AI 'empowers' CFOs

Nearly double the number of UK finance leaders using AI extensively feel empowered to make a transformative business impact (89%), versus those who don’t use AI at all (47%). This is according to research from Pleo, featured in The CFO’s Playbook for 2025 – which surveyed over 3,000 European (500 in the UK) financial decision-makers and explores the value of financial change-makers for businesses.

This empowerment comes from the ability of AI to relieve financial decision-makers from being pulled in multiple directions. For instance, nearly half (48%) of UK CFOs are taking on additional responsibilities beyond their remit, with only 2-in-5 (39%) not. The new business areas CFOs are being asked to focus on include sustainability (44%), cybersecurity (41%) and HR (41%), leaving them with multiple plates to spin at a time of challenging macroeconomic conditions and uncertainties. Contributing to this is the fact that, from an overarching business standpoint, 42% of CFOs are being asked to do more high-level business strategy than they were five years ago.

These results demonstrate how integral the CFO role and the finance function has become to UK businesses. However, it is important to acknowledge the extensive workload finance leaders are now facing, with 76% of CFOs experiencing unprecedented levels of pressure.

Pressure is pushing CFOs to the brink

Finance leaders are bringing their business acumen and strategic financial insights to every department, proving value and allowing each team to grow, but that does not mean businesses are set up to make the most of their time. Almost a third (28%) of respondents say their CFOs do more admin now than they did five years ago. This level of busywork is taking up limited time and attention – with the majority of finance leaders saying they are unable to focus on mission-critical work, resulting in over half (53%) of CFOs saying they experience ‘decision freeze’.

The fact that CFOs spend so much time stuck in the weeds is hindering their (and their businesses’) potential. CFOs have the potential to become the change-makers of their organisations – individuals who are critical to business growth, make the difference between surviving and thriving and can pioneer a new era of financial stability in the face of economic uncertainties. But, crucially, they need to be given the space to do that.

However, there is currently a large gap between the potential of CFOs to become change-makers and the reality. Finance decision-makers say the biggest challenge to this is too much manual work, leaving CFOs with too little time for strategic thinking. If businesses are to unlock their potential when it’s most needed, something has to change.

Bringing agility to financial decision-making

AI is a serious opportunity to unleash the potential of financial change-makers and enable more strategic thinking. 71% of respondents agree, saying the technology could play a role in taking the CFO and finance team’s time off admin jobs and returning it to more high-level and strategic tasks.

While those getting hands-on with AI see its value more clearly, its adoption in finance needs to be balanced to truly unleash the function’s potential and enable their finance minds to flourish. At a time when CFOs and financial skill sets are being deployed in most areas of modern businesses, leaders must position AI to soak up the burden of admin tasks and provide invaluable spending insights, so that CFOs have everything they need – including the time – to become the change-makers and business accelerators their businesses need them to be.

Pleo CFO, Søren Westh-Lonning comments: “Finance leaders have never been busier, dealing with a broader scope of responsibilities, and are accountable for driving value in every department. Some CFOs are thriving, and showcasing their ability to be change-makers for their business. However, for many, that potential is far from reality, with leaders facing a heavier admin burden and technology overwhelm causing sluggish decision-making.

Our findings around how the use of AI is empowering CFOs to become change-makers are illuminating, and point to the great potential for AI to support finance leaders to add value across departments, whether that be through freeing up time for strategic tasks, or providing insights to create agility and dynamism through their businesses. The outlook for 2025 can be a positive one for many businesses, with AI and finance working together to accelerate decisions and drive change.”