Finance’s $1.4T gap between strategy and execution
The finance function is being pulled in two directions. On one hand, many finance leaders are investing in technology and AI across their finance function. On the other hand, despite the technology push, many teams remain stuck in manual processes that consume time and hurt the perception of finance work.
Two new surveys, one from Personiv, a finance and accounting outsourcing firm, and the other from Medius, an AP automation software provider, reveal just how wide this gap has become. Personiv’s 2025 Executive Outlook Pulse Survey focuses on leadership, where CFOs and their fellow executives are responding to volatility with bigger technology budgets, rising capital investments and accelerated AI adoption. Medius’ Hidden Cost of Boring report focuses on the front line, where finance professionals are spending hours each day on repetitive tasks that contribute to a global cost estimated at $1.4 trillion.
Together, the surveys capture two very different realities inside similar organizations, demonstrating that the gap between strategy and execution is widening, and for CFOs, closing it is becoming a strategic priority. While the road to remedy on dreary, manual processes may be insight, it seems to be far from reality at the moment.
Leaders push forward with investments in AI
Personiv’s survey, conducted in the third quarter of this year, got responses from 290 leaders across finance, accounting and the C-Suite. The results show that companies are responding to volatility by leaning in rather than holding back. Six in 10 (60%) of respondents said macroeconomic policy changes had significantly shaped their strategic planning during the first half of 2025, with forecasting and supply chains hit hardest. Over half of companies reported increases in capital spending, operating costs, technology budgets and headcount, with many planning further increases in the months ahead.
AI, the research shows, is becoming central to these strategies. Almost three-quarters (70%) of public companies have embedded AI into compliance, payroll and expense reporting compared with less than half (45%) of private firms.
Leaders in the public space likely view these tools as critical for forecasting accuracy, scenario planning and risk mitigation. Nearly three-quarters of those respondents expect macroeconomic conditions to improve over the next year, reinforcing their willingness to invest despite uncertainty.
Executives are optimistic and focused on agility, but their view of how technology is reshaping finance does not exactly match what is happening in reality.
Repetitive work is causing “brain fade”
Medius’ survey of 1,000 finance professionals across the U.S. and U.K. shows a different reality for many finance professionals. The company estimates that repetitive finance work still carries a global cost of $1.4 trillion, driven by wasted time, errors and turnover risk.
Despite the hype and implementation across larger organizations, many finance teams spend an average of 3.5 hours per day on repetitive tasks, the equivalent of 23 work weeks per year. After just 41 minutes of this work, more than a third (34%) of respondents said they make more errors, 40% feel disengaged and 42% percent struggle to retain information. Medius calls this “brain fade”.
The impact on organizations extends beyond productivity. Nearly all (96%) of finance professionals said repetitive work leads to mistakes. More than half (52%) said those errors increased costs through rework, 51% reported reduced client and supplier trust and 44% linked mistakes directly to revenue loss. Less than four in 10 (38%) of workloads are currently automated, researchers say, even though 77% of respondents believe more automation would reduce burnout.
The contrast between these two surveys reveals a clear operational challenge for CFOs and employees alike. At the top, leaders are betting on AI to drive forecasting improvements, cost control and agility. At the ground level, those strategies are not yet fully reaching the people and processes where they could deliver the most impact. On the contrary, technology in corporate finance may be hindering talent development, as entry-level roles are being scrapped en masse.
This gap also carries both financial and human consequences. Medius found that almost three-quarters (74%) of finance professionals still say they’ve considered quitting their jobs because of repetitive work. Turnover among experienced staff, combined with ongoing hiring challenges in accounting and finance, can undermine the very strategic initiatives executives are funding.
For CFOs, closing this divide requires more than approving technology spend and making smart labor decisions. It means identifying the specific workflows where automation can make the biggest difference, aligning implementation timelines with the business’s operational realities, and investing in the skills needed to make change sticky.
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