How Finance Teams Can Succeed with AI

Researchers at Vlerick Business School’s Centre for Financial Leadership and Digital Transformation have worked with CFOs and finance leaders to understand how finance can lead in the AI era. Their latest study, building on a 2023 digital-maturity diagnostic published in MIT Sloan Management Review, combines survey responses from over 100 senior finance executives with company-level data to explore what enables finance teams to become strategic business partners in an AI-driven world. The findings reveal that although AI adoption is widespread, its impact is often limited by organizational misalignment, digital overload, and the challenge of integrating new technologies without overwhelming human decision-making. The real obstacle turns out to be not the technology itself but whether finance teams are structured to absorb and apply it effectively.