CFO Insights: How to Manage Digital Risk, AI ROI, Data Quality, and Skills Gaps

Cybersecurity is clearly a growing concern and responsibility for finance leaders around the globe, with nearly half—46% vs. 28% a year earlier—telling us in a recent survey that it’s the top external challenge their businesses face. With data breaches costing businesses $4.4 million on average in 2025, it’s understandable why digital risk is atop their list of concerns.

What else is on the minds of finance leaders these days? Plenty, of course, which is why we ask. Managing AI expectations and ROI, data quality (or lack thereof), talent and skills shortages, worsening economic conditions, and global tensions are among the challenges they see. Those top-of-mind issues appear in our latest CFO Insights report, the result of a late 2025 and early 2026 survey of nearly 1,000 CFOs and finance, business, and IT leaders from around the world.

What Are the Key Challenges for Finance Leaders in 2026?

Finance leaders’ biggest challenges are managing rising digital risk (including cybersecurity and shadow AI), proving and tracking AI ROI with the right KPIs, and closing persistent data-quality and integration gaps. At the same time, they’re dealing with talent and skills shortages that slow analytics, automation, and AI adoption—while expectations for finance to drive growth keep increasing.

This blog post unpacks these obstacles and how:

• Collaboration, improved awareness, and strengthened governance can reduce digital risk.
• Best practices and a new mindset can help address the challenge of AI ROI.
• Organizations can close gaps in data quality and technology skills.

Why Finance Leaders’ Responsibilities—and To-Do Lists—Keep Growing

The technology-heavy list of challenges reinforces what finance leaders have told us over the years: Their role has become more strategic, prominent, and relied upon for leadership at their organizations. So cybersecurity, data quality, and other traditionally “digital” or “IT” issues have become—and are seen as—the finance leader’s responsibility. One data point from our report drives that home: When financial data errors occur, it’s finance, not IT, that takes the blame, two-thirds of IT leaders say.

Why Has Digital Risk Jumped to the Top of the CFO’s To-Do List?

Since finance functions are common targets, CFOs have become responsible for managing digital risks and the governance around them. Data breaches bring obvious costs and regulatory penalties for organizations lacking sufficient controls.

The dangers can lurk within as well: 42% of finance leaders say employees are using unsanctioned “shadow AI” tools like ChatGPT, which can open organizations to attacks. With 3 in 4 leaders using shadow AI themselves, improving cybersecurity awareness and governance should be a priority.

Key Actions for CFOs to Manage Digital Risk

• Assess AI tools being used, write usage guidelines, and state whether they can be used in all, some, or no cases.
• Work to build awareness of digital risks, create a cross-functional security task force and response, and ensure cybersecurity is considered in scenario planning and risk assessments.
• Identify weak spots in systems, strengthen role-based access, and bolster controls across expense, payment, and invoice systems.

Finance Moves to the Center of Digital Risk

Read the new report for more about what finance leaders say is keeping them up at night and recommendations on meeting the challenges.

Get the CFO Insights Research

How Can Finance Leaders Manage AI Expectations and Prove ROI?

Finance leaders are seeing results from AI investments, naming decision-making (88%), revenue growth (85%), and risk reduction (78%) as the top areas of impact for the technology. What they continue to find challenging, though, is determining the exact ROI on their AI commitments.

A key, the research indicates, is to adopt a slightly less traditional approach to ROI assessment, one without rigid initial deadlines and with a different set of KPIs. For metrics, finance leaders most often (45%) look to productivity and time savings; accuracy or quality improvements (42%); and improved risk reduction and compliance(32%).

What Can Boost and Hinder Your AI Returns?

While evaluating ROI is a challenge, leaders observe common factors increasing returns:

• 55% cite effective cross-functional collaboration
• 52% mention strong data foundations
• 51% say quick productivity gains

And some factors that can lower returns:

• Overly optimistic initial expectations
• Poor data quality or integration

How Are Data and Skills Gaps Affecting AI Success?

It’s difficult to meet the challenges when your toolbox comes up short. For example, amid economic uncertainty and rising expenses, cost management is a top priority for finance leaders. But inaccurate data is a major obstacle to cost control, say 55% of finance leaders—double the number of a year ago.

Similarly, adopting and achieving desired AI results can be hindered by gaps in digital skills. Overall, 87% of finance leaders say it’s difficult to find or keep employees with a mix of finance and technology skills, such as workflow automation or engineering AI prompts.

How to Boost Data Quality at Your Organization

While 53% of leaders say their organization has a strong data foundation, the same percentage report they have issues with data quality and integration. So the need is clear for actions to improve both data quality and data knowledge.

• Collaborate with the CIO to create a data stewardship board, define ownership of data sets, and establish responsibility for data validation and correction.
• Reduce manual entry by improving data capture and integrate all spend data – including travel and expense – with your ERP and other business systems.
• Improve data literacy by investing in workforce training and by including data metrics in performance reviews.
• Use AI-fueled tools to spot risks, forecast spending, and uncover strategic insights.

Teaching the Finance Team the Skills It Needs in the AI Era

Finance leaders report unmet needs for a wide variety of technology skills:

• 47% need more AI, automation, and digital tools proficiency.
• 44% could use financial forecasting and planning skills.
• 43% require data analytics and modeling.

For entry-level staff and experienced professionals, finance leaders can take steps to promote upskilling; for example:

• Collaborate with IT and HR to develop upskilling programs for analytics, cybersecurity awareness, automation, scenario modeling, and more.
• Develop roles on the finance team that combine analysis with ownership of digital workflows.
• Model skill-building by improving your own skills with digital and analytics tools and by working closely with data and tech leaders to learn more about architecture, models, and how to interpret AI.

Finance Moves to the Center of Digital Risk

Read the new report for more about what finance leaders say is keeping them up at night and recommendations on meeting the challenges.

Download the CFO Insights Report

Conclusion: Taking the Lead on Growth

In 2026, finance leaders are being asked to do more than protect the numbers—they’re expected to protect the business. That means reducing digital risk in an era of expanding attack surfaces and shadow AI, proving AI ROI with the right mix of productivity, quality, and risk-reduction metrics, and strengthening the data foundation that cost control and decision-making depend on.

Just as important, leaders have to close persistent data and skills gaps so finance teams can use analytics and automation to drive growth, not just keep up with the status quo. The organizations that make progress fastest will treat governance and upskilling as shared priorities across finance, IT, and HR, then turn those gains into clearer insights and better outcomes. For a deeper look at what CFOs and finance leaders are prioritizing now to help their companies step forward, explore the full CFO Insights research.

FAQs: CFO Insights into Digital Risk, AI ROI, and More

Q: Why is digital risk a top concern for finance leaders?

A: Cybersecurity now ranks as the leading external challenge, cited by 46% of CFOs. Data breaches average $4.4 million in cost, and finance teams are prime targets, making digital risk a core finance responsibility.

Q: How can organizations better manage digital risk?

A: Key steps include setting AI usage policies, improving cybersecurity awareness, strengthening controls and governance, and creating cross-functional security teams to address vulnerabilities and “shadow AI” use.

Q: Why is measuring AI ROI so difficult?

A: Traditional ROI models don’t always apply to next-generation technology. Leaders instead track productivity gains, accuracy improvements, and risk reduction, while avoiding overly optimistic expectations and poor data practices that can hold back progress.

Q: How do data and skills gaps impact performance?

A: Inaccurate data hinders cost control, and talent shortages slow AI adoption. Improving data governance, integrating systems, and investing in upskilling are critical to closing these gaps.