From Blueprint to Benchmark: What the Forward Finance Index Reveals About AI Readiness in Finance

Finance leaders are bullish on artificial intelligence (AI). But are Finance organizations actually ready for it?

Today, there’s little debate anymore about AI’s potential for Finance. AI can dramatically improve productivity, accelerate analysis, sharpen forecasts, and help Finance teams make better decisions faster.

There’s a catch, however.

Finance can’t operate on “probably right.”

The same function responsible for corporate reporting, planning, investment decisions, risk management, and financial controls needs AI to deliver more: precision, transparency, governance, and auditability.

That raises a much more interesting question than whether Finance is adopting AI:

With the new Forward Finance Index, we set out to answer that question.

In May, we introduced Forward Finance, an operating model designed to help Finance leaders navigate the shift to an increasingly AI-enabled enterprise.

Our Finance 2035 research and conversations with thousands of chief financial officers (CFOs), Finance leaders, and senior business executives revealed five dimensions critical to success:

• Data Steward: Building a trusted, transparent data foundation
• AI Strategist: Applying AI to deliver measurable business value
• Chief Operator: Extending Finance’s influence into operational decision-making
• IT Collaborator: Building a deeper, more integrated partnership between Finance and IT
• Workforce Architect: Preparing Finance talent to thrive alongside AI

Together, these dimensions form the Forward Finance Blueprint.

While the Blueprint helped define where Finance needs to go, an obvious question remained unanswered: Where does Finance actually stand today?

So, we decided to measure it with the Forward Finance Index.

The index benchmarks 1,300 CFOs and Finance leaders to assess how organizations are progressing across each of the five dimensions of AI readiness and competence.

We weren’t simply interested in who’s experimenting with AI or deploying the latest tools. Ultimately, we also wanted to understand something more fundamental: Which Finance organizations are actually building the capabilities needed to create value from AI at scale?

The results suggest we have some work to do as a function.

That means only a handful of Finance teams demonstrate strength across all five dimensions, qualifying as Forward Finance Leaders. More than half remain Forward Finance Followers.

What struck me most about the findings wasn’t a lack of ambition, but the gap between ambition and readiness.

Based on the data, Finance leaders know where they need to go. They recognize the importance of trusted data. They’re investing in AI. They want a greater role in operational decision-making. They’re strengthening their partnerships with IT. They also understand that their people will need new skills to succeed in an AI-enabled world.

However, knowing where you need to go and being equipped to get there are two very different things.

Across the research, that gap consistently showed up in five places.

1. Confidence without clarity

Finance organizations are confident in their ability to provide trusted data for decision-making. Conversely, far fewer describe that data as fully transparent, contextualized, and decision-ready.

That distinction matters. AI is only as useful as the underlying data and business context. For Finance, getting the answer quickly isn’t enough. You also need to know where data originated, what assumptions went into it, and whether you can trust it.

2. Adoption without measurable impact

AI adoption is accelerating. Measurable business impact isn’t keeping pace.

Relatively few organizations report generating enterprise-wide value from their AI investments. While experimentation is important, eventually the experiments need to pay off through better decisions, greater productivity, faster processes, or improved business outcomes.

3. Influence without operational visibility

The role of Finance is changing. Increasingly, CFOs and their teams are being asked not simply to report what happened, but to help guide what happens next.

Yet many Finance organizations still struggle to connect operational signals with financial outcomes quickly enough to influence decisions in real time. Guiding the business forward is difficult when you’re looking through the rearview mirror.

4. Partnership without integration

Most organizations say Finance and IT are aligned. That’s good.

But alignment and integration aren’t the same thing.

To scale AI effectively, Finance and IT must share more than good intentions. The two functions need common data strategies, shared roadmaps, coordinated governance, and joint accountability for the AI capabilities the business increasingly depends on.

5. AI ambition without workforce readiness

Finance leaders understand that AI will change how their teams do the work. However, relatively few organizations have embedded the training, skills development, new roles, and ways of working needed to prepare people for that change.

Buying AI is relatively easy. Changing how an organization works is harder.

Taken together, these challenges aren’t simply about technology. They’re operating model challenges.

There’s another way to look at the 6% finding.

We’re still early.

AI is advancing quickly, and Finance leaders everywhere are investing in the data, processes, partnerships, and skills needed to take advantage of it. When we benchmark the market again in 2027, I expect the landscape to look very different.

The organizations pulling ahead won’t necessarily be those spending the most on AI or deploying the most tools.

Rather, the most successful organizations will be the ones making deliberate progress across all five dimensions.

Those organizations will build trusted, transparent data foundations. They’ll hold AI investments accountable for measurable outcomes. They’ll connect Finance more deeply to operational decision-making. They’ll integrate Finance and IT around shared priorities. They’ll prepare their people to work differently alongside AI.

In short, those organizations won’t just adopt AI. They’ll change how Finance operates.

And that’s ultimately the idea behind Forward Finance.

The purpose of the Forward Finance Index isn’t simply to benchmark the market. The index will also help Finance leaders benchmark themselves.

That’s why, alongside the Index, we’re launching the Forward Finance Readiness Assessment.

The assessment is designed to help you do the following:

• Evaluate your organization across the five dimensions
• Identify the gaps that may be holding you back
• Prioritize the capabilities and investments that can have the greatest impact

The question is no longer where Finance is going.

Instead, the question is whether Finance can transform fast enough to harness AI’s potential while delivering the trust, precision, and accountability the business depends on.

The Forward Finance Index provides a practical way to measure where your organization is today and map where to go next.

Explore the Forward Finance Index and take the Forward Finance Readiness Assessment to see where you stand.