Chief financial officers are projecting higher budget for artificial intelligence in 2024, forcing conversations on AI ambition and policies, according to a survey by Gartner.
The 2024 Budget Priorities for CFOs report revealed that technology is the top of the list for increased budgets in 2024, with 82% of CFOs planning to spend more than they did in 2023.
Ninety percent of CFOs are projecting higher AI budgets for the new year, and none are planning a reduction, according to the survey that asked 302 CFOs and senior finance leaders.
Additonally, 71% of CFOs surveyed plan to boost spending on AI by 10% or more compared to last year, with generative AI playing a big role in this increase with 81% of CFOs projecting to spend more in this area.
“As organisations venture further down the AI path, executives must agree on their ultimate goals for use of this technology,” says Alexander Bant, chief of research in the Gartner Finance practice. “CFOs should complement increased spending on AI with critical C-suite discussions about the organisation’s AI ambition.”
Bant points out that As AI spending increases, CFOs have a unique role to play both in determining how it will impact finance department structure.
To ensure AI funds are spent wisely, CFOs should work with the C-suite to establish an organisation’s vision for the technology, according to Gartner.
“Establishing an AI vision means working out whether the organisation will use AI to improve existing business or operating models, or to go further and create fundamentally new ones,” says Bant, meaning that this is about deciding whether AI will be an internal operations tool or a something facing external customers.
Source: Gartner (February 2024)
