Core Summary

  • Modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms are increasingly integrating advanced features such as artificial intelligence, promising substantial results for CFOs willing to cut through vendor hype, according to a report released by Gartner on Tuesday.
  • Gartner predicts that by 2028, finance teams using cloud ERP applications with embedded AI assistants could accelerate their financial close speed by30%。
  • "Cloud ERP finance applications will provide additional automation, insights, and efficiency to the finance function in the near future through integrated machine learning, generative AI, and AI agents," said Mike Helsel, Senior Director of Research in the Gartner Finance practice, in a press release on Tuesday. "However, realizing these benefits requires CFOs to navigate vendor hype, organizational change, and the evolving economics of AI in the enterprise."

Deeper Insights

Gartner predicts that by 2027, AI-driven tools will account for 62% of cloud ERP spending, up from just 14% in 2024.Gartner says most CFOs are still in the early stages of adoption, constrained by challenges such as poor data quality, integration complexity, and skills gaps.

Emerging adaptive analytics capabilities in cloud ERP platforms will provide finance professionals with conversational natural language interfaces and "context-sensitive dashboards that can quickly turn large volumes of data into clear, actionable insights," according to Gartner's press release.

Other frontier capabilities include AI-driven planning and forecasting features that enable organizations to respond more quickly to market changes.

"CFOs should insist on industry-specific functionality, transparent pricing, and referenceable customer adoption cases, while investing in data governance and upskilling finance teams to maximize ROI and reduce adoption risk," Helsel said in the press release.

Finance leaders should resist pressure to rush into quick fixes for ERP needs, said Marcus Harris, a partner at law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister, who specializes in drafting and negotiating licenses and agreements for enterprise software.

Companies selling systems may try to inject"false urgency"into the process, Harris said during a virtual event hosted earlier this month by the editorial teams of CFO Dive and its sister publication CFO.com.

"You have to be smart about it," he said.