The State of AI and FP&A

Overview

The AI Landscape for FP&A

When integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into the workflow, every financial planning and analysis (FP&A) team experiences a unique journey. Some companies have embraced the leading edge of AI adoption, while others are just getting up to speed — and most fall somewhere in between. Wherever your organization lands, a clear sense of the current state of AI and FP&A offers context, perspective, and guidance as you chart the course forward.

One word captures the essence of where AI currently stands in relation to FP&A:

optimization.

The overarching trend is steady progress in developing new tools and techniques that continually enhance the ease, effectiveness, and practical applications of AI — positioning FP&A as a strategic partner rather than stereotypical number crunchers. Understanding current trends helps you:

• Define goals more clearly
• Set aspirational milestones
• Offer data-backed examples for further investment and adoption

Incorporating AI into FP&A work is fast becoming standard operating procedure. That momentum was captured in OneStream’s Finance 2035: Return to Investment survey:

A Burning Platform

Leaders agree the clock is ticking. Per the survey, the majority believe organizations that don’t invest now in technology, infrastructure, and skills won’t survive the next five years:

AI is clearly here to stay. Understanding the current environment and emerging trends is essential to charting your AI roadmap — so here’s a closer look at the top six trends shaping the AI landscape for FP&A.

Trend 1

Optimizing AI

Finding ways to optimize AI to deliver greater efficiencies, clearer insights, and better forecasting and scenario planning is vital. These optimizations are key to generating strong organization-wide buy-in and creating a competitive edge in the market.

Finance-focused software companies are fueling that trend by delivering easier-to-use tools with more robust capabilities. A prime example is OneStream’s SensibleAI™ Forecast (formerly Sensible ML) — a no-code solution that lets businesses use machine learning to create highly accurate forecasts in a fraction of the time of traditional processes.

SensibleAI Forecast also allows financial and operational teams to incorporate external data sets alongside proprietary enterprise data — building in options such as macro data or weather events. Looking at past patterns, it can quantify the impact of company-specific or external events, such as how holidays, promotions, price adjustments, and supply chain disruptions affect predictions.

Trend 2

Redefining the CFO’s Role

The traditional role of a CFO serving as a reactive decision-maker is rapidly shifting to one of a forward-looking strategist — thanks to AI’s capabilities, particularly in dynamic forecasting and scenario planning.

AI’s advanced analytics and predictive modeling allow CFOs to simulate scenarios, anticipate disruptions, and identify opportunities before they materialize. Those insights can then optimize key aspects of the business — supply chains, pricing models, and resource allocation — while factoring in potential risks. Organizations that quickly adapt and course-correct in today’s volatile economic environment can stay ahead of the competition and forge alternative paths to hitting strategic goals.

Trend 3

Keeping Pace with Regulatory Changes

The 2024 election brought a new presidential administration and, with it, shifts in regulatory priorities. While significant changes to IPO regulations aren’t expected, transparency and corporate governance are anticipated to take center stage. AI-powered tools can help organizations navigate this evolving landscape by streamlining compliance processes and ensuring operational maturity.

AI will play an increasing role in enhancing financial reporting and auditing capabilities, allowing organizations to align with new regulations while maintaining investor trust. By investing in these advanced technologies, businesses can stay ahead of compliance requirements and build a strong foundation for future growth.

Trend 4

Employing Speed-Fueled Scenario Planning

“What if?” is a phrase that starts a lot of sentences by business leaders these days. The pace of change, persistent uncertainty, ongoing economic volatility — even extreme weather — leads to a wide range of scenarios that could impact everything from supply chains and inventory to sales and buyer sentiment.

Historically, playing out those scenarios has been labor-intensive, requiring considerable manual intervention to wrangle and analyze data — often leaving little time to draw meaningful insights. Now, AI has brought revolutionary change by automating and streamlining the process and generating scenarios that can be readily adjusted as conditions change in real time. The speed at which these scenario-based insights can be generated allows FP&A to confidently lead their organizations through uncertainty — mitigating risks while seizing emerging opportunities.

Trend 5

Using Predictive Modeling

AI can deliver plenty of insights and help answer pressing questions. Yet how those insights are surfaced is essential to avoid the potential “black box” of AI models — models that lack explainable decision-making processes and could introduce compliance issues, security risks, or unintended biases.

With inflationary economic pressures expected for the foreseeable future, AI’s predictive modeling capabilities can deliver insights that build resilience and inform better decision-making — particularly valuable for managing costs and maintaining efficiency during periods of volatility. By accelerating re-forecasting cycles, finance teams can quickly adjust to disruptions such as inflation, supply chain bottlenecks, or shifts in demand. This not only enhances operational efficiency but positions organizations to maintain profitability and thrive in challenging environments.

Trend 6

Gaining Increased Transparency

A lack of transparency — or the inability to explain how insights were generated or data produced — can create skeptics among internal partners. That skepticism can sidetrack robust AI adoption or, worse, result in no adoption and a failed AI investment. When adopting AI, savvy organizations invest in AI ethics frameworks to ensure alignment between FP&A AI systems and corporate values, legal requirements, and stakeholder expectations.

Conclusion

The Path Ahead for FP&A

Your organization may be at the beginning of its AI journey or somewhere in the middle. In either case, gaining expertise and sharp insights into AI’s potential will help build confidence and buy-in among leadership and key business partners.

Ultimately, that process will empower you to further position FP&A as strategic leaders — guiding decision-making in ways that create the best opportunities for growth, profitability, and sustained success.