To Embrace AI in Finance, CFOs Must Move Beyond Their Comfort Zone

Technology is poised to change the world of finance. And CFOs have a major role to play in spearheading the shift toward a future powered by artificial intelligence and generative AI. Investing in technology is only one part of the finance transformation process—business leaders must also prepare their teams by establishing trust in AI and leveling up their skills to take full advantage.

“There’s this potential distrust in what’s coming into AI and what’s ultimately coming out,” Workday CFO Zane Rowe said in a recent podcast with Eric Kutcher, McKinsey & Company senior partner and chair, North America. “It’s a responsibility for companies, and I think CFOs have to lead that charge.”

Citing the Workday 2024 global study “Closing the AI Trust Gap” released earlier this year, Rowe noted a “disconnect” between how business leaders and the broader workforce view the growing adoption of AI. The survey found that 62% of C-suite leaders or their direct reports welcome AI, and 52% of employees view the technology favorably.

Echoing his earlier comments about closing the AI trust gap, Rowe said that part of those efforts can involve helping finance teams become more comfortable with the technology.

Within his own finance organization, Rowe said that employees partner directly with the Workday technology group to broaden their perspectives and refine business processes using AI.

“It’s amazing what a small team can do as far as rethinking a process and adding AI and some of those capabilities,” Rowe said. “And you should see the excitement on their faces.”

‘Transparency, Auditability, and Openness’

Building trust around AI for a finance team requires “transparency, auditability, and openness as it relates to data,” Rowe said.

Just as CFOs are used to producing regulatory filings and investor letters, they’re also responsible for knowing what goes into their financial statements, Rowe noted. Finance leaders should exhibit that same level of understanding when it comes to data, he argued.

“As a CFO you can say, ‘Hey, look. This is auditable. We understand where the data resides. We understand what goes into it.’ And there’s a level of trust that can be gained from that,” Rowe said. “There’s a responsibility as a CFO. Much like putting out numbers, if you’re putting out results or if AI is driving a behavioral change, a judgment change, or any type of change in what you’re doing, you need to have some level of auditability going back to it so that people can be comfortable with how you’re using it.”

The Growth Mindset in Finance

Rowe also emphasized the importance of continuous learning from a growth mindset. Throughout his career, Rowe added, he gained valuable experience from working in different parts of the business—an experience he recommends for anyone in finance.

“It’s through those learnings that, no matter what role you’re in, you’ll be better at your job because of something you’ve done in the past that you otherwise didn’t think you’d get anything out of,” Rowe said.

“Even if it’s switching jobs, many times it’s getting out of your comfort zone,” he added. “That’s what we’ll be doing organizationally because, especially with AI, it’s going to be augmenting a lot of what we do today—and it should be a leverage point to drive more value no matter where you fall within an org chart.”

Rowe added that it’s “an exciting time to be in finance”—and technology that elevates practitioners’ roles is a significant factor.

Finance roles, he said, “should be less of those more mundane tasks. Those are the ones that are fairly easy to automate—through robotic process automation [RPA], AI, and now, of course, gen AI. There’ll be a lot of things that you can do to be more efficient, and now your ability to do that and spend time where you want to is so much greater.”

Listen to the entire McKinsey & Company podcast with Workday CFO Zane Rowe.