Finance organizations aren't struggling to find AI opportunities.
They're struggling to scale them.
Over the past two years, artificial intelligence (AI) has moved from experimentation to implementation across the Office of Finance. Organizations are investing in forecasting automation, reporting, scenario modeling, reconciliation, data quality and a growing range of new AI capabilities.
Yet despite this momentum, many Finance leaders continue to ask the same question: Why are so few organizations ready to scale AI? And why aren’t we seeing more impact from AI investment?
The answer isn’t the right AI model, it’s about execution.
Earlier this year, OneStream introduced Forward Finance, an AI operating model for modern Finance built around five critical dimensions: Data Steward, AI Strategist, Chief Operator, IT Collaborator and Workforce Architect.
The premise is simple: Organizations that want to create lasting value from AI must do more than deploy new tools. They must build the data foundations, operating practices, cross-functional partnerships and workforce capabilities required to support AI at scale.
But defining the model was only the first step.
To better understand how organizations are progressing, OneStream launched the Forward Finance Index, a global study of 1,300 chief financial officers (CFOs) and Finance leaders across those five dimensions.
The findings reveal a significant gap between AI ambition and AI execution: only 6% of organizations are ready to scale AI, qualifying as a Forward Finance Leader.
The biggest barriers to scaling AI in Finance aren't necessarily the AI models themselves. They're the underlying data, governance, operating processes, cross-functional alignment and workforce capabilities required to turn AI into trusted business outcomes.
AI adoption is growing. Value is harder to scale.
The research suggests that Finance organizations have largely moved beyond the question of whether AI belongs in Finance.
The data found that 74% of Finance leaders report that AI is reducing manual intervention in financial processes. Forecasting, planning, reporting and analysis have become active areas of investment. Teams are increasingly embedding AI into day-to-day activities and identifying new opportunities for automation and insight.
Yet many organizations continue to struggle to translate AI activity into enterprise-wide business value. Only 14% of those surveyed say AI has delivered enterprise-wide value and decision impact.
Why this matters:
The survey suggests that the future winners of the AI race won't be the organizations running the largest number of pilots. They'll be the organizations that consistently turn AI investments into measurable outcomes.
Five friction points continue to slow progress
The Forward Finance Index identified five common barriers separating leaders from followers.
1. Confidence without clarity
If CFOs are confident in their data, why are the struggling to scale AI?
Organizations are increasingly confident in their data, but confidence often outpaces transparency. In fact, 71% of Finance leaders are confident in their organization's ability to provide trusted data and insight for decision-making, yet only 40% report full transparency in financial reporting data.
As AI becomes more embedded in decision-making, that gap becomes increasingly difficult to ignore.
2. Adoption without measurable impact
If AI adoption is high, why are so few organizations seeing enterprise value?
AI activity is growing rapidly across Finance: 74% report AI is reducing manual intervention in close, reporting, or reconciliation processes. Yet only 14% say AI has achieved enterprise-wide value and decision impact.
The challenge is no longer adoption. It's scaling measurable outcomes.
3. Influence without operational visibility
What is standing in the way of CFOs having more visibility?
Finance is being asked to contribute more strategically across the business: 73% of Finance teams proactively recommend operational improvements and identify efficiencies. Yet Finance is fully embedded as a strategic partner in operational decision-making forums only 29% of the time.
Influence is growing, but operational visibility still lags.
4. Partnership without integration
Why is Finance-IT Partnership to critical to AI success?
Most organizations recognize that Finance and information technology (IT) must work together: 71% say Finance and IT operate as strategic partners. Yet only 15% report having a fully integrated roadmap with shared goals, metrics and accountability.
Alignment exists. Integrated execution is still rare.
5. AI ambition without workforce readiness
Organizations are investing heavily in AI, but workforce development hasn't kept pace: 66% believe that failing to prepare their workforce will make their organization irrelevant within 5 years. At the same time, only 15% have fully embedded AI skills-development programs.
The future of Finance will require more than new technology. It demands new skills, new roles and new ways of working.
How finance leaders are successfully scaling AI
What separates the 6% of Forward Finance leaders from everyone else?
According to the study, Forward Finance Leaders don't treat AI as a standalone initiative. They build trusted and transparent data foundations and they define success in terms of business outcomes rather than AI activity. Finance gets embedded more deeply into operational decision-making, IT and Finance align around shared priorities and workforce readiness becomes a standing investment rather than an afterthought.
Most importantly, these leaders recognize that AI success depends on how well people, processes, data and technology work together.
AI may be the catalyst, but it’s the operating model that ultimately determines the outcome.
Early days
One of the most encouraging findings from the research is that we're still in the early stages of this transition. Only 6% of organizations qualify as Forward Finance Leaders, the index reveals. But that number is unlikely to remain static for long.
Across every dimension, Finance leaders are investing in the capabilities required to operate successfully in the AI era. They're modernizing data foundations, embedding AI into critical workflows, strengthening collaboration across the business and preparing their teams for new ways of working.
- 86% of the Forward Finance Leaders maintain end-to-end visibility into data lineage, establishing the trusted foundation AI requires.
- And 68% report measurable improvements in operational performance insights, compared to just 39% of Forward Finance Followers, in the Index.
The difference isn't smarter AI models or more pilots. It's the trusted data, governance and operating capabilities that turn AI adoption into measurable business value.
The future of Finance won't be defined by who adopts AI first. It will be defined by who learns to operationalize it most effectively. And the critical question to continue to ask is which organizations will make the greatest progress?
