o21yw8v1ir/NLPBornsteinPeter2025.pdf?rlkey=df6uv9n64yeap9gctdy8yo4br&e=2&st=kecqnf7r&dl=0)," authored by Wharton finance professor Gideon Bornstein and NYU economics professor Alessandra Peter. Bornstein and Peter demonstrate that when nonlinear pricing dynamics are properly incorporated into economic models, the resulting conclusions shift dramatically. For finance professionals, this has significant implications for pricing strategy and revenue optimization.

Notable Quote

"So why pursue a public listing? The explanation is that substantial advantages accompany being a publicly traded company operating in a deep, liquid global marketplace. While numerous capital-raising alternatives exist beyond going public, public markets facilitate companies' maturation and scaling."

—Sarah Keohane Williamson, CEO of FCLTGlobal, writes in a Fortune opinion piece (https://fortune.com/2025/10/07/public-company-why-so-few-ipos-startups-unicorns/), titled "The public company isn't dead, it's misunderstood." This perspective challenges the prevailing narrative that private markets have made IPOs obsolete. Do you agree that public markets still offer unique advantages, or are private funding sources now sufficient for most companies? I'd love to hear your take—drop your thoughts in the comments below.

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