Survey: 86% of North American Finance Teams Still in Early Stages of AI Adoption

NEW YORK— Wolters Kluwer, a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services, recently released findings from a survey on the current state of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in North American corporate finance functions. The data was collected at the regionalNorth American CCH® Tagetik inTouch25conference and shows that despite growing industry interest in AI, most North American finance teams remain in the early stages of adoption.

The survey shows that86% of North American finance leaderssay their organizations are either beginning to explore AI use cases (53%) or piloting AI in specific areas (33%). Only 6% of respondents say AI is scaled or deeply embedded in their finance functions, highlighting the significant untapped opportunity for AI to drive digital transformation in finance.

Madhur Aggarwal, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Corporate Performance Management at Wolters Kluwer, said:

"Finance leaders clearly recognize AI's potential, but the path from exploration to scaled deployment is complex. At Wolters Kluwer, we are helping organizations bridge this gap through customer-driven innovation, industry-leading technology, and expert support. Our award-winning CCH Tagetik intelligent platform and Ask AI feature are designed for this moment. By embedding AI into familiar workflows, we empower finance teams to accelerate AI exploration and adoption, digitally enhancing the efficiency, accuracy, and strategic capabilities of the CFO office."

Other survey findings collected at the CCH Tagetik North America inTouch 25 conference include:

Top AI use case for saving finance time: Variance Analysis and Insights

• When asked which AI use case is most helpful for freeing up finance team time for more strategic work,31%of respondents rankedVariance Analysis and Insightsas their top choice.
• Automating routine reportingandautomating predictive forecastingeach received25%of the votes. Notably,51%of respondents also said that having access toproven AI use cases and success storieswould increase their confidence in deploying agentic AI more broadly.
• These findings not only highlight the value of targeted AI applications in freeing up finance team time to focus on strategic initiatives, but also reveal the urgent need for organizations to develop and share finance-specific AI use cases to accelerate adoption and expand impact.

Approaches to Measuring AI ROI in Finance Vary Significantly

• North American finance leaders use a variety of methods to evaluate the ROI of AI within their finance functions:25%measure ROI throughcost savings,23%focus ontime saved on manual processes。
• However,22%admit theycurrently do not measure AI ROI, and another15%are unsurehow their finance organization measures AI ROI.
• Notably, 37% of respondents say the top barrier to scaling AI in their finance function isunclear ROI or business case, highlighting the need for standardized models to assess AI's impact.

Finance Leaders' Comfort with AI Investment Levels Varies

• Respondents expressed varying levels of comfort with their organization's current level of financial investment in deploying AI to digitally transform finance.
• While14%say they arevery satisfied with their organization's AI investment level, a larger proportion (38%) say they aresomewhat satisfied。
• Notably,17%believe the investment istoo low, while28%say they areare unsure, highlighting the need for more clarity around AI budget decisions.

Leadership Alignment on AI Strategy Still Needs Work

• Only24%of respondents say their finance leadership isfully alignedon AI's strategic role. A larger proportion (43%) reportpartial alignmentwith varying levels of engagement among leaders.
• Meanwhile,9%say leadership isdivided，8%andreport, and another16%are unsureno consensus at all. This highlights the need forfinance leadersto develop and clearly communicate a unified vision for how AI will shape their finance operations.

Jennifer Buchanan, Partner at CFO Solutions, said:

"The range of AI use cases showcased at the CCH Tagetik North America InTouch conference was impressive. It's exciting to see finance teams not only exploring AI but already beginning to use it to accelerate insights and enhance decision-making. The event highlighted a key shift: AI is no longer theoretical; it is being actively implemented and generating measurable impact."

The survey, which included 79 finance leaders, was completed during the North American CCH Tagetik inTouch25 conference held on September 17, 2025, in Houston, Texas. At theregional CCH Tagetik inTouch25 eventsheld in more than ten locations globally this fall, finance professionals gathered to discuss, share, and learn how Wolters Kluwer'saward-winningAI-drivenCCH® Tagetik intelligent platformcan digitally enhance the efficiency, accuracy, and strategic capabilities of the CFO office.

About Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer (EURONEXT: WKL) is a global leader in information, software solutions, and services for professionals in healthcare; tax and accounting; financial and corporate compliance; legal and regulatory; and corporate performance and ESG. We help customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2024 annual revenues of €5.9 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in more than 40 countries, and employs approximately 21,600 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.

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