As chief financial officers (CFOs) take on more responsibilities, they increasingly rely on artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies to uncover insights needed for critical decisions. However, Maria Montenegro, CEO of Wolters Kluwer's Corporate Performance and ESG division, notes that the biggest challenge financial executives face when deploying such tools is change management.

"Changing the way people work and getting them to adapt to new processes and new ways of working is not easy," Montenegro said. A recent Wolters Kluwer survey of global finance executives found that 53% of CFOs are leading digital transformation, while 27% of finance executives cited "resistance to change and cultural factors" as the biggest obstacles to transformation.

To ease this resistance, "transformation cannot be led by technology," Montenegro told CFO Dive. "It must be driven by business value, centered on processes, and bring people along."

Driving process-first transformation

Getting buy-in from teams on emerging technologies like AI is one reason digital transformation initiatives or rollouts can take longer.

"From an adoption standpoint, I think the technology is actually ahead," Montenegro said. "It's more... our ability as humans to change the way we operate and fully adopt the technology that is lagging."

Montenegro joined Wolters Kluwer in 2022 as chief strategy and innovation officer, and was appointed to her current CEO role in January, according to a company announcement at the time. Before joining Wolters Kluwer, she spent eight years at McKinsey & Company, holding various positions including associate partner, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Now, as the CFO role evolves into what Wolters Kluwer calls a "performance orchestrator," finance executives face a dual challenge in AI adoption, the company's 2026 Future-Ready CFO report found.

As CFOs take on more strategic responsibilities, they need to answer key questions such as "how aggressively to invest in AI when the return on investment (ROI) is uncertain; how to finance growth in volatile capital markets; and how to meet regulatory obligations while delivering on strategic priorities," the report stated.

At the same time, CFOs themselves expect AI to significantly reshape their roles and processes within the finance function, anticipating that AI and advanced analytics will drive "major changes" in core finance activities over the next three years.

For example, the report shows that 63% of CFOs expect AI to change financial modeling, 62% expect it to change capital allocation, and 60% expect it to change scenario planning.

However, CFOs preparing for transformation remain closely focused on costs. The report found that the top concern among finance executives (43%) is that AI implementation costs will exceed the return on investment.

Montenegro said driving effective change management is one way to improve ROI. Like most technology investments, "you put the money in upfront, and the benefits come later, as people start adopting the technology and redesigning or improving processes to make them more technology-enabled," she said.

"Companies that are more process-oriented rather than technology-led in their transformation tend to perform better in terms of ROI, because what you want to optimize is the process, and technology is just the enabler," she said.

Another way is to ensure these agentic AI tools are integrated and embedded within the company's core finance platforms, "rather than sitting off to the side," Montenegro said.

To gain "deep context" and data, agentic AI tools need to operate effectively, and they must connect to these systems, she said.

"To drive real ROI and effectiveness, you need that overlay, not fragmented solutions," she said.

Keeping pace with change

CFOs are addressing these critical AI questions while gradually adapting to their role as "performance orchestrators," driving key strategic decisions for the business.

Because CFOs often have a "bird's-eye view" of the business, they can "connect the dots faster and help think through: 'If there's a supply chain disruption in one part of the business, how will that impact other functions?'" Montenegro said.

Moreover, today's CFOs and finance teams are not only dealing with uncertainty, but also with "multiple forces hitting at the same time," Montenegro said. So-called "black swan" events are occurring faster or more frequently, and "the impact can be more immediate and more significant," she said.

The accelerating pace of change is forcing the CFO role and finance function to evolve from "a traditional focus on reporting and compliance" to broader value creation, she said. Finance leaders are also "working with the CEO to play a greater role in resource allocation, risk management, and driving more data-driven and connected decision-making across the organization," she said.