Finance leaders are well on their way to shifting their view of agentic AI and automation from a tactical efficiency initiative to a strategic transformation engine.
This is the findings of a study by Savant Labs, revealing that while process improvement remains critical, the rising emphasis on autonomous agents signals a deeper evolution in how value is created across finance organisations.
The report, which dives deep on how enterprise finance leaders are deploying AI automation and agentic workflows to increase speed, strengthen governance, and unlock strategic capacity across the enterprise, showed that 34% of respondents identify ‘strategic shift and value-add’ as the primary opportunity for the use of AI and automation, outpacing traditional drivers like ‘efficiency and process improvement’ and ‘cost and scaling’.
Savant says this marks a pivotal inflection point wherein organisations move beyond basic automation towards AI agents that reshape decision making, operating models, and competitive advantage
The report also found that ‘Generative AI/AI co-pilots’ (including LLMs) and ‘agentic AI’ together account for 76% of all leadership responses, which shows that advanced AI is viewed as the primary target for investment, disruption, and value in 2026.
Meanwhile, Savant says the workforce story for the year is not ‘AI replaces people’, but ‘AI raises expectations.’ The report found that 82% of leaders expect no net change in headcount driven by AI in 2026, as AI is viewed primarily as a productivity multiplier rather than a downsizing mechanism.
Savant recommends that strategy must align with ambition and executives must accelerate deployment beyond cautious pilots to avoid a structural business disadvantage.
To drive this transformation, the report provides five immediate recommendations for 2026:
- Align the departments around a single enterprise AI roadmap.
- A Shift from pilot validation to enterprise-scale deployment.
- Close governance and ERP integration gaps through vetted connectivity.
- Invest in upskilling existing teams and recruiting AI-native talent.
- Prioritise FinOps as the fastest path to measurable impact
