CFOs Require A Tech Partner, Not Just A Tech Stack

Forbes

2 days ago

Sumit Johar is the Chief Information Officer at BlackLine.
Artificial intelligence is redefining how finance teams operate, unlocking unprecedented capabilities across the Office of the CFO. From identifying anomalies in journal entries to generating variance commentary and forecasting payment risk, AI is accelerating finance transformation with speed and scale. Recent market surveys illustrate this trend—a Gartner survey found that 77% of finance leaders plan to boost spending in tech, with almost half (47%) of CFOs 'intending to increase spending by 10% or more in 2025 compared to last year.'
However, as AI adoption accelerates, many organizations are experiencing a growing problem: AI sprawl. Business units independently purchase AI-enabled tools, often without IT oversight or cross-functional alignment. This decentralized approach can lead to misaligned workflows, inconsistent data, redundant technology and escalating compliance concerns.
This risk is magnified in today's software-as-a-service landscape. The SaaS model, long celebrated for its accessibility and scalability, is undergoing a transformation of its own. AI is reshaping traditional SaaS in fundamental ways, from replacing dashboards with conversational interfaces to introducing agents that autonomously act. The shift is forcing organizations to rethink not only how they use SaaS, but how they govern it.
In this new reality, CIOs and CTOs are stepping into expanded roles, not just as technology leaders, but as critical partners to the CFO. Together, they are helping build the secure, scalable and intelligent foundation that finance teams need to thrive in an AI-powered, data-saturated enterprise.
CFOs Need Strategic Technology Partners Now More Than Ever
CFOs are under increasing pressure to deliver margin expansion, maintain cost control and offer predictive insight into business performance. Meeting these expectations requires more than financial acumen. It demands a modern, integrated tech stack that functions as a single source of truth.
Yet, the decentralized adoption of AI tools is creating new obstacles. Data silos are emerging across departments, making it harder to reconcile records and ensure consistent financial reporting. Security and compliance risks multiply when unvetted tools process sensitive financial data. Redundant applications are bloating budgets while delivering little return on investment. And many AI features embedded in SaaS offerings lack the audit trails and explainability required for CFOs to sign off with confidence.
This is where strategic partnership becomes essential. CIOs and CTOs bring structure, governance and enterprise-scale discipline to AI adoption. Leading organizations are forming cross-functional technology councils and AI governance boards to evaluate new solutions before they are purchased or deployed. These boards validate business needs, assess integration and security readiness, and align each investment with measurable business outcomes.
Such rigor is increasingly important in the AI era. For example, many SaaS tools are now analyzing unstructured data (like invoices, expenses, order forms)—sources that traditional finance systems were never designed to interpret. While this creates new opportunities for insight, it also raises governance questions. Who owns AI-generated insights derived from blended sources? How do teams prevent biased interpretations of ambiguous data? These are not abstract concerns. Without clear frameworks, AI can compromise financial integrity rather than enhance it.
By bringing finance and technology leaders together, organizations are creating disciplined strategies that anchor AI in reality. Every deployment is assessed for its value, compliance posture and risk exposure. This collaborative approach ensures that AI is used to support financial accuracy, not undermine it.
Building The Finance Tech Stack CFOs Can Trust
As the enterprise AI landscape evolves, finance leaders are rethinking what makes a tech stack trustworthy. In an age of volatility and mounting regulatory demands, CFOs want more than tools that automate. They want systems that explain, adapt and integrate—without disrupting the integrity of their core architecture.
Transparency, audit readiness and the ability to scale are now baseline requirements. Many traditional SaaS vendors are embedding AI into their platforms, but in doing so, some ask finance teams to either heavily customize their ERP systems or conform to closed ecosystems. That approach may deliver initial velocity, but it rarely supports sustainable transformation. Today's CFOs are looking for interoperable, composable, ERP-agnostic systems that meet them where they are and grow with them.
AI-powered automation is beginning to challenge long-standing SaaS business models. Traditional seat-based pricing assumes human interaction. But if AI agents are performing tasks autonomously, enterprises may no longer need the same number of user licenses. The future may involve outcome-based pricing models, where companies pay for what AI accomplishes, not just for access to the platform.
CIOs will be at the center of these decisions. Whether building custom AI agents in-house or leveraging AI-enhanced SaaS, they must help CFOs assess what's worth buying, what's worth building and what must be governed.
Discipline, Partnership And A Future-Ready Finance Function
AI is not a trend. It is a foundational capability reshaping how decisions are made, risks are managed and value is delivered. But to harness it effectively, organizations must unite around a common framework: one rooted in clarity, compliance and control.
The future belongs to finance and IT leaders who see AI not as a series of features, but as a strategic asset. These leaders are driving toward shared KPIs, aligning on platforms that enable agility without compromising governance and anchoring innovation in measurable business impact.
Ultimately, CFOs don't need more tools. They need a tech partner who understands that in finance, trust is currency. That trust is earned through systems that deliver transparency, insights that can be explained and controls that can scale.
By fostering stronger partnerships between CIOs and CFOs, enterprises can move beyond fragmented innovation and into a future where finance is not just automated, but accountable and ready to lead.
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