Mark Khavkin is the Chief Financial Officer of MinIO, a cloud storage company based in Redwood City, California. This article reflects the author's personal views only.

When it comes to spending on AI software, companies are under increasing pressure to demonstrate return on investment. According to Gartner's forecast, AI software spending will surge from $124 billion in 2022 to $297.9 billion in 2027.

This challenge makes the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) and the CRO (Chief Revenue Officer) key partners, as organizations seek to launch AI-enabled products that create value for customers and, ultimately, for shareholders.

To truly make a significant impact, products need to solve existing problems more efficiently; ideally, they should address higher-level customer problems that customers need help solving. This can lead to entirely new revenue streams, which in turn raises a new set of considerations around pricing, packaging, and competition—areas where the CFO can contribute a unique and valuable cross-functional perspective.

Given that cost and ROI have proven to be among the biggest obstacles to building a successful AI strategy, if there is a lack of alignment between the CFO and the CRO, companies will continue to struggle to achieve their AI investment goals. After all, adapting to a platform shift is a team effort, not a solo endeavor.

Here are three ways CFOs can strengthen their relationship with the CRO to ensure AI investments generate revenue for the company:

  • Above all, build and maintain trust:If the CFO and CRO do not trust each other, the CRO will be unable to develop an effective go-to-market strategy. Trust issues often stem from the CFO not transparently communicating company goals, or the CRO being unable or unwilling to tell the story from their own perspective. Trust issues often start at the top, so they should be nipped in the bud early. As a CFO, you can attend team monthly calls as an observer—this shows interest and a willingness to learn how the other side operates.
  • Treat the CRO as your "eyes and ears":Without the CRO, the CFO loses the voice of the customer, anecdotes, assumptions, and frontline exposure—leaving only data. While data can refute assumptions, there is always a need for an emotional, customer-centric perspective that makes the impact tangible for all decision-makers within the organization.
  • Embrace shared goals:Despite their different roles, there is overlap in the responsibilities and domains of the CFO and CRO when it comes to understanding the ideal customer profile, segmenting customer groups, and carefully deploying go-to-market resources. The customer journey in each segment then determines how teams are organized and most other decisions across company functions.

As CFOs stand at the forefront of this technological revolution, they must ensure that the costs of AI tools (including workflows and data storage) remain manageable and that internal data privacy policies are adhered to.

When investing in internal AI capabilities, CFOs must consider potential strategic and tactical benefits. Strategic benefits include understanding the impact of internal workflows on the customer lifecycle through sentiment analysis. Tactical benefits include optimizing customer support costs, customizing customer outreach content, streamlining legal procurement processes, and analyzing compliance workflows.

Internally, competitive advantage will come from leveraging internal data for analysis and insights, and most importantly, ensuring that the executive team—especially the CFO and CRO—is aligned on the challenges and opportunities presented by this generational platform shift.