For financial executives, balancing growth and risk is not a new topic. However, in the current context where sustained economic uncertainty intertwines with regulatory changes, the cost and complexity of this challenge have significantly increased. According to an article published by Securify in April this year, to hedge against risks brought by regulation, economic fluctuations, and technological changes, the market size of governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) solutions has exceeded $51.5 billion by early 2025, with a growth rate of over 14%.

In this context, many financial executives face dual pressures: on one hand, they need to cut costs under sustained price pressure, and on the other hand, they need to make room and resources for the integration of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Raul Villar Jr., CEO of audit and compliance platform AuditBoard, told CFO Dive that this puts many CFOs in a dilemma: although "every CFO wants to leverage AI to improve productivity and achieve cost savings," they must also confront the "enormous" risks that come with the technology.

These risks include false results or "hallucinations" generated by AI tools, fraud and cyberattacks exploiting the technology, and unsafe behaviors caused by improper employee use of the technology. Villar Jr. noted in the interview that the primary risk factor CFOs are currently focusing on is the positioning and application of AI within their organizations.

Unraveling the AI risk puzzle

Business and technology leaders continue to focus on the potential of AI, hoping to use the technology to address challenges brought by economic headwinds. According to previous reports by CFO Dive, recent AI spending has continued to rise, especially on solutions such as "agentic AI" that can perform tasks with minimal human oversight, with more companies investing over $10 million.

Given so much attention, Villar Jr. said, "every CFO is under enormous pressure to leverage AI." For CFOs of public companies, "it comes up in every public earnings call"; for private companies, "the board will definitely ask about it; it's the top topic."

According to his LinkedIn profile, Villar Jr. has served as CEO of AuditBoard (which provides audit and compliance software), headquartered in Los Angeles, California, since July this year. Previously, he was CEO of Paycor and served as executive chairman of business management software provider Simpro. His past experience also includes 21 years at HR software company ADP, where he held positions such as senior vice president and large account service sales.

As CFOs weigh the return on AI investments, AI-related risks and potential costs are increasingly prominent, especially in the process of addressing economic and regulatory challenges, including possible changes in AI regulatory policies.

Villar Jr. pointed out that this means CFOs must strategically "choose the timing" when investing in and integrating AI tools. To do this, they need not only to understand AI capabilities and their associated risks, but also to understand the risks of the data fed into the technology and its sources.

Focusing on data

As AI becomes more prevalent in enterprises, CFOs will face a dual challenge: ensuring the security of data fed into emerging AI tools while being able to quickly extract the insights they need from the data. Villar Jr. said: "Protecting data is crucial, but turning data into insights may be the most important skill CFOs must learn, because we have all become accustomed to relying on the data layer that supports certain reports."

As the technology matures, CFOs should treat AI investment decisions like staffing decisions: "From a productivity standpoint, it's just another lever to pull, but each functional area is different, and you have to pick winners within the company and test and manage them quickly," Villar Jr. added.