Deltek's 7th Annual Clarity Study found that 91% of project-based firms in the UK, Germany, and Australia view AI as critical to their future success, yet more than half have not seen meaningful productivity gains or cost savings from their AI investments. The research, drawn from 375 senior strategic decision-makers, points to a widening gap between AI ambition and measurable financial returns.
The study, titled "The CFO's Agenda," also found that 78% of project-based businesses expect profits to increase in 2026, with more than one in five forecasting growth of 10% or more. That optimism sits alongside a sharp rise in cost control as a strategic priority, climbing from 26% of firms in 2024 to 34% today.
The execution gap in AI adoption
AI has shifted from experimentation to operational mandate. But over half of surveyed organisations are still not seeing moderate productivity or cost savings from their deployments. Finance leaders are increasingly tasked with integrating AI into finance workflows to secure measurable returns.
The strongest near-term opportunities lie in project planning, resourcing, and performance reporting. Firms are also finding value by applying AI tools to billing and back-office finance operations. These use cases improve visibility, reduce manual work, and protect margins.
"The role of the CFO has fundamentally changed. Today's finance leaders aren't simply reporting on performance, they're shaping it," said Heather Larkin, Chief Financial Officer at Deltek.
For finance professionals looking to build practical AI skills in these areas, AI Learning Path for CFOs covers how finance leaders can apply AI to planning, reporting, and cost management. The research also points to agentic AI as the next major shift, with firms that invest now in integrated data and governance best placed to capture the benefits.
Why real-time financial decisions stall
While 86% of businesses say they track operating profit adequately or very well, up from 75% in 2024, just 22% operate with a fully integrated, end-to-end project management system. That structural gap means many finance leaders make commercial decisions using KPI data that is manually compiled or incomplete.
Firms reporting higher profit growth in 2025 were more effective at tracking specific metrics such as project profitability and revenue factor. They also maintained consistent oversight of net labour margin, backlog, and overhead rate. Without end-to-end integration, organisations miss early performance signals and can only act after profits are already lost.
Larkin said the highest-performing firms share common traits: "They're all connecting financial data to project data, embedding AI to deliver measurable returns, treating cyber risk as a financial exposure and building KPI discipline that enables early intervention rather than late reporting."
Why this matters for finance professionals
The CFO's remit now extends beyond reporting into technology governance, cost control, and data integration. For finance leaders, the ability to connect project data with financial data is the clearest differentiator between forecasting profit and actually realising it. Building competency in AI for Finance - particularly in planning, resourcing, and performance reporting workflows - addresses the exact execution gap this research identifies. Firms that treat AI as a financial discipline rather than a technology experiment are the ones positioned to convert AI investment into margin protection in 2026.
Your membership also unlocks:
